| Prime News | | ![]() | ![]() | Yageo to Build World's Largest Passive-Component Production Base in Suzhou
Taipei, Oct. 30, 2007 (CENS)--On the 10th anniversary of its Chinese operation, Yageo Corp., a major passive-component maker, inaugurated its second Suzhou plant in China yesterday (Oct. 29), which will transform the company's Suzhou operation to the world's largest passive-component production base following completion of its second-phase facility next year.
Inauguration of the second Suzhou plant is a milestone for the Chinese operation of Yageo, which has established a comprehensive production and sales network for passive components in China since entering the market in 1996.
Yageo is now the largest resistor-chip supplier in China, boasting market share of 39%, as well as one of the top three MLCC (multilayer chip capacitor) suppliers, with market share reaching 19%. Due to the rapid growth of its Chinese business, overseas sales has now accounted for 50% of the company's total revenue, similar to its Taiwan operation, with the former expected to hit 70% in three to five years.
The company harbors a rosy outlook for its Chinese business next year, due to the fast expanding domestic demand and the effect of the Beijing Olympics, as a result of which the Chinese markets of notebook PCs, mobile phones, and LCD (liquid crystal display) TVs will jump 40%, 20%, and 67%, respectively, next year, much higher than the projected growth rates of 22%, 10%, and 33% for the global markets.
Construction on the second-phase project of the company's second Suzhou plant will break ground soon, and following its completion in February next year, monthly capacities of Yageo's Suzhou operation will hit 36 billion units for resistor chips and 11 billion for MLCC, making it the largest passive-component production base worldwide.
Plus its Taiwanese plants, Yageo's global resistor-chip capacity will leap 33% to 44 billion units a month next year, when its MLCC capacity will advance 51.7% to 22 billion units, with major growth driver being high-capacity products, rivaling its Japanese counterparts in technological level.
In addition, Yageo will also set up its third R&D center worldwide in Suzhou, following Taiwan and Europe. The R&D building in Suzhou will also be completed next February, similar to the second-phase project of the second Suzhou plant, according to Ting Chung-yi, president of Yageo's Chinese operation.
Chen Tai-min, Yageo chairman, noted that the company's capital outlay will reach NT$3-4 billion next year, higher than this year's NT$3 billion, with Taiwan still absorbing 80% of the outlay.
One major purpose of the capital outlay is to support the company's fast developing antenna production. The company is now turning out 2.5 million antennas monthly, mainly for Bluetooth, the largest item, WiFi, WiMAX, WWAN, and GPS (global positioning satellite) products used in notebook PCs and mobile phones, with annual revenue reaching NT$600-800 million, only 3-4% of its total figure. The company projects its antenna revenue will jump 40% this year and double next year before hitting NT$3 billion in 2010.
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| | ![]() | | | Gov't to Review China-Investment Restrictions on ICs Makers
Taipei, Oct. 30, 2007 (CENS)--The government will study the feasibility of further liberalizing investment by local IC makers in China and assist them in developing next-generation 18-inch wafer fabs, so as to support local IC industry's further development, according to ranking officials of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday (Oct. 29).
During a meeting with representatives of local ICs makers, Steve Ruey-long Chen, economics minister, pledged to review the overall political and economic environment and study the feasibility of accommodating the urge of ICs makers to liberalize their investments in China.
Shih Yien-hsiang, vice economics minister, noted that the ministry will study how to help makers lower their costs and risks in building next-generation 18-inch wafer fabs, so as to further expand their global market share.
Intel announced the other day its plan to develop 18-inch wafer fab, for which local makers are still adopting a wait-and-see attitude, although Taiwan now boasts the highest density in the establishment of 12-inch wafer fabs worldwide.
During the meeting, ICs makers also expressed hope for government support for their operations in the aspects of land obtaining, environmental issue, water and power supply, and talents.
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| | ![]() | | | Acer to See Exponential Growth in Shipments in 2008
Taipei, Oct. 30, 2007 (CENS)--With strong growth in sales in the third quarter of this year, Acer Inc. is expected to see shipments of notebook personal computers and desktop PCs exceed 25 million units in 2008, up over 50% year-on-year and standing firmly as the world's third-largest PC brand.
In the first quarter of this year, an industry insider estimated Acer would see yearly PC shipments reach over 12 million units this year. But in the second half of this year, the institutional investor upward adjusted the anticipated shipment amount to 15 million units, of which NB accounting for 80% and desktop PCs 20%.
Based on its 50% annual growth in shipments, Acer is expected to ship 25 million units of PCs in 2008, including those shipped by subsidiaries, a goal set by its chairman J.T. Wang.
Wang anticipated his company would see a 10% up to 20% annual growth in shipments in the fourth quarter of this year. It is expected Acer will see global market share stand at between 9.8% and 10% this year and the market share will jump to between 11% and 12% in 2008.
Acer said North America will become the largest driver of its growth next year. An institutional investor predicted Acer would be able to double its sales in the North American market in 2008.
At present, Acer sees sales in the North American market account for 25% of its total sales and the percentage will grow to 34% in 2008. While the sales in the North American market will increase, the company's sales in the European market will slow down next year.
Acer estimated notebook PCs will account for 70% up to 80% of its total sales in 2008.
The company is initiating a unique strategy to manage global sales by distributing two brands in each of the major regions, including Europe, North America, and Asia.
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| | ![]() | | | China Development Ratings Raised on Improved Integration, Risk Characteristics
Taipei, Oct. 30, 2007 (CENS)--Taiwan Ratings Corp. (TRC) recently raised its long-term counterparty credit rating on China Development Financial Holding Corp. (CDFHC) to "twAA-" from "twA+" and its short-term credit rating to "twA-1+" from "twA-1."
TRC also raised its long-term counterparty credit rating on China Development Industrial Bank (CDIB) to "twAA" from "twAA-" and affirmed its "twA-1+" short-term credit rating on the bank. The outlook on the long-term rating of both entities is stable.
The rating action on CDFHC and CDIB reflect the CDFHC Group's track record of managed growth when integrating operations amongst group members, enhancing risk characteristics of other subsidiaries and diversifying into new business/revenue sources. After experiencing structured change in 2004, the group has adopted a more coherent management and growth strategy.
The ratings on CDFHC and CDIB continue to reflect their good capitalization, and leading position in Taiwan's venture capital industry. Counterbalancing factors include the higher risk profile in the group's direct investment portfolio business, which is naturally sensitive to capital market fluctuation.
The TRC said the CDFHC Group is the leader in Taiwan's venture capital industry through its core subsidiary CDIB. At the end of June 2007, the bank's venture capital portfolio totaled NT$74.6 billion, representing a market share of about 30%, which to some extent provides good access to business opportunities.
CDFHC's capitalization provides good cushioning against its business risk and is likely to be maintained at a good level with prudent expansion plans. At the end of June 2007, the CDFHC Group's ratio of adjusted total equity to adjusted consolidated assets stood at 38.3% on a consolidated basis, compared with 38.4% at the end of 2006. The group's capitalization, even excluding the group's venture capital investments, still remains good. The holding company's double leverage was an adequate 104.1% at the end of June 2007.
The stable outlook reflects the likelihood that the CDFHC Group would pursue prudent management of its expansion plans, including organic growth and merger & acquisition activity over the medium term. The outlook also incorporates the group's likely improving core earning ability, increasing business diversification, and smooth integration among CDIB and Grad Cathay Securities. A negative rating action could follow if the currently prudent expansion strategy were to change and any aggressive acquisition results in a higher risk profile, or if the group fails to deliver sustainable profits.
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| | ![]() | | | ITRI Assigned to Spearhead WiMAX Forum Laboratory Project
Taipei, Oct. 30, 2007 (CENS)--The government-backed Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) will spearhead a project to set up the world's No.1 WiMAX-application laboratory, according to WiMAX Forum Chairman Ron Resnick.
The chairman announced the assignment recently at a meeting held in Taipei. The laboratory is expected to become reality at the end of this year to identify applications for the fourth-generation wireless technologies.
Resnick said eight organizations in Taiwan and overseas including Chunghwa Telecom (Taiwan), China Television (Taiwan), National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan), National Tsing Hwa University (Taiwan), National Chi Nan University (Taiwan), Intra Mobile (South Korea) and NDS (Israel) had joined the project.
ITRI's executives pointed out that the project will be open to all forum members in second stage.
WiMAX Forum holds member conferences three times a year and held the meeting for the first time in Taiwan.
The forum's executives disclosed that the forum plans to open another verification laboratory in Taiwan next year after opening one in May this year in Taiwan and is still evaluating locations.
During the Taipei meeting, Economics Minister Steve Chen signed a memorandum of understanding with Alcatel-Lucent, Motorola, Nokia-Siemens, Networks, Sprint-Nextel, and Starent, which pledged to work with Taiwanese manufacturers on WiMAX technology developments and buy their products.
Chen said that WiMAX is a paramount wireless technology the government is promoting and estimated the government and the private sector on the island would totally invest US$664 million in its development over next two years, the world's second highest WiMAX investment capital. He projected the island's WiMAX revenue to hit NT$140 billion (US$4.2 billion) in 2012.
These international telecom-technology heavyweights and their Taiwanese counterparts including Far EasTone Telecom, First International Telecom, Tatung Corp., Tecom Co., ZyXEL Communications, and GemTek Technology displayed their WiMAX products on the sideline of the forum meeting.
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| | ![]() | | | Industry Gurus Forecast LED Market to Boom Into Early 2008
Taipei, Oct. 30, 2007 (CENS)--Top executives of Unity Opto Technology Co., Ltd. and Epistar Corp. recently pointed out that demands for light emitting diodes (LEDs) will be better-than-expected throughout this quarter and the market will be unusually strong into the first quarter next year.
Epistar Chairman B.J. Lee and his counterpart at Unity Opto, C.H. Wu, said Taiwanese LED manufacturers will see monthly revenue keep setting new highs at least until next month and revenue for January next year increase over 20% from the same period this year.
The two executives were among the dignitaries who recently attended an LED forum organized by the Economic Daily News, a sister of CENS.
Wu ascribed the demand surges mostly to strong demands for LED backlighting modules, LED auto lamps and LED lighting equipment. He estimated LED will likely penetrate into as high as 90% of backlighting modules for LCD monitors.
Lee analyzed that LCD TVs will become the major application for LED backlighting modules over the next five years. In addition, lighting application will become mature. He disclosed that some big TV suppliers had suggested his company should expand output and work with them.
Lee estimated even boosting global LED output by two to three folds from current three billion diodes a month will remain far behind demands from 40-inch LCD TV production.
Lee said he is upbeat about LED application in notebook computers and streetlamps, forecasting the two applications to surging next year. He also expected LED application in LCD TVs as backlighting module to rise in 2009.
Arima Optoelectronics Corp. President P.T. Wang pointed out that cost and efficacy have been the two crucial factors deciding the popularity of LED lamps. He said the efficacy must be lifted to 150 lumens per watt from current 75 lumens per watt and the cost must be pared down 10 folds so that the diode can become popular.
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| | ![]() | | | Increasing Partnerships Between TFT-LCD Panel-related Industries: TCL Research P
Taipei, Oct. 30, 2007 (CENS)--Mainland China must create a world-class thin film transistor-liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panel manufacturer, and the partnerships between companies in the panel-related industries must increase and become closer, according to Dr. Xiaolin Yan, president of TCL Research.
Yan made the statement at a presentation at the recent "The 1st FPD Conference of Displaybank and IEK in Taiwan" held on October 18 in Taiwan and organized by DisplayBank of South Korea and Industrial Economics & Knowledge Center (IEK) of local Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI).
Yan said that some Taiwan TFT-LCD panel makers have already set up cooperation ties with Chinese partners, including the top-two players in Taiwan AU Optronics Corp. (AUO) and Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp. (CMO), and are expected to benefit from such in the first wave.
T.C. Tu, general director of IEK, also pointed out at the FPD conference that mainland China is expected to become the world's largest LCD TV market in 2010, so TV makers in the huge market are expected to bear increasing importance. In next three to five years, the general director predicted, the rapid and booming development of China's LCD TV market would be an eye-catching story, he added.
According to Tu, currently major global LCD TV brands only Sony, Samsung, LG, Sharp, and Panasonic (Matsushita) own in-house panel plants, while TV makers in China, who lack the supports from in-house panel capacities, are expected to soon try to control the key-parts supply through partnerships or joint-venture projects. He encouraged Taiwan TFT-LCD suppliers more actively develop cooperation ties with Chinese partners, including capital tie-up projects.
No matter joint design or investment projects, Yan said, LCD TV makers in China have many chances to develop deeper and closer partnerships with Taiwan panel manufacturers. Up to now, Chunghwa Picture Tubes, Ltd. (CPT), Taiwan's No. 3 large-sized panel maker, has directly invested in Chinese TV maker Xiamen Overseas Chinese Electronic Co., Ltd. (Xoceco), while CMO recently also strategically invested in TPV Technology Ltd.
Yan explained that China is a huge market with abundant capital, land, and human resources. As part of its strategic development, China must run a big-scale TFT-LCD plant, which might be established under perhaps self-investment, integration of existing panel makers, or acquisition.
According to TCL Research's survey, seven local LCD TV brands in China currently together ship over five million LCD TVs per year, including TCL, Haier, Xoceco, Konka, Changhong etc. Among those major players, Yan said, TCL ships over 20 million units of various kinds of TV sets, making it a world-class TV brand already.
In the first half of this year, a total of 11.8 million LCD TVs were sold in China including 2.69 million units made by the seven Chinese brands, Yan said, and the LCD TV penetration ratio is about 30.8% currently in the huge market. In the second half, Yan estimated that the shipment volume would increase to about 18 million units, upgrading the penetration ratio to 36.2%.
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| | ![]() | | | Tong Yang, Kai Yih's First-9-month Earnings Outstrip All of 2006
Taipei, Oct. 30, 2007 (CENS)--Two major subsidiaries of the Tong Yang Group, including the flagship firm Tong Yang Industrial Co., Ltd., the world's largest maker of aftermarket (AM) auto plastic body-parts, and Taiwan Kai Yih Industrial Co., Ltd., a major maker of sheet-metal AM body parts supplier, reported lucrative operation results in the first nine months.
Tong Yang Group claimed that sales in North America and Europe markets have been enjoying clear growths in the first three quarters and operation results in the fourth quarter are expected to be very promising.
Tong Yang registered revenue of NT$674 million (US$20.42 million at US$1: NT$33) in September, a record monthly high for the seventh consecutive month, translating into pretax earnings of NT$84.53 million (US$2.56 million), up 125.86% from the same month of last year. The firm had accumulated pretax profits of NT$829 million (US$25.12 million) in the first nine months, up 42.38% from a year earlier, and already outstripping the whole-year earnings (NT$632 million or US$19.15 million) in 2006. Tong Yang reported an accumulated earnings per share (EPS) of NT$2 (US$0.06) in the first three quarters, a three-year high.
Raymond Wu, president of Tong Yang, attributed his company's brilliant operation results in the first nine months to the increasing popularity of AM auto-parts in North America and Europe markets, as well as Tong Yang's increasingly solid foothold in the major markets. He added that Tong Yang would continue to expand capacity for AM bumpers and construct new warehouses and land docks to meet the strong demands.
Kai Yih registered pretax earnings of NT$132.1 million (US$4 million) in the first nine months, up 115.7% from the same period of last year. The first-nine-month profits already outstripped that in whole-2006 (NT$156 million or US$4.73 million).
Simon Chen, Kai Yih president, said that AM parts have been enjoy increasing popularity with consumers in the U.S. and Europe. The company has been actively diversifying product lines into electro-plated bumpers, he added.
After the recent completion of fender-pressing capacity expansion, Kai Yih's fender production capacity has been upgraded by 34% while the defect rate has also been reduced. The company is very confident of operations in the fourth quarter, the traditional demand peak.
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| | ![]() | | | Taiwan's Outstanding Car Loans Hit 32-Month Low of NT$99.45 B. in August
Taipei, Oct. 30, 2007 (CENS)--The outstanding car loans extended by Taiwan's domestic banks fell below NT$100 billion (US$3.03 billion at US$1 = NT$33) to NT$99.45 billion (US$3.01 billion) at the end of August of this year, the lowest of its kind in 32 months and sharply down by NT$31.1 billion (US$912.12 million) or 24% from the corresponding figure of last year, according to the statistics released by Cabinet-level Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC).
Severely impacted by the twin-card debt storm over the past two years, most domestic banks have therefore tightened up their credits for small-sized loans, card loans, and vehicle loans. Some of them have even withdrawn from new car and/or used car loan market since last year or the beginning of this year. In August of this year alone the car loan market posted a monthly drop of NT$2.8 billion (US$84.84 million).
Among the domestic banks, Taishin International Bank boasted the highest outstanding car loans of NT$18.737 billion (US$567.78 million) at the end of August for an annual decline of NT$2.7 billion (US$81.81 million). Jih Sun International Bank posted the second highest of NT$12.76 billion (NT$386.6 million), showing a sizable shrinkage of NT$9.4 billion (US$284.84 million).
In the same period, Union Bank of Taiwan took the third place with outstanding car loans of NT$10.2 billion (US$309.09 million), a decline of NT$3.758 billion (US$113.878 million) from a year earlier.
The above-mentioned three banks were the only ones among domestic banks with outstanding car loans of more than NT$10 billion (US$303.03 million) and the rest all registered corresponding loans of below the level. Last year Chinatrust Commercial Bank still recorded such loans of above NT$10 billion (US$303.03 million), which tumbled to NT$4.636 billion (US$140.48 million) at the end of August of this year for a whopping annual decline of more than NT$5.8 billion (US$175.7 million). Fuhwa Commercial Bank and Bank SinoPac also experienced annual drop of NT$2-3 billion (US$62.6-90.9 million) in such loans during the period.
Nevertheless, domestic banks that witnessed growth in outstanding car loans as of August included Hua Nan Commercial Bank, Cota Commercial Bank, Cosmos Bank, and EnTie Commercial Bank, with each seeing rises between NT$100 million (US$3.03 million) and NT$1.5 billion (US$45.45 million) to NT$4-6 billion (US$121.21-181.81 million).
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| | ![]() | | | Taiwan Sees Growth in Active Credit Cards in August
Taipei, Oct. 30, 2007 (CENS)--Due to the prolonged influence of the twin-card debt storm, Taiwan witnessed shrinkage in the issuance of both cash and credit cards in August of this year; nevertheless, the number of active cards increased by 60,000 from a month earlier, the first rise of its kind since the beginning of this year, according to the statistics released by Cabinet-level Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC).
This year banks in Taiwan have written off bad credit card loans worth of a total of NT$45.1 billion (US$1.37 billion at US$1 = NT$33); of which, Chinatrust Commercial erased the highest of NT$5.2 billion (US$157.58 million) among the domestic banks. Other banks handling delinquent credit-card loans of more than NT$2 billion (US$60.6 million) each during the year included Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank, Cathay United Bank, and Union Bank of Taiwan.
In the same year, the banks here have erased bad cash-card loans totaling NT$26.3 billion (US$796.97 million) and, of which, Taishin International Bank alone wrote off NT$8.9 billion (US$269.7 million).
The aftermath of the bad card loan storm has forced many banks here to take a conservative attitude toward card businesses. In August Taiwan witnessed a total of 36.58 million credit cards circulating on the island, down by 3.34 million cards from the corresponding figure of last year and the outstanding revolving credit of the cards declined by NT$8.84 million (US$267,879) to NT$298.9 billion (US$9.06 billion). However, the amount of credit-card spending posted an annual growth of NT$4.1 billion (US$124.24 million) to NT$121.8 billion (US$3.69 billion); and the number of cash cards in use dropped by 760,000 to 1.74 million.
Due to FSC's close monitoring, the average delinquency rate of credit-card loans edged down by 0.2 of a percentage point from a month earlier to 2.12% in August, and that of cash-card loans dropped by 0.41 of a percentage point to 7.07%.
In the same month, the Chinese Bank posted the highest delinquency rate of 12.88% in credit-card loans among the banks here, followed by Cosmos Bank's 3.13%. As for cash-card loans, Taitung Business Bank recorded the highest delinquency rate of 32.27% and followed by 29.6% posted by Bowa Bank. The Chinese Bank, Taishin International Bank, Union Bank of Taiwan, and Cosmos Bank saw the corresponding percentages stand at 14.74%, 9.73%, 6.56%, and 4.57%, respectively.
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| | ![]() | | | Kolin to Boost LCD TV Shipment to 2 M. Units for 2008
Taipei, Oct. 30, 2007 (CENS)--After completing its operation deployment in the global market for liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs, Kolin Inc., one of heavyweight makers of household electronics in Taiwan, expects to boost its shipment of the products to two million units for 2008, according to Liu Chi-lieh, president of Kolin.
Meanwhile, to penetrate the European market, Kolin has been working with Taiwan's Teco Electric & Machinery Co. and First International Computer Co. to set up a manufacturing plant in the Czech Republic, which will start supplying in the first half of next year.
Recently, Kolin unveiled Taiwan's first local-supply 65-inch, high-definition LCD TV and 52-inch similar model on a product launch event. Also, the firm already announced a price cut for 47-inch models to NT$84,800, dropping by 12% from NT$96,800, aiming for a 10% share in the Taiwanese market this year.
Liu says that Kolin has shipped more than 5,000 units of its newly launched 65-inch, high-definition LCD TVs and 2,000 52-inch models to the U.S. market this year, which are expected to further drive its sales in the fourth quarter.
Kolin projects to post LCD TV shipment of 1.2 million units for this year, with 90% delivered to the U.S. market, where the firm has gone well with its branding partner Syntax-Brillian. With help of its partner in the U.S., Kolin, which achieved shipment of 1.6-1.8 million LCD TVs, can further raise the figure to two million units for next year, according to Liu.
In addition, he notes that the European market for LCD TVs is quite lucrative; however, Kolin has to cope with the fact that LCD TVs shipped to Europe are strictly required to adopt environment-friendly material and design, which are different from models to the U.S.
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| | ![]() | | | Penetration Rate of LED-backlit Laptops to Reach 15% in 2008
Taipei, Oct. 30, 2007 (CENS)--With light-emitting diodes (LEDs) becoming more popular in the laptop market, insiders in the sector project the penetration rate of LED-backlit models to reach 13-15% in 2008, and most likely soar to 40% in 2009, serving as new momentum for the LED making sector in the future.
Production value of the global LED sector is estimated at US$6.3 billion this year, and an annual compound growth rate to be about 15% in 2010, as a price gap between LEDs and cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFLs) has been narrowing. In the past, the price of the former is 2-2.5 folds higher than that of the latter, but the ratio is expected to diminish to 1.5 folds in this year and next year, triggering more applications of LED backlights.
LPL, a world-level display panel maker in Korea, indicates that a penetration rate of LED-backlit notebook panels in the market for panels for notebook PCs is only 3% this year, but the figure will sharply grow to 13% next year, 40% in 2009, and even more than 70% in 2010. The firm already launches 12.1, 13.3, 14.1, 15.4 and 17.1-inch LED-backlit panels this year, and will widely introduce those products in laptops next year.
This year, display panel makers have heavily adopted LED backlights in their 7-inch models, providing a momentum in growth of the market for LED backlights. With shipment of small- and medium-sized panels to grow by 30-50% next year, demand for LEDs will significantly increase.
Suppliers of backlight modules note that there have been 10-plus LED-backlit laptops launched on a trial basis this year. As notebook PC suppliers may raise their shipment of such models, insiders are more optimistic about the prospect of the market for the products next year than this year.
Explosive need for LED backlights is supposed to significantly benefit downstream contract suppliers of LEDs initially. Some note that notebook PCs feature lightweight and compactness, which require more precise specifications and advanced technologies. Brightness-wise, an LED backlight for notebook PCs needs 1700mcd chips that Taiwanese makers have not mastered. In addition, limited by patents, Taiwanese makers are still expected to lag behind Japanese counterparts in supplying LED chips in 2008.
Taiwan LED makers having benefited from sharply increasing shipment of 7-inch display panels this year include Everlight Electronics Co. and Unity Opto Technology Co., who both boast above-average technologies and products quality and have seen their shipment of backlights therefore grow significantly. Meanwhile, the two companies have gradually introduced their products into notebook PCs, as well as having sent for certifications, which most likely would help boost growth in shipment of the products next year.
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| | ![]() | | | MSL in Taiwan Working to Turn Futuristic Intelligent Vehicles Into Reality
By QUINCY LIANG
Many science-fiction-type functions of future vehicles in movies may be fantasy for many of us, but the Mechanical & System Research Laboratories (MSL, formerly MIRL (Mechanical Industry Research Laboratories), a unit of the government-backed Industrial Technology Research Institute, or ITRI, is eagerly trying to turn them into reality by integrating the island's strong information and communication technology (ICT) and electronics industry infrastructures with auto sub-systems and high-tech parts.
In short, the ultimate goal of new-generation intelligent vehicles is to utilize computer-aided mechanisms to minimize human-caused accidents on roads, according to James Wang, a key man in the development of Taiwan's intelligent vehicles and director of the Intelligent Mobility Technology Division of MSL.
With subsidies from the Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT) of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), MSL has been actively developing the lane departure warning system (LDWS), an advanced automotive-electronic safety system to prevent vehicles from drifting across into other lanes, warning drivers in different ways when vehicles are detected in lane crossovers.
According to Wang, MSL has successfully transferred its LDWS technology to a private company in Taiwan and the advanced technology has won a gold medal at this year's Pittsburg invention contest.
By utilizing advanced imaging techniques, the MSL-developed LDWS can precisely identify in real-time lane markings and warn via lights and sounds when vehicles are detected in unintentionally crossing over into other lanes. In addition, the system has been fully tested under various weather and road conditions, proving that it works.
According to Wang, the biggest challenges in developing the LDWS include finding the best approach to develop a system that can effectively analyze, judge, and transfer detected images into useful information quickly. In addition, another key factor is to achieve an acceptable balance between hardware price, image-identification rate, system stability, and response time.
For example, the expert says, different weather and road conditions will affect the correct identification of lane markings; while to achieve the best identification rate under various factors but simultaneously consider the real needs of automakers and drivers will be a challenge too to achieving system practicality and stability.
Safety is Priority
"Safety is the top priority in the process of intelligent-vehicle development," Wang says, "and it also creates the biggest added-values. The successful development of the advanced LDWS in Taiwan is expected to create new and comprehensive technical and service value-chains on the island. So, the successful development of the LDWS core technology will help local ICT companies step into the automotive electronics fields from consumer electronics. The LDWS is both a new milestone of ITRI's R&D achievements in the research process of intelligent vehicles and a bridge linking local ICT, electronics industries with the booming automotive electronics businesses."
According to Wang, some local companies are applying MSL-developed LDWS technology to also truck and bus application market and such efforts are expected to greatly upgrade the safety level in public transportation on the island. In addition, the home-grown safety system also attracted a tier-one international parts supplier to the island for business evaluations, with the parts maker recognizing the system's functions and overall performance.
MSL is actively trying to set up cooperation ties with the tier-one parts supplier, which is expected to provide some most advanced product specifications and key know-how to help local companies achieve breakthroughs in future development and mass production, while also commercializing such system globally.
"In the future, the LDWS will be integrated with vehicle-tracking functions, which can measure inter-vehicular distances front and rear to achieve collision-warning and lane transfer-assistance functions," Wang points out, "while ITRI will continue to work on image safety technologies and aims to complete development of a 360-degreee vehicle image-sensing safety system by 2010."
Hybrid Trend
Facing the global oil drain, Wang says, the development of energy-saving technologies in automobile industry has become a necessary trend. In recent years, many global major automakers have been actively developing and pushing hybrid-power (mainly gasoline- and electricity-powered) car models, triggering feverish development in related fields.
After the successful development of an 18kw small hybrid propulsion system, ITRI continued to push a 100kw hybrid powertrain system (equipped with a 2.0L gasoline engine) in 2006. According to Wang, the 100kw hybrid powertrain is also matched with a power-recycling system that can use the electricity generated from a vehicle's brake system to achieve better fuel-consumption performance. In addition, he adds, the noise of the engine is reduced as well as the size of the powertrain to adapt to smaller engine-compartment space.
Currently, the division director explains, vehicles equipped with hybrid powertrain command less than 2% of the global vehicle sales so the supplies of key systems and parts have not been well developed. So, Wang says, such market leaves ample room for Taiwanese companies.
"Taiwan is globally competitive with its small-vehicle and auto-parts industries," Wang says, "and ITRI is expected to play an increasingly important role in developing world-class powertrain systems that may help local automotive and electronics/electrical-machinery lines to carve out more new and niche markets, with such niche markets expected to create higher added values and profit margins as well as brighter future for local players."
Electric Vehicles
"From a viewpoint of environment protection, the better fuel-efficiency hybrid powertrain system will be short-term and tentative solutions," Wang says, "while fuel-cell and pure-electricity vehicles with zero emission can be the best environmentally-friendly products."
The consensus is, Wang says, that all industrially advanced nations have chosen pure electric vehicles as their long-term development goals and mapped out policies to encourage and promote related advancements. However, he adds, there is still a distance ahead for overall promotion of pure electricity-powered vehicles in the world because such vehicles still fall short in terms of shorter cruise range, longer recharging period, slow commercialization, difficult battery recycling, etc.
"This scenarios will not change if we all sit and wait," Wang says, "and ITRI is actively working on electric vehicles so as to take a leading position."
In core battery techniques, the most vital part of development of electric vehicles, Wang says, ITRI has been aggressively developing the most advanced materials, techniques, and partnerships with global leading players. For example, ITRI recently signed an agreement with ExtraEnergy of Germany to jointly push a common interface and some safety standards, which are expected to standardize some key parts for electric vehicles.
According to Wang, ExtraEnergy is a non-profit organization headquartered in Tanna, Germany. Its activities are focused on independent information, promotion and testing for light electric vehicles (LEV) around the globe. The German partner owns the world's first lithium-ion battery module test and inspection equipment and is the authority in global LEV safety testing. "With the cooperation ties with ExtraEnergy," Wang says, "Taiwan- developed LEVs can be more easily integrated into the organization's common interface and safety standards, making them safer, more reliable, and more competitive."
Wang also outlined the guidelines for the future successful development of LEVs in Taiwan, in which the government plays a vital role.
According to Wang, to cultivate a sound environment for developing the LEV industry on the island, the government has to first map out policies to construct comprehensive infrastructures around the island, such as assigning LEVs as the major public transit vehicles in cities as well as in long-distance commuting.
The division director is very optimistic about the future LEV industry development in Taiwan because there is a big group of superior-quality and innovative manufacturers of vehicle parts that can support the development of various key sub-systems of LEVs. In addition, he adds, various conditions on the island, including the mild climate, concentrated populations, relatively-small land area, etc., make Taiwan an ideal place to develop and test-run LEVs. (October 2007) | |
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