THT Research - Weekly Newsletter from Taiwan

The Latest News on Global IT Contract Manufacturing - from www.THTresearch.com 

BRING ON THE ORDERS

Zoran processor in Acer LCD TV
Zoran's SupraTV processor will be used in new DCB, terrestrial LCD TVs from Acer to be shipped to Europe, Africa and the middle east, and Canada. The processors integrate an MIPS32 CPU, programmable multi-stream transport demultiplexer with conditional access, flexible audio DSP supporting MPEG and WMA audio standards, MPEG video decoder, with a 2D graphics engine and digital video encoder.

Sony orders DSCs from ...
Sony has ordered DSCs from several Taiwan DSC makers. Among them - Premier Image.

AUO, CMO LCD TV panel orders
AUO and CMO are expecting large orders for LCD TV panels from a Japanese company that is releasing a new product line this fall. Who is the customer? Check THT's database...

Intel chip orders
Intel has recently submitted new chip orders to ATI and may order from SiS as well.

UMC orders
Taiwan's UMC has won orders for DVB chips using 0.13-micron process from DiBCOM (France) and from UMC its affiliate Afa Technologies Inc. The orders strengthen UMC's position in the process relative to TSMC. UMC has recently invested in DiBCOM.
 
OmniVision CMOS camera chip orders
The Lenovo Group has just contracted OmniVision Technologies for the provision of CMOS camera chips. Before this new deal, OmniVision has already provided Lenovo with almost 2M CMOS sensors since Q404.
 
Tata Consultancy, Infosys software deals from ABN Amro
Tata Consultancy Services and Infosys Technologies have been awarded a multi-year, multi-million dollar software outsourcing contract from ABN Amro. Tata Consultancy got a five-year US$260M deal for work on the Dutch bank's strategic banking platform, while Infosys got a five-year US$140 million contract to handle various applications for ABN Amro's branch offices in North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific.
 
Creative Sensor lands cell phone-use compact camera module order
Creative Sensor Inc (CSI) has revealed that it has won a major contract for cell phone-use compact camera modules (CCMs) from a local major mobile -phone maker.. In fact, the company has already started shipments at a monthly volume of 100K modules. CSI claims that its growth will come mainly from CCM orders because nearly 50% of about 600M mobile phones worldwide would come to market with cameras.
 
 
COMPANY NEWS AND INDUSTRY TRENDS

Sun considering selling servers with Windows
Sun Microsystems is at least open to the idea of selling its servers with Microsoft's server OS installed. The decision, it seems, will depend on Sun's customers, but Sun has backed down from its earlier stance that it would never OEM Windows.

Microsoft turning to Taiwan for FVD
Since Japan is withdrawing from the DVD business, Microsoft is turning to Taiwan, planning to set up a Windows multimedia technology center there to promote the FVD, the next gen DVD disc format. The Taiwan gov't industry research institute, ITRI, is in on the action, signifying a determination to make Taiwan THT DVD/FVD disc shopping destination.

Good timing or bad timing?
A Taiwan internet portal, PChome Online, has established a new company - IPEVO - to design peripheral hardware for Skype, and focusing on the Taiwan and US markets. Is this incredibly good or incredibly bad timing, considering that Skype is being acquired by Ebay? IPEVO phones for use with Skype area already available in Taiwan at your local FNAC outlet.

Quanta to manufacture for Sampo for European market
Quanta's Hungary plant will make G-Hans Sampo-brand LCD and PDP TVs beginning 1Q06 (capacity 60K units/year). Sampo partners the G-Hans Group for European sales. With the Quanta deal, Sampo will save a 14% import tariff for selling in the European market. Sampo is concentrating its overseas sales this year on tenders by government, restaurants, and large size businesses in the US. It expects to sell US$125M in sales of LCD and PDP TVs in the US market in 2005 and US$15.6M in Europe/Middle East.
 
TOM Online and Skype form JV for Chinese market
TOM Online and Skype have formed a joint venture to develop, customise and distribute a stripped-down Chinese version of the Skype software and premium services to mobile users and service providers in China. TOM Online will hold 51% of the JV, Skype will hold the rest
 
Other Taiwan TV makers
Teco is setting up a a JV plant with a local company plant in Slovakia for the Europe market and Tatung has invested US$5M to set up a LCD and Plasma TV plant in the Czech Republic. Kolin works with Syntax (US) to produce LCD and LCOS TVs under Olevia and Kolin brands for the Spain market.
 
LCD panel makers losing money
Taiwan's top five LCD panel makers are losing serious money: combined, AUO, CMO, CPT, HannStar, and QDI lost NT$28.6B in 1H05. 2H pricing is looking slightly stronger.
 
LCD TV - TCL
TCL has recently launched a new series of LCD TVs and hopes to take 10% of global LCD TV market in 2006. It's annual LCD TV production capacity is.... subscribe to THT's database and find out!

LG Philips building back end LCM plant in Poland
LG.Philips LCD plans to spend 429 million euros to build a "back-end" LCD module production plant in Wroclaw, Poland. The LCMs will go into LCD TVs and computer monitors in Europe. Production to begin 1H07 with capacity of 3M modules/year.

LG.Philips plans to invest US$1.2B for new facilities in Poland
LG.Philips plans to invest US$1.2B for two new flat screen facilities in Kobierzyce, Poland. The new facilities ares expected to employ 12K personnel.
 

CHINA

Baidu found guilty of IP violation
Beijing Haidian People's Court on Friday found Baidu guilty of copyright infringement and ordered it to pay 68,000 Yuan to Shanghai Busheng Music Culture Broadcasting Limited for offering download services for 34 Busheng Music songs (and to remove the songs from its database).

China Telecom, China Netcom think that they're AT&T
China is allowing only China Telecom Corp and China Netcom Corp to operate PC-to-phone services in the country. China Telecom either is, or is planning to, block peope from using SkypeOut to call PC-to-telephone. Ha! 30 years ago AT&T thought it could control the US land line market. Time moves faster now, even in China -- single company control over China's VOIP market will not be long lived.

MP3 woes
Almost 100 MP3 manufacturers operating in China have shut down operations due to strong market competition and dropping margins.

Asustek, Dopod fail to obtain license for China cell phone sales
China's National Development and Reform Commission has denied Taiwan handset makers Asustek Computer and Dopod International licenses to sell their own-brand cell phones in China. The NDRC has recently granted licenses to Desay Group, UT Starcom (China), and Tianjin Samsung Telecom Technology, along with 47 other companies already licensed. From Taiwan, only BenQ, Inventec, and DBtel are licensed.
 
Optimax plans to invest $30M in China
Optimax Technology plans to invest $30M for a new facility in Suzhou, China. The new plant aims to enable Optimax to meet client demand for its products.
 

DSC
 
Kodak, Nikon wi-fi DSCs
The new frontier in the wireless consumer market are wi-fi enabled DSCs. Eastman Kodak is expected to launch its wi-fi enabled DSC, the Easyshare-One zoom DSC in October, while Nikon plans to launch its wi-fi enabled Coolpix P1 and P2 on Sept. 15. These introductory models will be introduced at retail prices of over US$500, so adoption rates will be relatively slow, and the models will compete with cell phones with ever increasing mega-pixel DSCs.
 

NEW INNOVATIONS

Adadigics W-CDMA power amplifiers
Anadigics Inc. has introduced three new W-CDMA power amplifiers for use in handsets and W-CDMA enabled NB PC cards. The PAs are in compliance with both HSDPA and UMTS and are intended to extend battery life through improved power efficiency.

Hitachi drop-protected micro drive
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST) has begun shipping a 1-inch microdrive with "extra sensory protection" drop protection, which parks the read-write head away from the disk surface when it detects a fall. The drive comes in 6GB and 8GB versions and is targeted at PDAs and smartphones.

M & A

LSI selling 8-inch wafer plant to...
LSI Logic Corp., the semicon supplier, is selling its 8-inch wafer manufacturing plant in Gresham, Oregon, US, as moves toward becoming a fabless company. The plant can manufacture at 0.13 micron and higher.

Formosa Epitaxy to acquire Japan LED module maker
LED chipmaker Formosa Epitaxy plans to acquire a Japan-based LED module this fall. The company will gain expertise in LEDs for lighting, car-use and LCD backlighting applications.

UMC invests DiBcom
UMC has invested in DiBcom (France), a fabless company specializing in DVB-T-based chipsets for mobile TVs and DiBcom TV supplier to the automobile and notebook PC market.

SPIL - KYEC merger?
Rumors that Siliconware Precision Industries (SPIL) and King Yuan Electronics (KYEC) are planning to merge are being denied by the companies. SPIL is an IC packaging player. KYEC is its affiliate.

Oracle to buy Siebel
Oracle plans to acquire its competitor Siebel Systems for US$5.8B as part of its continuing efforts to compete against SAP.

SigmaTel buys Protocom
SigmaTel (Austin, TX, US) has bought Protocom (Calif, US) for US$18.87M in cash and $28.2M in stock. SigmaTel will benefit from acquring Protocm's imaging applications that can be used in multi-media consumer markets.

Access to buy PalmSource
Access (Japan), a mobile content company, plans to buy PalmSource, the Palm OS, a cash deal. Access provides internet access and content delivery software for mobile devices.

IBM acquiring DWL
IBM is acquring DWL (US), which will allow it to offer DWL's customer data integration software.
 
Walsin invests in MLCC powder material supplier
Taiwan MLCC maker Walsin Technology has acquired an 11.54% share of MLCC powder material supplier Prosperity Dielectrics Corporation through a stock swap on October 7th.
 
CPT for sale?
LCD panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) may be for sale. It's parent company - Tatung - (32%) has been reported to be in talks with Hon Hai and Quanta Computer for the sale of the company. Hon Hai owns Innolux, the LCD panel maker, and Quanta owns QDI. Tatung denies that it wants to get rid of CPT, but Taiwan's LCD panel makers are not doing well and the government has been encouraging industry consolidation.
 
 
AUTOMOTIVE

Motorola to sell telematics division
According to the Wall Street Journal, Motorola intends to sell its telematics division for an estimated US$1-2B. Last year the division registered sales of US$1.68B.

SEMICON

Hitachi and Toshiba talking
Hitachi and Toshiba are talking about setting up a company to produce made-to-order chips by 2007 that would compete with companies such as TSMC, UMC, and Chartered Semicon. Rumors say that Matsushita, NEC, and Renesas might join the JV.