Pegatron Corp (和碩), one of Apple Inc’s iPhone assemblers, yesterday said it is planning to expand manufacturing sites in Vietnam, India and North America to meet customer demand for production diversification, amid supply chain chaos attributable to the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The unpredictable effects of COVID-19 and unstable supply chains have increased uncertainty worldwide regarding consumer demand and the shipping of products, Pegatron said in its annual report.
“Pegatron will continue monitoring the supply of key components and working closely with its suppliers to optimize capacity allocations,” the company said.
Photo: Huang Hao-chen, Taipei Times
The remarks came as the firm held its annual general meeting in Taipei, where shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend of NT$5 per share.
That represented a payout ratio of 64.85 percent based on the company’s earnings per share of NT$7.71 last year.
Pegatron’s board of directors last month approved a plan to invest an additional US$50.61 million to expand its manufacturing hub in North America, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Pegatron said it had already planned to invest US$164 million on production lines in North America so that it could accommodate an increase in orders in the region.
The company has factories in Taoyuan, as well as operations in Mexico, Indonesia and the Czech Republic, while China is still its most important manufacturing hub, with factories in Kunshan, Suzhou, Shanghai and Chongqing.
Pegatron expects an increase in demand for information technology products, especially commercial PCs, as people gradually return to the office, the annual report said, adding that the launch of Microsoft Corp’s Windows 11 operating system would stimulate PC replacement demand.
As communications products, such as smartphones, are affected by seasonal cycles, Pegatron said it plans to boost production efficiency and improve management to navigate the industry’s ups and downs.
Last quarter, communication products were the biggest revenue contributor, accounting for 60 percent of total revenue, the company said.
This year, Pegatron expects its automotive electronics business to contribute more revenue, thanks to an increase in orders.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) secured a record 70.2 percent share of the global foundry business in the second quarter, up from 67.6 percent the previous quarter, and continued widening its lead over second-placed Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Monday. TSMC posted US$30.24 billion in sales in the April-to-June period, up 18.5 percent from the previous quarter, driven by major smartphone customers entering their ramp-up cycle and robust demand for artificial intelligence chips, laptops and PCs, which boosted wafer shipments and average selling prices, TrendForce said in a report. Samsung’s sales also grew in the second quarter, up
On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump weighed in on a pressing national issue: The rebranding of a restaurant chain. Last week, Cracker Barrel, a Tennessee company whose nationwide locations lean heavily on a cozy, old-timey aesthetic — “rocking chairs on the porch, a warm fire in the hearth, peg games on the table” — announced it was updating its logo. Uncle Herschel, the man who once appeared next to the letters with a barrel, was gone. It sparked ire on the right, with Donald Trump Jr leading a charge against the rebranding: “WTF is wrong with Cracker Barrel?!” Later, Trump Sr weighed
LIMITED IMPACT: Investor confidence was likely sustained by its relatively small exposure to the Chinese market, as only less advanced chips are made in Nanjing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) saw its stock price close steady yesterday in a sign that the loss of the validated end user (VEU) status for its Nanjing, China, fab should have a mild impact on the world’s biggest contract chipmaker financially and technologically. Media reports about the waiver loss sent TSMC down 1.29 percent during the early trading session yesterday, but the stock soon regained strength and ended at NT$1,160, unchanged from Tuesday. Investors’ confidence in TSMC was likely built on its relatively small exposure to the Chinese market, as Chinese customers contributed about 9 percent to TSMC’s revenue last
LOOPHOLES: The move is to end a break that was aiding foreign producers without any similar benefit for US manufacturers, the US Department of Commerce said US President Donald Trump’s administration would make it harder for Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc to ship critical equipment to their chipmaking operations in China, dealing a potential blow to the companies’ production in the world’s largest semiconductor market. The US Department of Commerce in a notice published on Friday said that it was revoking waivers for Samsung and SK Hynix to use US technologies in their Chinese operations. The companies had been operating in China under regulations that allow them to import chipmaking equipment without applying for a new license each time. The move would revise what is known
RSS