GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, expects artificial intelligence (AI) technology and other emerging technologies to stimulate semiconductor demand and its revenue growth this year.
The Hsinchu-based company’s revenue last year inched up 0.52 percent to NT$70.65 billion (US$2.27 billion), setting an all-time high and bucking the semiconductor industry’s downward trend.
The company’s operations in Japan outperformd other regions, with revenue growing about 10 percent year-on-year to ￥55 billion (US$377.46 million), it said.
Photo: Grace Hung, Taipei Times
Overall, the company’s growth was buoyed by long-term supply agreements (LTA) signed with its customers, GlobalWafers chairperson Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said at a media gathering in Hsinchu on Wednesday.
GlobalWafers has discussed with customers to push out some wafer deliveries or to make other flexible arrangements, with the aim to help customers cope with current inventories, Hsu said.
The average LTA prices this year are to go up from last year, as some of the company’s wafer capacity will be produced at newly built factories with higher production costs, she said.
Given economic and political uncertainties, “2024 is the most complicated year” in Hsu’s career over the past two decades, she said, adding that customers are conservative about the business outlook and hesitate to order new wafers.
Most customers expect to have a better recovery in the second half of this year, as they face low seasons in the first half, Hsu said.
GlobalWafers is positive about its prospects this year on the back of the semiconductor industry’s revival, Hsu said.
Analysts have estimated an annual expansion of between 13 percent and 20 percent in revenue for the semiconductor industry this year, fueled by rising demand for AI and new telecom technologies beyond 5G, she said.
“I think AI is making a big difference to the world and to the semiconductor industry particularly,” Hsu said
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent
RSS