A week in tech, June 23 - 29

Taiwan

Hardware
• Advanced Optoelectronic Technology (AOT), a Taiwan-based LED packaging house announced that it has reached an agreement for licensing white-LED chip technology from Toyoda Gosei. The patent licensing agreement will enable AOT to expand operations overseas, according to the company. Under the agreement, AOT is allowed to manufacture white LEDs based on Intematix-patented technology. In 2005, AOT saw an on-year growth of 78.7 percent in shipments, with its operating profits narrowing by 50.6 percent. The company ascribed the decrease in operating income to falling prices especially in the blue LED segment in 2005. Sources indicated that more than 50 percent of AOT's total shipments currently go to its handset customers in South Korea, including Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.

• Industry sources said that three Taiwan-based solar cell makers, Gintech, SolarTech Energy and Neo Solar Power will soon have new solar cell capacity available capable of delivering a combined 120-megawatt peak (MWp) capacity this year. Gintech is starting production in June and July, later than the company's announced April timeframe, the sources said. The company currently has one production line, and another line will be added in November, to house an annual capacity of 60MWp. SolarTech began equipment installation during April and is currently moving ahead with test production. Sources noted that initially, annual capacity will be 30MWp. Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation (PSC) and Wafer Works have both invested in Neo Solar Power, which is in the process of setting up production facilities. Sources indicated that equipment installation should be completed during the period of August to October. Neo Solar Power is expected to reach an annual capacity of 30MWp this year.

• Quanta Computer has recently snatched from its chief competitor, Compal Electronics, a Dell order for 1 million units of a 15.4-inch notebook model, as the US vendor continues shifting orders between suppliers in a price-slashing strategy. Quanta is expected to ship 10 million notebooks to Dell next year, retaking the crown from Compal as the US vendor's biggest notebook supplier. Quanta said it would ship a total of 8.8 million notebooks in the first half of 2006, up 25.7 percent from the same period of last year, while Compal will ship 5.5 million notebooks in the first half of this year, up 22.2 percent on-year.

• Acer, the world’s fourth-largest branded personal computer vendor, announced its objective to go for a tripling of its sales in the mainland this year. The Taiwan based firm said it has set a target of more than 200 percent sales increase in value terms using its own retail network. Acer reported consolidated sales of NT$83 billion ($2.5 billion), a figure that includes the amount of NT$71.7 billion ($2.1 billion) coming from its IT product business in the first quarter to March. According to Gartner Dataquest, Acer went up from No. 7 to No. 4 in the Chinese notebook market in the same period. The company also saw its notebook computer shipments on the mainland register a 136 percent surge quarter on quarter and 208 percent year on year to hit almost 110,000 units, a figure that makes up about 8.8 percent of the market in China. The market has Lenovo Group leading by 29 percent, followed by Dell with 10 percent, and Hewlett-Packard with 9.5 percent. Acer explains the growth to its strategy of getting customers through its own network of retail outlets, an approach observers compare to Dell’s direct sales.

Semiconductors
• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co released its forecast stating that the global integrated circuit (IC) industry will be able to sustain steady growth over the next 10 years. According to the TSMC spokesperson, the IC sector has come to an agreement that the industry will continue to post steady growth at about 8 percent, between 2005-2015. The report took note of how the global semiconductor industry went through a period that saw an average 21 percent growth in 1985-1995, followed by an adjustment period of about 5 percent in 1995-2005. The report also indicated that the semiconductor industry was riding on a rapidly growing consumer electronics business, featuring cheap and user-friendly mobile communications devices and the huge market in the developing world.


Hong Kong

Mobile/Wireless
• PCCW Limited announced on June 19, 2006 that it had received a non-binding expression of interests from Macquarie Bank Limited and TPG Newbridge, both in relation to a possible acquisition of substantially all the telecommunications and media related assets of the Company. The Company would evaluate the merits of both possible acquisitions and believes it is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders as a whole to continue discussions with the potential acquirers in relation to both possible acquisitions. The Company's financial advisor, Lehman Brothers Asia Limited, will be reviewing the merits of both proposals and advise the Company accordingly. In each case, the possible transaction which has been proposed is an acquisition of the Company's telecommunications and media assets, together with a transfer of the employees and staff of the businesses to be acquired, and would not involve the acquisition of shares in the Company.


Singapore/Malaysia/Philippines/Indonesia

Mobile/Wireless
• Tech.Mahindra, one of India's top software exporters, announced its plans to set up its Asian regional headquarters in Singapore next month. The company said it is also investing $5 million over the next two years and quadrupling its staff from 70 to 300 by the end of 2007. Under this plan, Tech Mahindra said it is going to base its international gaming business in Singapore, where it will do activities related to the development of mobile and interactive content. The company said the move to select Singapore, as its regional hub, is part of an overall strategy to gain access to China, Hong Kong as well as Macau.

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