High-Tech Product Equipment Orders Inundating Taiwan's Suppliers
Taiwan's equipment suppliers have landed orders that are deluging their production lines from high-tech manufacturers thanks to market recovery.
Executives of Gallant Precision Machining Co., Ltd., which specializes in equipment for making liquid crystal display (LCD) panels and solar panels, said the company saw orders for its solar-cell and chip-making machines starting to ramp up in the third quarter last year. The company's production lines, they said, are running at full capacity.
The executives estimated the company is still holding orders in excess of NT$1 billion (US$31.2 million at US$1:NT$32) in value, with orders for LCD making machines accounting for the majority and those for solar panel making machines constituting around 20%.
Orders from chipmakers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) have elevated United Integrated Services Ltd.'s revenue. The company's executives said their company received over NT$3 billion (US$93.7 million) worth of orders in 2009 and has begun delivering the booked equipment in the first quarter. They projected the firm to receive around NT$5 billion (US$156 million) in orders this year.
Laser Tek Taiwan Co., Ltd., a maker of equipment for producing passive components and packaging materials, estimates the orders that it has received until the end of this year's first half already outnumber orders it received throughout 2009. The company commands one quarter of the domestic market for surface mounting device (SMD) packaging materials and is Asia's No.2 supplier of laser equipment.
Institutional investors estimated Laser Tek's revenue for March to soar past the new high it set in December last year, and projected its after-tax net income for the first quarter at NT$1.2 per share. The firm's earnings for this year are estimated double the amount it made last year.
Shipments at C. Sun Mfg. Ltd. have been sizzling since diversifying in February into equipment for making LCD panels, semiconductors and solar panels from manufacturing of equipment for printed circuit boards. The company's executives estimated revenue to persistently increase in March and revenue for next quarter to stay on par with that for this quarter.
