Gigastorage, a maker of optical discs and multi-crystalline solar wafers, posted NT$236 million in March sales, up 43% from February, with the growth mainly fueled by raised output of silicon crystal which totaled 30-40% after the new plant was activated.

To expand deployment, the company plans to build over 40 production lines of silicon wafers with output of 300 megawatts of solar cells by the end of this year, aiming to achieve 80% of corporate sales with such business in the year.

The company also reported a new high of NT$539 million in the first quarter revenue, surging 80% from a quarter earlier, with the second-quarter revenue expected to keep growing driven by the solar silicon wafer segment.

Giga Solar, a globally top-three aluminum and silver paste supplier, saw its sales rebound strongly to beat a record high of NT$339 million in March, 27% over a month earlier that is due to customer`s inventory restocking. Unfazed by seasonal factors, the company posted NT$938 million in first quarterly revenue, edging up 1% to hit an all-time high. The supplier remains confident of seeing growing second-quarter revenues despite pessimistic outlook among peers.

Despite reports of German and Italian governments having decided to slash solar power subsidies, the company remains optimistic about market prospects in the coming quarters, reasoning that more consumer-friendly prices of solar cells will trigger higher demand for conductive paste in the short term.