Factories of several Taiwanese tech companies in Japan reported little impact on their operations after a strong earthquake hit the country on Monday, the firms said yesterday.
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, expects no significant financial impact after it suspended some operations at two factories in Niigata Prefecture for two days, it said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The two plants have resumed full operations as the magnitude 7.6 quake did no damage to the structures, and did not affect electricity supply or manufacturing facilities, GlobalWafers said.
Photo: AP
The Niigata facilities are among five factories operated by GlobalWafers in Japan, it said.
In a separate filing, microcontroller manufacturer Nuvoton Technology Corp (新唐科技) said it has halted operations of a chip manufacturing factory operated by a joint venture with Tower Semiconductor Ltd and a packaging fab, both in quake-affected Toyama Prefecture.
Nuvoton Technology would resume factory operations if no safety concerns are detected, it said.
The joint venture, TPSCo, operates three factories in Japan, it said.
There is not expected to be any significant effect on its operations in Japan, Nuvoton Technology said, adding that all of its employees were safe and no damage was reported at its office buildings and manufacturing facilities.
Market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) on Tuesday said in a report that the earthquake posed no major threat to the semiconductor supply chain, as only a handful of production lines were halted due to potential safety concerns.
“The impact should be manageable, as no severe damage was found to manufacturing equipment,” TrendForce said. “Most factories did not suffer severe damage based on their initial checks.”
Some component manufacturers have built up inventories, as the semiconductor companies are still grappling an industry downturn, TrendForce said.
Additionally, the industry is entering a slow season, implying lower demand and utilization, it said.
A fab operated by United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) in Japan’s Mie Prefecture was not affected by the quake, TrendForce said.
The 12-inch facility, which UMC acquired in 2019 from Fujitsu Semiconductor Ltd, produces mostly 40-nanometer chips, TrendForce said.
Electronic components suppliers halted production for checks, including multilayer ceramic capacitor maker Taiyo Yuden Co, silicon wafer maker Shin-Etsu Chemical Co and Toshiba Corp, TrendForce added.
The effects on tech firms in Japan should be limited, as most factories are designed to withstand seismic intensity of up to level 5 and no significant damage to machinery was found, it said.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
RSS