Recent news from the Chinese-language newspapers.
Taiwan market: Optoma denies rumors of price-cutting strategy
The company denied it plans to offer projectors priced at NT$24,900 after Chinese New Year due to a high rate of returned goods. [DigiTimes]
ProMOS completes NT$10bn syndicated loan
ProMOS yesterday completed a syndicated loan backed by 11 banks for funding its new 12-inch fab construction. Foreseeing slowing revenues in February, ProMOS anticipates an on-month drop on decreasing shipments and fewer working days. [DigiTimes]
Taiwan SoC development to target handset appliances
The Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK) of Taiwan’s ITRI suggests local IC-design houses are eyeing the handset segment while enjoying significant growth in the DVD-ROM and DVD-player segments. [DigiTimes]
Arima: Handset sales in emerging markets to drive worldwide demand
Global handset users are projected to reach two billion by 2008, buoyed by surging demand in emerging markets, according to Stephen Hung, vice president of Arima Communication. [DigiTimes]
CPT to phase out PDP production
The company plans to gradually exit the business, with its current PDP business to be taken over by a slightly-more-than-10%-invested affiliate in China. [Commercial Times, Feb 4]
Wistron subsidiary Wistron ITS gains CMMI Level 3 verification
Wistron ITS expects to gain larger room in the Greater China area after gaining systems engineering/software engineering (SE/SW) Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level-3 certification in late Jan. [DigiTimes]
Both Winbond and ProMOS reaffirm capacity expansion despite forthcoming industry downturn
Winbond reaffirmed its plan to construct a 12-inch-wafer fab and stated the company will be ready for a demand pick-up. ProMOS Technologies will also increase its 12-inch-wafer capacity to 30k-35k per month in 2006, on schedule. [DigiTimes]
In-Stat/MDR: Automotive-market growth to boost MCU/MPU value to over US$20bn in 2007
Research from In-Stat/MDR shows that the production value for the automotive-electronics market will rocket 64.5% to US$74.8 billion through 2007, and MCU/MPU value will rise from US$12.3 billion in 2003 to US$21.34 billion in 2007. [DigiTimes]
D-Link: No single product to lead market in 2005, positive about SOHO-router shipments
D-Link thinks no single product – neither the digital home nor VoIP – will dominate market growth this year. However, the company should enjoy larger growth for SOHO routers and aims for a 30% share of that market this year. [DigiTimes]
PC-component makers have diverse views on environmental regulation migration
Despite Dell offering its low-priced BTX-form factor P4 PC to help lighten huge lead-free processing costs, the impression among makers is that migration is not urgent except for OEM customers, while chipset makers express growing cost concerns. [DigiTimes]
Mobile phones with color displays and built-in camera dominate Taiwan market in 2004
Domestic penetration of color mobile phones reached 85% in 2004, according to statistics compiled by Taiwan mobile-phone distributors. Cameraphones grew from 8% in 2003 to 40%, whereas phones with built-in MP3 players achieved 10% of the market. [DigiTimes]
Article edited by John McClure
