Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), which assembles MacBooks for Apple Inc, yesterday said its Chinese subsidiary has suspended production, the latest among Apple’s supply chain facing production disruptions as China sticks to its strict “zero COVID-19” policy.
The world’s biggest contract laptop computer manufacturer said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that the subsidiary, Tech-Com (Shanghai) Computer Ltd (達功上海電腦), has halted production in response to the Shanghai government’s COVID-19 prevention measures.
The factory at the Shanghai Songjiang Export Processing Zone would resume operations when it receives notification from the local government, it said.
Photo: Screen grab from the company’s Web site
The impact of the Shanghai factory shutdown has yet to be determined. Quanta makes about 80 percent of the laptops at its manufacturing hub in Chongqing, Sichuan Province.
“Quanta is almost the sole EMS [electronics manufacturing service] supplier of MacBooks, so among Apple’s main products, the MacBook would be the most affected by Quanta’s production suspension due to China’s lockdowns,” TF International Securities (天風國際證券) analyst Kuo Ming-chi (郭明錤) wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
Shanghai’s lockdowns might have a milder impact on iPhone and iPad production, which have multiplier suppliers, Kuo said.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major assembler of iPhones, can help fill the shortfall due to production disruptions at Pegatron Corp (和碩) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦), he added.
Compal said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday that five of its subsidiaries in Kunshan have adjusted operations in response to the local government’s COVID-19 measures.
Compal declined to comment on whether those subsidiaries have halted operations.
The lockdowns in Shanghai and Kunshan have disrupted transportation and worsened an uneven supply of key components, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said.
That means electronics manufacturers will have to rely on onsite component inventory for production, TrendForce said.
Quanta, Compal and Wistron Corp (緯創), another contract notebook computer maker, have stored key components, such as multilayer ceramic capacitors, for about three to four weeks of production, it said.
Mirle Automation Corp (盟立), an automation system supplier, yesterday said that the Shanghai lockdowns could cut revenue by at least 10 percent this year due to production and transportation disruptions.
“The impact will not be as significant as before,” Mirle chairman Sun Houng (孫弘) told investors.
“Fortunately, we have received a lot of orders since last year,” he said.
Mirle said it has received more than NT$10 billion (US$343.81 million) in orders, the highest in three years, which translates into shipments through next year.
The company is adjusting its customer portfolio to minimize the impact from lockdowns in China by adding more Taiwanese customers, Sun said.
Overall, Mirle is optimistic about the business outlook and developments in China, he said.
The Chinese government is becoming more flexible in adopting a “zero COVID” strategy, as some districts in Shanghai have reopened conditionally, he said.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
RSS