Several companies have expressed interest in Techman Robot Inc’s (達明機器人) new humanoid robot, TM Xplore I, which would be first tested at the company’s plants before being offered to customers, the robotic arm partner of Nvidia Corp said yesterday.
Techman, a subsidiary of Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), mainly produces artificial intelligence (AI) collaborative robots (cobots), featuring user-friendly systems with integrated vision capabilities.
The company began the TM Xplore I project last year, and is developing a prototype of the machine and testing applications with partners, vice president William Wang (王偉霖) said on the sidelines of the Taiwan Automation Intelligence and Robot Show in Taipei.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying, AP
The company plans to launch the robot in the second half of next year if mass production proceeds smoothly, Wang said.
TM Xplore I is equipped with Nvidia’s Jetson Orin platform, which enables advanced AI inference and edge computing, Techman said.
Mounted on wheels and fitted with 22 switches, it can perform more complex actions that resemble human movements, it said.
Techman produces cobots and robots at the company’s plant in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), where the utilization rate is about 50 to 60 percent, Wang said.
In the first half of the year, shipments of cobots integrated with autonomous mobile robots for medical device maker Advantech Technologies Japan accounted for about 30 percent of the company’s sales, while cobot shipments to chipmakers made up about 25 percent, Techman said.
The company reported revenue of NT$891.33 million (US$29.22 million) in the first half of this year, up 16.35 percent year-on-year.
The US accounted for less than 5 percent of total sales in the first half, while China contributed about 30 percent and Europe about 20 percent, Wang said.
However, the company posted a net loss of NT$29.48 million in the first half of the year due to the sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar against the US dollar.
In the US, the company operates a hub that stores finished products and spare parts, mainly providing after-sales services, and is considering establishing a similar facility in Mexico, Wang said.
The company would consider establishing a production center in the US or Mexico if needed, given manageable US tariffs and setup costs, he added.
Techman chairman Ho Shih-chih (何世池) said that several customers delayed plans for new plants and capital expenditure increases last quarter due to tariffs, which have indirectly affected Techman’s shipments.
However, demand has begun to recover as related policies have begun to stabilize and customers finalize plans to set up plants in the US, Mexico, Vietnam and Thailand, boding well for Techman’s business outlook, he said.
Revenue in the second half of this year is expected to surpass last year’s NT$715 million as growth momentum continues, Ho said.
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would
YEAR-END BOOST: The holiday shopping season in the US and Europe, combined with rising demand for AI applications, is expected to drive exports to a new high, the NDC said Taiwan’s business climate monitor improved last month, transitioning from steady growth for the first time in five months, as robust global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products and new iPhone shipments boosted exports and corporate sales, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. The council uses a five-color system to measure the nation’s economic state, with “green” indicating steady growth, “red” suggesting a boom and “blue” reflecting a recession. “Yellow-red” and “yellow-blue” suggest a transition to a stronger or weaker condition. The total score of the monitor’s composite index rose to 35 points from a revised 31 in August, ending a four-month
RUN IT BACK: A succesful first project working with hyperscalers to design chips encouraged MediaTek to start a second project, aiming to hit stride in 2028 MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it is engaging a second hyperscaler to help design artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators used in data centers following a similar project expected to generate revenue streams soon. The first AI accelerator project is to bring in US$1 billion revenue next year and several billion US dollars more in 2027, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a virtual investor conference yesterday. The second AI accelerator project is expected to contribute to revenue beginning in 2028, Tsai said. MediaTek yesterday raised its revenue forecast for the global AI accelerator used
RSS