Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登精密), the sole extreme ultraviolet pod supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), yesterday said it has trimmed its revenue growth target for this year as US tariffs are likely to depress customer demand and weigh on the whole supply chain.
Gudeng’s remarks came after the US on Monday notified 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea, of new tariff rates that are set to take effect on Aug. 1.
Taiwan is still negotiating for a rate lower than the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariffs announced by the US in April, which it later postponed to today.
Photo: Chen Yi-shao, Taipei Times
The tariff rate could still be higher than the 25 percent the US imposed on Japan, given Taiwan’s smaller economic scale, the company said.
“The US tariffs will not directly impact our revenue,” Gudeng chairman Bill Chiu (邱銘乾) said on the sidelines of the inauguration of a NT$1.6 billion (US$55 million) research and development center in New Taipei City’s Tucheng District (土城).
Gudeng said that it does not have to pay import duties and transportation costs based on the free-on-board agreements it inked with customers.
“However, we believe that our customers will carefully calculate if they should pare down procurement volume, since tariffs mean extra costs and are eating into their budget,” Chiu said.
“The levies are no good for everyone,” he added.
The tariff worries have compelled Gudeng to revise down slightly its revenue forecast for this year, Chiu said, compared with an internal target of NT$10 billion set at the beginning of the year.
Gudeng’s customers have not signaled order delays or cancelations because of tariffs, and demand for the second half of the year “looks so far, so good,” Chiu said.
Overall, the company remains optimistic about the semiconductor industry’s growth as long as the world’s major cloud-service providers continue to spend heavily on artificial intelligence computing capacity, he said.
The company last year saw its revenue expand 29 percent year-on-year to NT$6.54 billion and revenue growth this year would be supported by new factories launched by customers in Taiwan, China and South Korea, it said earlier this year.
However, foreign exchange volatility would significantly impact the company’s second-quarter financial results, Chiu said, as the New Taiwan dollar appreciated 9.88 percent against the US dollar in the quarter.
Gudeng is “evaluating” the feasibility of installing a new production line in the US, due to the request of its major customer to provide real-time component supply and services, Chiu said.
That represented a U-turn from the company’s previous stance that it would not consider investing in US manufacturing due to the high cost of operation.
“Our key customer is scaling up its investment there,” he said. “We are seeing an increase in orders from that front.”
In addition, the Arizona state government is coaxing Gudeng and its supply chain partners to build production lines in the US, he 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
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
Two of Taiwan’s international carriers, Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) and EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), have retained the five-star airline rating awarded by international airline review organization Skytrax. Starlux was awarded the distinction for a second consecutive year, while EVA Air received it for the 11th straight year, Skytrax said in statements released yesterday and on Thursday last week, respectively. The five-star rating is considered one of the airline industry's highest honors and is awarded following professional audits of airline product and frontline service standards, Skytrax said. The ratings are based on in-depth assessments using unified global quality standards rather than customer review scores
RSS