Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登精密), the sole extreme ultraviolet (EUV) pod supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), is aiming to expand revenue to NT$10 billion (US$304.8 million) this year, as it expects the artificial intelligence (AI) boom to drive demand for wafer delivery pods and pods used in advanced packaging technology.
That suggests the firm’s revenue could grow as much as 53 percent this year, after it posted a 28.91 percent increase to NT$6.55 billion last year, exceeding its 20 percent growth target.
“We usually set an aggressive target internally to drive further growth. This year, our target is to surpass NT$10 billion,” Gudeng chairman Bill Chiu (邱銘乾) told reporters on the sidelines of the company’s annual year-end party in New Taipei City on Saturday.
Photo: CNA
Revenue growth this year would primarily come from the core wafer pod business, including box-like front-opening unified pods for less advanced wafers and EUV pods, thanks to new factories launched by customers in Taiwan, China and South Korea, Chiu said.
“We have to thank the gentleman wearing the leather jacket [Nvidia Corp chief executive Jensen Huang (黃仁勳)] for creating the demand. AI demand could be enormous when such features become popular on edge devices,” he said.
Reticle boxes and EUV pods made up about 60 percent of Gudeng’s total revenue during the first 11 months of last year, the company said.
TSMC utilizes EUV tools to produce its advanced 5-nanometer, 4-nanometer and 3-nanometer chips.
Wafer pods accounted for 35 percent to 40 percent of the firm’s total revenue over the 11-month period. They are used to transport wafers in the manufacturing process on less advanced technology.
New front-opening unified pods and front-opening shipping pods used in the advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate technology, would be another growth driver, Chiu said.
A front-opening shipping pod is used to transfer the wafer from the wafer fabrication unit to the semiconductor manufacturing unit, while a front-opening unified pod stores and moves the wafer from one process to another in a factory.
Those pods have been adopted by TSMC, ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), the world’s largest chip packaging and testing services provider, and a US-based chipmaker, Gudeng said.
The company said its new aviation subsidiary, Jyr Aviation Component Co (朝宇航太科技), would also contribute to this year’s growth in revenue.
The aviation business reported that revenue more than doubled to NT$400 million last year from NT$180 million in 2023.
It has secured deals to supply aircraft landing gear barrels to General Electric Co, Boeing Co and Parker Hannifin Corp.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
WASHINGTON POLICY: Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs are tipped to hit shipments of small parcels, cutting export growth by 1.3 percentage points The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban Chinese companies from using a US tariff loophole would hit tens of billions of dollars of trade and reduce China’s economic growth this year, according to new estimates by economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. According to Nomura’s estimates, last year companies such as Shein (希音) and PDD Holdings Inc’s (拼多多控股) Temu shipped US$46 billion of small parcels to the US to take advantage of the rule that allows items with a declared value under US$800 to enter the US tariff-free. Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs would slash such