Backlight module supplier Radiant Opto-Electronics Corp (瑞儀光電) has obtained approval to join the government’s reshoring initiative by investing NT$13.3 billion (US$406.2 million) in building research centers and high-standard cleanrooms in Taiwan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Friday.
The company’s backlight modules are used in displays of information technology products and automotive, and in wearable devices.
To accelerate business transformation and strengthen core technology, the company built research centers and cleanrooms, similar to those for chip manufacturing, in Kaohsiung’s Cianjhen Technology Industrial Park (前鎮科技產業園區) and Miaoli County’s Zhunan Science Park (竹南科學園區), the ministry said in a statement.
Photo: Lin Jing-hua, Taipei Times
The new investment is expected to enhance the company’s manufacturing and research capability for wafer-level optical components and help it provide added value to display, wearable device, automotive, robotics and biomedicine customers, the ministry said.
The wafer-level optical components that the company would develop can significantly reduce product size and are compatible with the chipmaking process, which is more conducive to back-end integration and packaging.
The company would also introduce artificial intelligence (AI) manufacturing, including equipment pre-diagnosis and yield analysis, to improve quality and efficiency, the ministry said, adding that the investment is expected to create 480 jobs.
Radiant Opto-Electronics has been collaborating with Apple Inc for a long time, exclusively supplying backlight modules for MacBooks for seven years. The company’s revenue last year increased 17.1 percent year-on-year to NT$51.62 billion.
The company was one of six local firms that the InvesTaiwan Service Center last week approved to join the government’s three major investment incentive programs, the ministry said.
The center also approved CyberPower Systems Inc’s (碩天科技) application to invest NT$400 million in Tainan’s Sinshih Industrial Park (新市產業園區), as the uninterruptible power supply product maker plans to build a new plant with intelligent production technology, the ministry said.
Other companies that were approved included sheet metal supplier Heson Enterprise Co (恒升企業), precision machinery maker Five Loaves Inc (五個餅精密工業), cosmetics producer Too Charming Enterprise Co (彤采妮股份) and furniture company Logis Ltd (邏爵), it said.
As of Friday, the center had approved 1,664 applications from Taiwanese businesses to invest a total of NT$2.53 trillion through its three incentive programs, the ministry added.
The incentive programs provide assist companies in financing, taxation, land, utilities and labor, it said, adding that the investments pledged so far are expected to generate 160,749 jobs.
Another 15 firms are awaiting approval to invest, it added.
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