Wistron Corp (緯創) yesterday said customers were not adjusting front-loading schedules or requesting supply source shifts, but the manufacturer has prepared contingency plans to relocate production following US President Donald Trump’s announcement on Saturday of a levy of up to 30 percent on Mexican goods.
The contract server and notebook computer manufacturer has not received new instructions from customers over the new tariffs on Mexican goods, which might contravene the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, Wistron president Jeff Lin (林建勳) said on the sidelines of an event in Taipei.
While Washington has announced new tariffs for certain countries, many details remain unclear, Lin said, adding that the company is awaiting further information, but has prepared multiple contingencies that could be activated depending on the final tariff rates.
Photo: Fang Wei-chieh, Taipei Times
Trump also announced a 30 percent tariff on goods imported from the EU.
Customers have simulated several scenarios and developed contingency plans with Wistron since Trump took office in January, Lin said.
Wistron’s comprehensive global footprint, with production sites in Taiwan, Southeast Asia, the US and Europe, would help mitigate any potential impact, he said.
The company is constructing a new factory in Dallas, Texas, which is set to begin mass production in the first quarter of next year, he said.
The plant would primarily produce high-performance computing products, with the first order already secured and additional orders being discussed, Wistron said in May.
Regarding what US tariff rate on Taiwanese goods would exceed expectations, Lin said he did not have a specific figure in mind, but hoped the rate would be kept as low as possible.
The outlook for artificial intelligence (AI) servers in the second half remains positive, as demand continues to outpace supply, and customers are still placing orders despite potential tariff effects, he said.
“With the advancement of AI server technologies and the rollout of more powerful computing servers, I believe clients remain willing to make purchases,” he added.
However, tariffs could push up retail prices of notebook and desktop computers to weigh on replacement demand, Lin said.
Wistron yesterday held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a new research-and-development center in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖). The center is about 1km from the company’s new Neihu headquarters, with construction slated for completion in 2028 at a planned investment of up to NT$2.7 billion (US$92.2 million).
The center is to become an AI tech cluster with eight above-ground floors, four basement levels and a total floor area of 31,157m2, and is expected to create about 1,500 engineering jobs upon completion, Lin said.
The company last year signed a lease with the Taipei City Government to secure four plots of land and superficies for 60 years for the center’s construction.
Wistron’s cloud computing subsidiary, Wiwynn Corp (緯穎), is also constructing a new facility nearby, he said.
DAMAGE REPORT: Global central banks are assessing war-driven inflation risks as the law of unintended consequences careens around the world, spiking oil prices Central banks from Washington to London and from Jakarta to Taipei are about to make their first assessments of economic damage after more than two weeks of conflict between the US and Iran. Decisions this week encompassing every member of the G7 and eight of the world’s 10 most-traded currency jurisdictions are likely to confirm to investors that the specter of a new inflation shock is already worrying enough to prompt heightened caution. The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to do exactly what everyone anticipated weeks ahead of its March 17-18 policy gathering: hold rates steady. The narrative surrounding that
PRICE HIKES: The war in the Middle East would not significantly disrupt supply in the short term, but semiconductor companies are facing price surges for materials Taiwan’s semiconductor companies are not facing imminent supply disruptions of essential chemicals or raw materials due to the war in the Middle East, but surges in material costs loom large, industry association SEMI Taiwan said yesterday. The association’s comments came amid growing concerns that supplies of helium and other key raw materials used in semiconductor production could become a choke point after Qatar shut down its liquefied natural gas (LNG) production and helium output earlier this month due to the conflict. Qatar is the second-largest LNG supplier in the world and accounts for about 33 percent of global helium output. Helium is
About 1,000 participants, including more than 200 venture capitalists, joined the Taiwan Demo Day in Silicon Valley on Saturday, the largest iteration to date of the event held ahead of Nvidia Corp’s annual GPU Technology Conference which runs from today to Thursday. Taiwan Demo Day, co-organized by the Taiwan Next Foundation and the Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley Hub, took place at the Computer History Museum in California, showcasing 12 teams focused on physical artificial intelligence (AI) and agentic AI technologies. Katie Hsieh (謝凱婷), founder of the Taiwan Next Foundation, said the event highlighted the strength of the Taiwan-US start-up ecosystem, with
DOMESTIC COMPONENT: Huang identified several Taiwanese partners to be a key part of Nvidia’s Vera Rubin supply chain, including Asustek, Hon Hai and Wistron Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), addressing crowds at the company’s biggest annual event, unveiled a variety of new products while predicting that its flagship artificial intelligence (AI) processors would help generate US$1 trillion in sales through next year. During a two-and-a-half-hour keynote address, Huang announced plans to push deeper into central processing units (CPUs) — Intel Corp’s home turf — and introduced semiconductors made with technology acquired from start-up Groq Inc. The company even said it was developing chips for data centers in outer space. At the heart of Huang’s speech was the message that demand for computing power
RSS