EXPANDING:TSMC owns the largest foundry market share in China and its new 12-inch wafer fabrication center in Nanjing is expected to manufacture 20,000 chips per month

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 29, 2016
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which supplies chips for Apple Inc’s iPhone 6S series, yesterday said it has signed a US$3 billion investment agreement with the government of Nanjing city in China to produce 16-nanometer chips in the world’s largest semiconductor market.

It is the single largest China-bound investment by a Taiwanese company.

The chipmaker plans to establish a wholly owned subsidiary in China, TSMC (Nanjing) Co Ltd (台積電 (南京)), to manage the company’s first 12-inch wafer fabrication in China and a design service center there.

“With our 12-inch fabrication and design service center in Nanjing, TSMC aims to provide closer support to customers as well as expand its business opportunities in China in step with the rapid growth of the Chinese semiconductor market over the past several years,” TSMC chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) said in a company statement.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-27
By: Central News Agency

State-owned utility Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) is hoping to sell 1 billion kilowatt hours of renewable energy through block purchases this year but appears to be falling short of the goal as March comes to an end.

As of Friday, the utility had sold 28.42 million kilowatt hours of green power through the program this year after selling more than 150 million kWh last year, far short of Taipower’s goal for 2016.

It has fared better in terms of customers, with 1,506 customers — 434 enterprises and 1,072 individuals — having bought green energy so far this year, representing about 40 percent of Taipower’s goal of 4,000 customers.

Among the major enterprises that have signed up to purchase green power are I-Mei Foods Co., which bought 2.75 million kWh, followed by EVA Airways Corp., which bought 2.5 million kWh, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, which launched the green power purchase program in 2014.     [FULL  STORY]

A REVOLUTION:Making the sensors for the coming automated industry revolution could see Taiwan form part of the core market for 50 years, the Hiwin chairman said

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 28, 2016
By: Aileen Chuang / Staff reporter

Taiwan’s leading machinery maker, Hiwin Technologies Co (上銀科技), on Saturday said its new products — the keys to developing “Industry 4.0” — are expected to start volume production next year.

The company said it is in talks with local machinery and semiconductor associations on any future collaboration in Industry 4.0, especially in the integrated circuit (IC) industry.

Industry 4.0, or the fourth industrial revolution, is a term used to describe an emphasis on smart manufacturing, such as factory automation and environmental surveillance, including Internet of Things (IoT) applications. It could be Taiwan’s core competitive market for the next 50 years or even century, Hiwin chairman Eric Chuo (卓永財) said.     [FULL  STORY]

THE SAGA’S END?Sharp and Hon Hai are to approve a revised bailout plan on Wednesday and finalize the deal the following day, the Nikkei newspaper reported

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 27, 2016
By: Bloomberg

Sharp Corp’s banks are ready to push back the deadline for most of the company’s ￥510 billion (US$4.51 billion) in loans and credit lines beyond Thursday, people with knowledge of the matter said, giving the electronics maker more time to reach a renegotiated deal to be acquired by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康) outside Taiwan.

The extension might be as long as one month, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the decision has not been publicly announced.

Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) last month agreed to buy Sharp for more than ￥600 billion, but has held off on signing a final agreement while his advisers scrutinize the company’s finances.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-03-25
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, March 25 (CNA) The local manufacturing and service sectors showed an improvement in sentiment toward their business in February from a month earlier amid ample liquidity.

This came at a time when major central banks around the world have kept cutting interest rates, a survey released by the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) showed Friday.

The more upbeat mood also reflected a rebound staged by international crude oil prices, which is expected to boost the pricing power of raw material suppliers and raise their sales overseas, the survey indicates.

The TIER’s manufacturing composite index for February rose 1.27 points from January to 92.26, while the service composite index also added 1.30 points from a month earlier to 86.07.     [FULL  STORY]

WINNING COMBINATION:Lite-On chief executive officer Warren Chen said he expects cloud-computing and LED lighting segments to remain the firm’s main growth drivers

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 26, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) expects its business performance in the first half of this year to be better than the same period last year, supported by rising demand for its cloud-computing and LED lighting segments and a relatively lower base last year, a company executive said yesterday.

“The first half of this year is expected to be better than last year, while the second half of this year is to outperform the first half,” Lite-On chief executive officer Warren Chen (陳廣中) told an investors’ conference in Taipei, citing the company’s business performance pattern in the past few years.

Chen made the remarks after the company reported net income of NT$7.22 billion (US$220.35 million), or earnings per share of NT$3.11, for last year, up 11.76 percent from the previous year’s NT$6.46 billion, or NT$2.8 per share.

Lite-On investor relations senior director Julia Wang (王玉玲) said that thanks to improvements in supply-chain management and growth in the company’s core business, Lite-On’s gross margin grew by 0.75 percentage points to 13 percent last year.

The operating margin also increased by 0.91 percentage points annually to 4 percent last year, she added.     [FULL  STORY]