E Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技) yesterday said it plans NT$5 billion to NT$8 billion (US$157.01 million to US$251.22 million) in capital expenditure this year, compared with NT$5 billion last year, as the world’s largest e-paper display supplier continues capacity expansion to produce electronic shelf labels (ESLs) and digital signage.
The company expects to launch a new production line, called H6, at Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) this year to produce large e-paper displays, E Ink chairman Johnson Lee (李正昊) told an earnings conference.
“Some customers have become more willing to install [outdoor digital signages] lately,” Lee said, attributing customers’ changing mindset to increased prices for crude oil and electricity, with the massive power consumption of artificial intelligence infrastructure contributing.
Photo: CNA
“I am bullish about this market, so we have to keep expanding capacity,” Lee said.
H5, the company’s first production line dedicated to large e-paper displays for digital signs such as 32-inch and 55-inch displays, entered volume production late last year.
The new H6 production line is to start contributing revenue next year, the company said.
The company also plans to build a new production line in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) and expand capacity in the US, Lee said.
E Ink provided an upbeat revenue growth forecast for this year and next year after delivering strong results for last year.
The company’s net profit last year increased 18.6 percent to an all-time high of NT$10.52 billion from NT$8.87 billion in 2024. Earnings per share expanded to NT$9.14 from NT$7.75 over the same period.
Revenue climbed 12.31 percent to NT$36.12 billion last year from NT$32.16 billion a year earlier.
“This year, revenue and net profit would surpass last year’s levels,” Lee said. “We are very bullish about the outlook.”
E Ink expects revenue this quarter to exceed the NT$8.06 billion in the first quarter last year and said it could be the second-best first quarter in the company’s history.
E Ink is optimistic about growth in e-paper displays for ESLs, as total ESL installments are projected to swell 20 percent to 600 million units this year from 500 million units last year, it said.
The company counts US-based Walmart Inc, Lidl GmbH of Germany and UK’s Tesco PLC among its major ESL customers.
E Ink said it expects gross margin this year to be similar to last year at about 54 percent.
The company’s board of directors last week approved a cash dividend distribution of NT$5.9, implying a payout ratio of 65 percent.
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
TECH WINNERS: Taiwan and South Korea reported robust trade, which suggests that they have critical advantages in the rapidly expanding AI supply chain, an official said Exports last month surged to a new high, as booming demand tied to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure fueled shipments of advanced technology components, underscoring the nation’s pivotal role in the global semiconductor supply chain. Outbound shipments climbed to US$80.18 billion, the highest ever for a single month, rising 61.8 percent from a year earlier and marking the 29th consecutive month of growth, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. “The surge was driven primarily by global investment in AI infrastructure,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said. The mass production of next-generation AI computing systems has accelerated procurement across the semiconductor supply
RSS