Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進), a foundry service provider specializing in producing power management and display driver chips, yesterday withdrew its full-year revenue projection of moderate growth for this year, as escalating US tariff tensions raised uncertainty and concern about a potential economic recession.
The Hsinchu-based chipmaker in February said revenues this year would grow mildly from last year based on improving supply chain inventory levels and market demand. At the time, it also anticipated gradual quarter revenue growth.
However, the US’ sweeping tariff policy has upended the industry’s supply chains and weakened economic prospects for the world economy, it said.
Photo: CNA
“Now with the tariffs in play, all those forecast should be put behind,” Vanguard chairman Fang Leuh (方略) told reporters in Taipei yesterday. “Before the tariff war ends, it will be very difficult to make a forecast about the global economy and the global semiconductor industry. The short-term impact will be negative.”
Despite the new US tariffs, Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp said the direct impact on its operations would be minimal, as only about 1 percent of its total chip production is shipped to the US.
Given the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies, the company would take a wait-and-see approach, Fang said.
Trump initially paused the implementation of the “reciprocal” tariffs for 90 days before they took effect. However, he later raised tariffs on Chinese imports to 125 percent — and then again to 145 percent — in response to Beijing’s retaliatory measures.
Fang said Vanguard would continue with its expansion in Singapore, including construction of a new 12-inch wafer fabrication plant in collaboration with NXP Semiconductors NV. The new facility is scheduled to begin volume production in 2027.
However, the company has no plans to build a new manufacturing facility in the US, citing its focus on mature process technologies and its relatively smaller scale of operations, Fang added.
Overall, Vanguard could slightly benefit from the tariff war as some Chinese chip designers are seeking non-China chipmakers to supply their customers in the US and Europe, Fang said, adding that the company has already received rushed orders for that purpose.
However, the company would not proactively compete with Chinese chipmakers in China’s cut-throat market, where overcapacity has caused a stiff price war, he added.
Vanguard posted 24 percent annual growth in revenue for the first quarter of this year, amounting to NT$11.95 billion (US$365.39 million) attributable to wafer shipment growth. On a sequential basis, revenue expanded 3 percent.
The company attributed the growth to a pickup in demand for TV and smartphone chips after Beijing launched economic stimulus packages.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced