TaiwanHighTech.Com

BRING ON THE ORDERSPhilips Semicon Philips expects to outsource halfof its semicon production in the future, mostly production based on 0.25-micron-and-below processes. Currently, Philips outsources 10% of its wafer production. Potential beneficiaries of the decision are TSMC and China's Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation (ASMC). Philips owns parts of both companies. Philips is closing to US fabs this year, San Antonio (Texas) and New Mexico. Gateway wireless desktopsHon Hai is making Gateway's 700X and 700XL wireless desktop models in a huge new order. Power Mac G5Apple has ordered NT$10 B worth of Power Mac G5 desktops from Hon Hai. The G5 is the fastest desktop in the world. Sharp back light module orderK-Bridge has received an order from Sharp for back light modules for 15-inch NB. initial shipments of 16K per month to start in September, increasing to 100K per month by the end of the year. COMPANY NEWS AND MARKET TRENDS Chunghwa Picture Tubes CPT has started building a second plasma display panel (PDP) plant for manufacture of large-size (42-inch, 50-inch and 63-inch) flat panels. The plant will have a production capacity of 6K units per month. It will begin volume production 1Q05. CPT's current PDP plant has an expected production capacity of 7K 46-inch panels/month. Quanta news NB, handset and LCD TV order shipments are expected to remain strong in 4Q03. Only bad news is HP consumer NB orders moving from Quanta to Compal in Sept. 2003. Compal Compal received new NB orders from HP and Toshiba recently and as a result has raised its NB target from 5M units to 5.5M. VIA Tech and Cicada VIA Networking Technologies and Cicada Semiconductor will team up to introduce gigabit ethernet controllers for low-power applications in an effort to target PC client or server LAN on Motherboard (LOM) applications. Taiwan Mobile Phone Market Around 2.8M mobile phones were sold in Taiwan in 1H03, with the top three players being Nokia, Motorola and BenQ. Other leading brands are OKWAP, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Alcatel, and Siemens. Supply shortages Taiwan mfg are reporting shortages of SDRAM, flash memory chips and RF WLAN chips. Networking device makers are expecting shipment delays in 4Q as a result. Taiwan Forex at $185.6B As of August, Taiwan has foreign exchange reserves of $185.6 B, up $24B YoY. Taiwan has the third largest forex reserve holdings in the world, behind Japan and China. The NT dollar has also appreciated against the US dollar by 1.35% as of the end of August. Hon Hai is challenging big EMS companiesHon Hai has received orders this year from Gateway, Apple, HP, Intel, Dell, IBM and Acer, putting it in position to challenge Flextronic and Solectron, the world's largest EMS companies. CyberTAN TechnologyCyberTAN, Taiwan's largest WLAN maker, is reportedly in bad shape, with lost orders from Linksys and its abandonment by top R&D personnel and executives. According to Digitimes, CyberTan denies these rumors. CompalCompal saw new orders from HP this summer and is expected to deliver a total of 550k NBs in September. EXHIBITIONS Beijing Sept 12-15The China Beijing International High-tech Industries Week (CBHT 2003) will be held Sept.12-15. At the same time, the Beijing-Taiwan Technology Forum will be held. Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao will join the opening session and announce new industrial policies. All the leaders of China's top enterprises will also be present. Get ready to see a lot of Taiwan-China business cooperation emerge from the meeting. NEW! Tracking the economy:Taiwan's foreign exchange reserves: US$128.03 (world's third largest)NEW! The 2003 growth forecast guessing game: Taiwan's Council for Economic Planning and Development (CEPD): 1.96%Morgan Stanley : 2.3%The Directorate General of Budget (GDBAS): 3.06% for 2003, 3.81 for 2004.The Institute of Economics of the Academia Sinica : 3.31%ABN AMRO Securities : 2.70% (from 3.5%. May 13th)The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) : 3.53% (July 25, 2003)Taiwan Research Institute (TRI) : 3.42%Goldman Sachs : 3.9%The chief economist of Deutsche Bank AG : 4% for 2003, 6% for 2004.