| Prime News | | ![]() | ![]() | Perng Fai-nan Awarded Best Central Banker for Third Straight Year
Taipei, Oct. 11, 2007 (CENS)--In acknowledgement of his nimble and timely monetary policy, Perng Fai-nan, governor of the Central Bank of China (CBC) (Taiwan), has been awarded an A rating, for the third straight year, for his 2007 performance by the Global Finance magazine.
This is also the fourth time for Perng to receive the honor of outstanding performance from the U.S. magazine since he came to office in 1998, with his performance only matched by Zeti Akhtar Aziz, governor of the Bank Negara Malaysia, who has also been awarded the third A rating by the magazine in a row.
Of the 31 central bank governors under evaluation, seven won A rating in 2007, with Lee Seongae of South Korea receiving a B, Jean-Claude Trichet of the European Union a C+, and Ben Bernanke of the U.S., Zhou Xiao-chuan of China, and Toshihiko Fujui of Japan all a C.
The annual evaluation is based on the criteria including appropriateness of monetary policy, policy independence, policy transparency, control of inflation, interest-rate management, and adequacy and effect of foreign-exchange market interference, with the outcomes divided into the ratings of A, B, C, and D.
The magazine complimented Perng for timely raising interest rate to curb potential inflation and raising foreign-current deposit reserves rate to narrow its gap with NT-dollar deposit reserve rate.
Market insiders said that the honor may enhance possibility for Perng to stay on his post after expiration of his current 10-year term next February. They praised him for maintaining the stability of the financial market over the past years, notably the feat of insulating Taiwan from the impact of the Asian financial storm via a number of proactive measures, including the controversial move of closing the NDF (non-delivery forward) market.
He, though, has also been criticized for heavy interference in the foreign-exchange market, dampening its trading. In addition, his persistence on low interest rates, which are among the lowest worldwide, has also led to serious capital flight and concern over an overheated realty market.
If Perng is retained for another 10-year term next year, he may become the longest-serving CBC governor, breaking the 15-year record of former CBC governor Yu Kuo-hua.
((PL)) (GE) | |
| | ![]() | | | FSC to Allow Securities Firms to Issue Overseas Warrants
Taipei, Oct. 11, 2007 (CENS)--To facilitate internationalization of the domestic bourse and securities firms, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) plans to allow the latter to issue warrants in 18 foreign exchanges, notably Singapore and Hong Kong.
The warrants can be linked to not only Taiwanese stocks but also stocks on the 18 exchanges, including host-market stocks, posing as a new channel for Taiwanese to invest in overseas stocks and foreigners to invest in Taiwanese stocks indirectly.
The FSC has revised related regulations to facilitate the liberalization, which will be put into practice after winning support of the Central Bank of China and other related agencies.
The move has been made in response to a request of Yuanta Securities, which intends to issue warrants linking Taiwanese stocks in Singapore. Another major securities firm also reportedly plans to issue warrants in Hong Kong.
Market insiders noted that following the liberalization of the new business, Singapore and Hong Kong will be the two most attractive sites for warrant issuance by domestic securities firms, due to the existence of well-developed warrant markets there. In fact, the Singapore Stock Exchange has sent representatives to encourage major domestic securities firms issuing warrants in Singapore recently, inspired as it has been by success of Singapore Futures Exchange in issuing MSCI Taiwan Index Futures. Warrants to be issued in Hong Kong cannot be linked to red-chip stocks, or stocks of Chinese-invested companies, though, according to the FSC.
((PL)) (GE) | |
| | ![]() | | | Taiwan CA Launches Program to Thank Certificate Clients
Taipei, Oct. 11, 2007 (CENS)--Dedicated to establishing financially-secure environment online and promoting certification services, Taiwan CA Inc. (TWCA) recently announced it is cooperating with domestic securities firms and sponsoring media to launch a one-year goodwill activity to thank certified clients.
TWCA is the first domestic, legal certificate authority licensed by the Commerce Department under the Ministry of Economic Affairs in August 2002.
The activity has TWCA clients eligible to get free-of-charge the Web 2.0-version data-collecting software—eSobi with which to manage and control investment information through the Internet.
TWCA chairman Chiu Chin-ting noted his company began making profits last year after reorganizing its management team, leading to the launch of the goodwill program to thank TWCA-certificate users. He said beginning from the launch of the activity, his company will stoke interaction with domestic securities firms and promote the use of the TWCA certificate.
At present, TWCA's major shareholders include Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp. (TSEC), Financial Information Service Corporation (FISC), Taiwan Information Services Corporation (TISC), and Taiwan Depository & Clearing Corp. (TDCC).
TSEC president Su Song-chin said the TWCA activity will positively promote securities transaction and help users secure Web 2.0 technology concept. Over the past several years, TSEC has also devoted to enlarge domestic securities market and introduced new concepts, new technologies and new financial commodities.
Based on the corporate management concept of "Trust, Warranty, Cooperation, Action," TWCA said the activity will create an all-round productive situation among TWCA, TWCA certificate users and financial strategic partners.
Founded in 2007 in Taiwan, the eSobi Co. mainly provides such services as RSS (Really Simple Syndication) browser, intellectual search engine—Meta Search, and information collection, which can help users integrate and classify specific types of information in an effective way. At present, eSobi standard version supports 11 languages with trial version embedded on the world's top-three brands of personal computers.
The TWCA certificate clients can download eSobi software free of charge at the website: http://www.twca.com/tw/esobievent . Participants will have opportunity to win the "Wii" game console as prize.
((BS)) (GE) | |
| | ![]() | | | Far Eastern Group Increases Investments in Far East Air Transport
Taipei, Oct. 11, 2007 (CENS)--The Far Eastern Group recently announced it has set aside NT$330 million (US$10.15 million at US$1:NT$32.5) to acquire 5.77% stake in Far East Air Transport Corp. through its subsidiary—Yuli Investment Co. under the U-Ming Maring Transport Corp.
Yuli Investment said it has offered an average of NT$9.43 (US$0.29) per share to acquire 35 million shares of Far East Air Transport during the period of Sept. 4 through Oct. 4. With the acquisition recently settled, Far Eastern Group has held 17.86% stake in Far East Air Transport as its largest investor.
Earlier, Far Eastern Group chairman Douglas Hsu openly expressed his desire to vie for a seat in Far East Air Transport's board of directors. With the acquisition of new stakes, Far Eastern Group will be able to propose Far East Air Transport to add a seat in its board of directors when it calls a general shareholders meeting sometime next year.
Far East Air Transport was established half century ago with market share reaching NT$6 billion (US$184.61 million) at present.
It is said Far Eastern Group had made a good decision to buy into Far East Air Transport as the latter has been managing the mainland China market for more than 15 years.
((BS)) (GE) | |
| | ![]() | | | REC Reported to Partner With FPG on Polycrystalline Silicon Biz
Taipei, Oct. 11, 2007 (CENS)--It is reported that Norwegian polycrystalline silicon producer Renewable Energy Corp. (REC) will set up a polycrystalline silicon factory in Taiwan in cooperation with the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG).
REC President and Chief Executive Officer Erik Thorsen will attend a two-day photovoltaic forum opening today in Taipei. REC is recognized as the world`s No.3 supplier of the material for making solar cells, trailing only Hemlock Semiconductor Corp. of the United States and Wacker Chemie AG of Germany.
Photovoltaic industry insiders report that REC is evaluating plans to open a polycrystalline silicon factory in Taiwan, South Korea, Singapore or Malaysia and will soon finalize the assessments. They note that CPC Corp., FPG and Lee Chang Yuang Chemical Industry Corp. have approached REC over the cooperation deal and FPG has been the most aggressive one.
REC and FPG once came close to reaching a deal after REC sent its personnel to inspect an industrial zone on a reclaimed land off Yunlin County, in southern Taiwan, developed by FPG. The two parties have recently resumed contacts.
FPG has kept a low profile about media reports on its cooperation with REC. Whether or not REC will work with FPG on the manufacturing will become clear along with Thorsen visiting Taiwan this time.
Once the deal is realized, the factory will very likely become Taiwan's first polycrystalline silicon factory.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) maintains that rich deposit of silicon sands in Miaoli County in northern Taiwan is an advantage for Taiwan to convince REC to invest in Taiwan. The sands are raw material for making polycrystalline silicon.
REC is currently supplying Taiwanese solar-cell maker Motech Industries Inc. with silicon wafers. REC will supply Motech over NT$10 billion (US$303 million at US$1:NT$33) worth of wafers until 2010.
Driven by burgeoning demand for solar energy, REC has been aggressively expanding production capacity. In July this year, the company announced it will invest NOK1.35 billion (US$270 million at US$1:NOK5) to expand output to 300 megawatts in 2010 from current 35 megawatts.
Besides REC, heavyweight participants in the photovoltaic forum include Q-Cells AG of Germany, Kyocera Corp and Sharp Corp. of Japan. Q-Cell is now the world`s No.2 supplier of solar cells, putting out an estimated 255 megawatts of cells generating revenue of around 540 million euro (US$756 million at 1 euro: US$1.4) last year. Sharp claims it has been the world's No.1 solar-cell maker since 2000 while Kyocera is one of the world's largest vertically-integrated producers and suppliers of solar energy products.
Other industry gurus invited include Suntech Power Holding Co., Ltd. President Shi Zhengrong (mainland China) and Standord Ovshinsky, a U.S. talent who invented amorphous semiconductor materials for use in solar energy and other segments.
((KL)) (G) | |
| | ![]() | | | Taiwan Unveils Unique Handheld Computing Device
Taipei, Oct. 11, 2007 (CENS)--The Science and Technology Advisory Group of the Executive Yuan recently unveiled a unique handheld device codenamed "Mtube," which quadruples as a notebook computer, a digital camera, a television and a WiMAX phone.
Measuring at 8.5 cm x 8.5 cm x 2 cm and weighing barely 150 grams, the device is claimed to be the world's smallest handheld computing device.
The group consigned the government-backed Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) and Institute for Information Industry (III) in September last year to develop the gadget. ITRI and III contracted VIA Technologies to supply microprocessor for the device, Accton Wireless Broadband Corp. to supply WiMAX modules, GCT Semiconductor Inc. of South Korea to supply WiMAX chip and TPO Displays Corp. to supply liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels.
Senior group officials pointed out that MTube owns six No.1 features including its x86-grade 1GHz processor, 2.8-inch high-solution touch screen supporting all media software, and WiMAX capability. Also, the machine comes with a scalable eight gigabyte hard disc drive. It runs on non-Windows operating systems.
The officials added that MTube supports multimedia formats and in-advance download. They stressed that existing smart phones, including iPhone, can surf only a few websites. But MTube, they reported, can browse over 2,000 websites and takes offline mode until Internet connectivity resumes.
The group pointed out that MTube's electrical power can back up its heavy-duty operation for four hours. However, the group said it will continue improving the machine's power conservation performance.
Group officials pointed out that commercial model of the machine will be presented in six moths and licensed to private manufacturers in 2009.
Local computer manufacturers including Tatung Corp., Asustek Computer Inc. and Quanta Computer Inc. have been impressed by the machine's powerful telecommunications capability and micro size.
Industry watchers estimated at least one million units of the machines will hit shops in the first year of the volume production.
((KL)) (E) | |
| | ![]() | | | Major Bicycle Makers Enjoy Lucrative Operations This Year
Taipei, Oct. 11, 2007 (CENS)--All the top-three bicycle manufacturers listed in the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) have seen record monthly revenues in recent months and won increasing attentions from investors.
They are also optimistic about the fourth-quarter market, saying that this year would see bountiful returns.
Giant Manufacturing Co., Ltd., the largest bicycle manufacturer in Taiwan, enjoyed both revenue and earning growths in this year. King Liu, Giant's chairman, analyzed that the some hot issues such as global warming, energy-saving, and Kyoto Protocol (CO2 emission limitation) etc. plus and increasing popularity of leisure bicycling have been stimulating the demand.
Merida Industry Co., Ltd., the No. 2 on the island, also enjoy eye-catching growths in revenue, profits, and stock-price this year. A senior official of the firm said that all of Merida's production capacity in Taiwan has been filled with orders but could only satisfy about 90% of the total demand. In order to face the excessive demand, Merida has begun outsourcing some of the medium-price models or trying to delay the shipments to the first quarter of next year.
The official added that both Merida and its affiliated brand Specialized won hot responses from buyers at the just-ended Eurobike bicycle show in Germany, so the company's sales department is optimistic about growing sales in 2008.
To more effectively fill the flooding orders, Merida modified its production lines, installed more equipment, and turned to two-shift daily production in 2006. After it became a major shareholder in Specialized Bicycle Components (SBC), a legendary American bicycle brand, the Taiwan company has been enjoying increasing contract orders from the subsidiary.
Ideal Bike Corp., the No. 3, acquired a 10% stake in Karbon Kinetics Ltd. of the U.K., which develops magnesium-alloy frame electric bike models. Ideal said that it would be responsible for mass production of the new electric bikes developed by Karbon Kinetics.
All the three bike makers have been actively exploring new markets and achieved some success. Merda has extended its sales into Latin America market. Ideal is utilizing its advantages generated by its Polish plant to actively explore the Eastern Europe market. Giant has been aggressively contacting with new distributors outside its traditional major markets.
((QL)) (G) | |
| | ![]() | | | Taiwan's MOEA to Sell 80% Stake in Sino Swearingen to Action Aviation
Taipei, Oct. 11, 2007 (CENS)--Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) reportedly signed an agreement to sell 80% shareholding in Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corp., a U.S.-based builder of the SJ30-2 light business jet, to Action Aviation Investments of the U.S., the largest distributor of such biz jet for about US$150 million.
Action Aviation Investments, a joint venture between Action Aviation and ACQ Capital, has bought a controlling interest in the company. Action Aviation is Sino's distributor to Europe and the Middle East. ACQ Capital is a California-based investment firm.
Action Aviation has, in fact, announced the stake acquisition to international media.
Shih Yen-shiang, Deputy Minister of MOEA, only confirmed in a low profile that the ministry is in talks with an American firm over issues of Sino Swearingen's capital-increase project. He added that some capitals are expected to inject into the American biz-jet builder by the end of October, when MOEA would formally announce related details.
Insiders familiar with the move said that Sino Swearingen have signed a major agreement and the two parties are finalizing related detail clauses in attached agreements. By October 25, the capitals would be injected into Sino Swearingen, which would immediately reshuffle the board of directors and let Action Aviation to assign a new chairman, the sources said.
According to the sources, Action Aviation promised to let Taiwanese companies supply some key parts of the SJ30-2 and assemble the airplane on the island. MOEA estimated that some major aerospace manufacturers in Taiwan, including Aerospace Industrial Development Corp. (AIDC) and its satellite plants, are expected to win business opportunities of about NT$2 billion (US$60.6 million at US$1: NT$33) per year for at least 10 years.
Market insiders said that Action Aviation, as a major distributor of the SJ30-2, should have been recognized the market potential of the biz jet, though the profits generated from the initial mass-production period would not be very high.
Sino Swearingen a partnership between Swearingen Aircraft Co. of San Antonio, Texas and Sino Aerospace Investment Corp. of Taiwan (under the MOEA), was established in 1995 and incorporated in 1997. Under political concerns, Taiwan government invested in the jet builder 10 years ago and has poured about US$600 million into the firm, but still could not successfully push its mass production.
According to Sino Swearingen, the SJ-30-2 is a new-generation business jet that has five to seven seats (including the pilot's seat) that promises greater range (2,500 nautical miles), faster speed (Mach 0.9), and a higher flight-altitude ceiling (49,000 feet) than other aircraft in its class. It also carries a relatively low price of US$3.5 million to US$4.2 million per unit.
Sino Swearingen reportedly has won orders for 300 SJ-30-2s.
((QL)) (G) | |
| | ![]() | | | Turkey's Largest Conglomerate on "Buy-Taiwan" Trip
Taipei, Oct. 11, 2007 (CENS)--Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), the government-backed trade promoter, is hosting a trade talk today (Oct. 11) on the sixth floor of the TWTC International Trade Building for domestic manufacturers and Koc Holding, Turkey's largest enterprise group, which is on a "buy-Taiwan" trip here.
During the trip, the group is reportedly to purchase passive electronic components, discrete electronic components, electro-mechanic components, semiconductor devices, connectors, etc. from the manufacturers in Taiwan.
Starting 2005 TAITRA has actively invited world's leading buyers to come to Taiwan for purchases and so far a total of 19 large international buyers have visited Taiwan for buying and among them included Bocsh, Delphi, Continental, Siemens VDO, etc.
Koc, No. 1 business conglomerate in Turkey and witnessing revenue of US$51 billion in 2006, is extremely welcomed by TAITRA. The conglomerate boasts a number of renowned affiliates and five of them are listed on Turkey's top 10 companies today. Currently Koc's officials visiting Taiwan come from its two affiliates—Arcelik A. S. and BEKO Koc Holding, the former is Turkey's No. 1 home appliance manufacturer with revenue of US$5.4 billion in 2006 and the latter Turkey's major exporter of consumer electronic products and also the country's largest 3C service provider.
This year Arcelik is estimated to buy products worth of US$1.9 billion and BEKO to purchase items worth of US$900 million; and both are believed to procure in Taiwan related parts for their products.
((JL)) (GE) | |
| | ![]() | | | TAITRA Helps Taiwan's Floral Plant Growers Go Global
Taipei, Oct. 11, 2007 (CENS)--To help promote Taiwan's floral plant market, Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) is going to collect marketing information from Europe for Taiwan's floral plant growers.
In 2006 the production value of Taiwan's floral products reached US$390 million, accounting for 33.28% of US$11.73 billion generated by the island's all agricultural produce. Today Taiwan's flowering plants take a total area of 13,000 hectares, accounting for only 1.61% of the total cultivated land area on the island.
In the same year, the export of floral products and sprouts amounted to US$77.89 million, up 8.67% from the corresponding figure of a year earlier, and imports was US$17.73 million.
Of Taiwan's exported floral products, orchid is most popular and among the various species of the flower, phalaenopsis and oncidiums are most favored in the market. In 2006 the exports of phalaenopsis stood at US$35.38 million for a sharp annual rise of 43.4%, and its three major export outlets were Japan, the U.S., and Holland. In the same year, the exports of oncidiums came to US$68.4 million and other flowers such as anthurium and chrysanthemum generated export value of US$2.9 million and US$1.73 million, respectively.
TAITRA indicated that Taiwan's orchid species and cultivating technologies both take leads in the world, not to mention that the export of orchid sprouts has been No. 1 in the global market over the past decade. TAITRA further predicted that the world's production value of phalaenopsis in the next five years would be over US$700 million and Taiwan would see more emerging competitors in the field.
To reinforce the competitiveness of Taiwan's orchid growers, TAITRA intends to help them set up in the near future overseas seedling incubation centers close to the markets in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Japan.
((JL)) (G) | |
| | ![]() | | | Quanta, Wistron Post Banner Sales for Sept.
Taipei, Oct. 11, 2007 (CENS)-- Taiwan's leading makers of notebook PCs posted banner sales performance in September, with Quanta Computer Inc. scoring single-month shipment of over 3 million units to beat a new high, Wistron Corporation recording historical of NT$29.78 billion in sales revenue and Inventec Electronics Corp. posting a 25.9% growth in sales revenue, according to company sources.
Welcoming a peak notebook PC sales season in the fourth quarter, Taiwan's top two notebook PC suppliers, namely Quanta and Wistron, both saw their shipment hitting new highs in September. Insiders in the sector still look on prospects of the industry with favor in the fourth quarter of this year, contrasted by foreign investors who are less confident of that in the year.
Quanta reported sale revenue of NT$79.528 billion for September, up 5.7% from August and 79.9% from last September, and combined revenue of NT$520.76 billion for the past nine months of the year, growing by 65% from a year earlier.
Besides, Quanta posted shipment of 3.1 million units of notebook PCs in the month 8.8 million units for the third quarter of this year, and 22.4 million units for the past nine months of the year. The company projects its shipment to reach 28 million units for entire the year.
Quanta noted that this year its shipment peak will be advanced in October from November, and this may make its sales revenue for the fourth quarter 5-10% lower than the corresponding figure to be posted in the third quarter due mainly to Dell that has shifted its orders to Wistron in the fourth quarter of this year.
Also, it is concerned that tight supply of parts and components for notebook PCs may affect Quanta's shipment in the fourth quarter; however, the company said that despite shortage of power suppliers and display panels, the situation won't affect too much.
On another front, Wistron, which has switched its focus onto sales of handy devices from notebook PCs in recent years, recorded a new high of NT$29.78 billion in sales revenue in September, and aggregate revenue of NT$18.362 billion for the past three quarters of this year, up 17% from a year earlier. Of its September revenue, NT$24 billion was generated by sales of notebook PCs, still accounting for a relatively high proportion of 80%.
Institutional investors noted that thanks to its European clients for global positioning system devices, Wistron has enjoyed strong sales of the products, projecting its shipment of handheld devices to increase to 300,000 units in the fourth quarter, which doubles from 100,000-150,000 units projected for the third quarter.
Besides, fueled by orders from Dell and ASUS and shipment of liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs to Sony, Wistron is expected to further score new highs for sales revenue in October, and starts driving up revenue month by month during the second half of the year.
Meanwhile, Inventec reported sales revenue of NT$23.051 billion for September, up 25.9% from a month earlier but down 0.73% from last September. The company has also scored aggregate revenue of NT$162.018 billion over the past nine months of this year, slightly down 0.51% from a year earlier, and projected its annual revenue for this year to tie the corresponding figure for last year.
In fact, Inventec had posted lackluster sales performance in the first half of this year, but, thanks to returning orders from its major clients, such as Toshiba, it has successfully turned around its single-month revenue during the second half. The company is also expected to post a growth rate in sales higher than others in the sector in the fourth quarter.
((SC)) (E)
| |
| | ![]() | | | Taiwan's Online Shopping to Reach NT$185.5 B. for 2008
Taipei, Oct. 11, 2007 (CENS)--Affected by reduced consumer confidence and recession in the retail sector, the projected sales of Taiwan's online shopping for this year has been lowered by 16% to NT$185.5 billion from an original expectation of NT$222 billion, according to a report issued by Market Intelligence Center (MIC) under government-funded Institute for Information Industry.
MIC noted that online shopping is estimated to reach NT$185.5 billion this year, which are mainly generated from two parts, business-to-consumer (B2C) and consumer-to-consumer (C2C) transactions, with the former being expected to contribute to NT$108 billion, adjusted from NT$143.8 billion, and the latter to NT$77.4 billion, adjusted from NT$78.4 billion.
Although below expectations, online shopping will still grow 50% in the C2C transaction and 31% in the B2B this year, according to MIC.
Analysts said that this year's weak growth in the B2C market is due partly to reduced consumer confidence and depression in the retail sector on the island, and partly to some business entities like department stores, who have yet to venture into the market as heavily and actively as had been expected. Thus, MIC decided to adjust down its projection of sales in the online shipping market for the year.
In fact, in addition to this year's projected sales of the online shopping sector, MIC already adjusted down the corresponding figure for last year to NT$134 billion from NT$145 billion, as well as lowered another to NT$82.3 billion from NT$93.5 billion in the B2C transaction for the same year.
Next year, the growth of online shopping is expected to maintain a level of 36%, creating business potential worth NT$250 billion, including NT$138.5 billion in the B2C and NT$114.5 billion in the C2C, respectively up 38% and 45%, according to MIC.
((SC)) (GE) | |
| | ![]() | | | Taiwan's LED Makers Boost Fund-raising for Expansion
Burgeoning demand for light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and LED-based products has prompted Taiwanese manufacturers in the line--Epistar Corp., Tekcore Co., Bright LED Electronics Corp., Huga Optotech Inc., and Ligitek Electronics Co., among others—to map out plans to raise more funds than ever this year to finance expansion projects.
The companies have already built up additional funds totaling NT$12.5 billion, the largest amount they have ever accumulated. Since the beginning of this year quite a number of them have been carrying out capital increases by such means as cash injection, the issuance of corporate bonds, or the taking out of syndicated loans. Epistar has raised the lion's share of the total, with NT$9.2 billion.
Bright LED, an LED packager, has already completed a capacity expansion financed by its own capital, boosting monthly output to 250 million surface-mount device (SMD) LEDs, 200 million LED lamps, 120 million infrared emitting diodes, and 140 million LED displays. The company expects to achieve an overall capacity utilization of 85% in the third quarter of the year.
Another large LED packaging company, Harvatek Corp., has completed a second-stage expansion plan that boosts single-line production capacity to 450 million LEDs per month. Expansion is still going on, and the company plans to double its output of white LEDs to 20 million units per month.
Foreign Investors Recognize Taiwan's Sound LED Industrial Foundation
Foreign investors say that the annual production value of the world's LED-manufacturing industry amounts to around US$800 million (NT$26 billion at NT$32.5:US$1), while the LED packaging sector generates US$4.5 billion (NT$146.25 billion) annually. This indicates that the value of packaging output is far higher than that of manufacturing.
In contrast to Japanese LED suppliers, who tend to both make and package LEDs in-house, Taiwanese makers tend to focus on manufacturing and supply nearly 90% of their LEDs to large domestic packaging companies. In this way, Taiwan's LED sector has formed a sound, integrated industrial network. Many foreign institutional investors look on this integrated supply chain with favor.
Some foreign LED companies have also been busy expanding their production capacity. For instance, Cree Inc. of the United States is tripling the capacity of "Xlamp" white LEDs at a company that it operates as a joint venture with Hong Kong's COTCO International Ltd., and Japan's Panasonic hopes to boost sales of its LED lighting by 400% in 2010.
Demand for Notebook LED Backlights Brings Lucrative Opportunities
On another front, the power-efficient, long-lived white LEDs, for which prices have dropped 30% over the past four years, have been widely applied in computers, street lights, and automotive lamps. The global market for these products will be worth more than US$3.495 billion in 2009, according to industry sources.
Manufacturers are also benefiting from the strong demand for LED backlights for notebook PCs. Foreign investors are especially enamored of Everlight Electronic Co., Ltd., which has made rapid, solid progress in the field. (SC, Oct. 2007)
| |
| | ![]() | | | TARC Helps Taiwan's Automotive Industry Put the Pedal to the Metal
By QUINCY LIANG
In a maturing domestic market with limited new-car sales, Taiwan's automotive industry has to target the international market for sustainable development, according to Long-chou Huang, president of domestic Automotive Research & Testing Center (ARTC) and current chairman of the Taiwan Automotive Research Consortium (TARC).
The TARC was established in 2004 as one of the key motivators to fire up Taiwan's automotive industry. The consortium has four founding members: the Mechanical and System Research Laboratories (MSL) of Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), the ARTC, the Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), and the Metal Industries Research and Development Center (MIRDC), as well as about 120 private suppliers and manufacturers.
The TARC projects are designed to boost the development of the domestic complete-vehicle and auto-parts industries; to facilitate their transformation from exclusively manufacturing to systems development; and to help local producers develop a broader vision to market products to large international automakers and tier-one parts brands.
In a recent interview by the ST-Pioneer biomonthly magazine published by Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT) under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Huang outlined a blueprint for a more dynamic development of the local automotive industry.
Key is to be Independent
Asia has been generally deemed as the only regional market to see significant automobile sales growth in this century, especially in emerging nations such as mainland China and India, Huang pointed out. Some Taiwanese automakers have more or less set up closer cooperation ties with their foreign technical partners from the past and are exporting locally made car products to Japan, mainland China, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Oceania.
In the future, Huang explained, if it can effectively upgrade its automotive R&D capability, Taiwan is expected to become a R&D center for cars produced in mainland China and Southeast Asia.
Huang has confidence in the local automotive industry, despite the domestic market being very limited in volume, because the quality and technology levels of locally-made cars are not inferior to that of imported luxury counterparts. In addition to quality, he added, the innovation and high-tech features (achieved by the strong support from the local information and communication technology (ICT) and electronics industries) are even more competitive at times.
The most urgent challenge local automotive industry has to overcome is still the over-reliance on key sub-systems and parts monopolized by global automakers and tier-one parts companies.
He also pointed out another opportunity for the local automotive industry—to more actively develop automotive-electronic products. The annual production value of Taiwan's auto-parts industry reached about NT$150 billion (US$4.55 billion at US$1: NT$33) in 2006, of which 88.7%, or NT$132.9 billion (US$4.03 billion) were for exports, with most such items being aftermarket (AM) replacement items.
More and more local auto-parts makers are tapping into American and European car makers' supply chains, showing a positive sign for future development. In addition, the small-batch, large-variety production mode, strong R&D capability, and rapid tooling of local auto-parts makers have helped to upgrade their international competitiveness, Huang said.
More Realistic Mindset
In order to build up the comprehensive complete-vehicle development capability, Huang said that the DoIT initiated the establishment of the TARC to help local industries develop home-grown cars and key automotive parts, with such achievements expected to be transferred to private-sector makers to create higher added values.
The current chairman added that in the past most local research institutes focused on their respective expertise, hence resulting in R&D achievements often unsuitable to real-world needs in industry. So, the four consortium members decided to put on a new thinking cap and turn to teamwork to draw a more comprehensive blueprint to develop the island's automotive industry.
Candidates from the four member units alternate yearly as the TARC chairman, with Huang taking the 2007 chairmanship and handling policies and strategies, convening meetings, proposing new R&D projects to the government, and planning related activities.
The consortium is required not only to show R&D achievements every year but also invite global experts to Taiwan to increase the country's presence and set up international links.
With teamwork, Huang stressed, the four member institutes of the TARC have been working more closely and interacting more intensively than before, generating much more powerful and effective momentum to upgrade local industries.
t-Car Platform
As Taiwan lacks the overall capacity to build a complete-vehicle, Huang said, the "t (Taiwan)-car" experimental vehicle platform being jointly developed by TARC and around 120 local companies is without doubt an important strategic goal.
The "t-car" vehicle platform is a technology-integrated platform with major emphasis on energy-efficiency and safety. The platform incorporates advanced, energy-saving, hybrid power-train and transmission technologies (developed by MSL and CSIST); intelligent adaptive front-lighting systems (by ARTC); lightweight auto parts (by MIRDC); and other modular chassis design and analytical technologies. The t-car is also equipped with Taiwan's first home-grown telematics on-board unit (OBU).
The vehicle platform was first demonstrated in 2006 and several key techniques or sub-systems on the platform have been transferred to private companies for commercialization, showing successful achievement of the initial-stage goal.
According to James Wang, director of Intelligent Mobility Technology Division of MSL, the t-car's most important function is to serve as an integrated test and technology-education platform for local automobile and auto-parts makers, giving them a chance to run and test their newly-developed products on a real vehicle. "Seeing is believing," he commented. "The t-car is also a means of showing the strengths of our car and parts makers to international automakers and tier-one parts suppliers."
Basically, Huang pointed out, the t-car platform development project was planned for three stages, including the first (2005-2006) to build the display platform; the second (2007-2008) to set up strategic alliances between makers and push products into commercialization, such as LED headlamp, lane departure warning system (LDWS), parking assisting system, etc.; and the third (2010-2013) when local makers of the key parts and sub-systems have matured and can supply to turn out a home-grown, complete car. In the third stage, all major parts and sub-system products are designed to adopt advanced technologies, providing a new stage for Taiwan's globally famous information and communication technology (ICT), telecom, and electronics industries.
With the successful development of the t-car platform, Huang said, TARC is also expected to be a vital technology provider to develop intelligent vehicles on the island.
Major Axles
Home-grown, complete-vehicle techniques and auto-parts are the two main axles in the local automotive industry development, Huang said. Considering that complete-vehicle development and commercialization require longer time but auto-parts manufacture shorter commitment, Taiwan could first choose to focus on becoming a global supply center of high-quality auto-parts as its short-term goal, with the increasing strength of the parts sector expected to foster the more involved development of complete-vehicles.
Taiwan already has significant R&D resources in its automotive line, Huang said. In addition to the TARC, several major local automakers have established R&D centers, such as Yulon Motor Co. (in partnership with Nissan), China Motor Corp. (Mitsubishi), Kuozui Motors Ltd. (Toyota), and Ford Lio Ho Motor Co. (Ford).
A new company dubbed Hua-chuang Automobile Information Technical Center Co. Ltd. (HAITEC), established mainly by the local Yulon Group, has been actively cooperating with major information and communication technology (ICT) conglomerates on the island to jointly build home-grown key automotive electronic systems such as reverse sensor, electronic brake force distribution (EBD), engine management system (EMS), cruise control system, air bag, and many others. Huang said the aggressive participation by private companies shows promise for the speedier development of the local automotive sector.
In 2008, Huang stressed, there would be a new, home-grown car commercialized by a local company, while the exports of Taiwan-made auto parts are expected to continue growing. All signs show that the island's long-term dedication to upgrading the automotive industry will reap fruitful rewards sooner than later.
Caption 1: Long-chou Huang, president of ARTC and current chairman of the TARC.
Caption 2: The t-Car vehicle platform developed by TARC members and 120 local companies.
Caption 3: Taiwan is actively developing its automotive-electronics line. | |
|
沒有留言:
張貼留言