Bechtel is the U.S.’s largest private construction firm. In its more than 120 years of operation, the company’s projects have included the Hoover Dam, the Channel Tunnel, and construction of over 30% of global Liquified Natural Gas capacity. While Bechtel has had a presence in China for many years, the company closed its Shanghai regional…
The semiconductor industry’s concentration at home provides it with some insulation from the direct effects of the U.S.-China trade war. Taiwan’s crucial semiconductor industry is set to grow 5% in 2020 on the back of rising demand for artificial intelligence applications and 5G telecommunications infrastructure. Overall industry output value is expected to reach NT$2.8 trillion…
Despite global economic headwinds, some makers in the sub-sector are continuing to perform well. Taiwan has been steadily moving into specialty chemicals in a bid to move up the global industry value chain. Specialty chemicals are sold based on their function or performance instead of composition. They often are designed to impact one specific aspect…
Every year new consumer electronic products are introduced to the market. The driving force behind them is advanced semiconductor technology that can make product design more powerful and longer lasting. Founded in 1988, Cadence is the only electronic design automation (EDA) company that offers seamless design flow solutions for integrated circuits (ICs), packages and circuit…
Global and local firms are making new investments in semiconductor fabs in Taiwan. Taiwan is holding its own as a hub for semiconductor manufacturing, attracting steady new investment from chipmakers and other firms in the industry’s supply chain. The island manufactures about 25-30% of integrated circuits (ICs) globally and is home to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing…
IP violations remain a serious problem in Taiwan’s ultra-competitive chip-making market. In recent years, trade-secret theft has become increasingly common in Taiwan’s highly competitive semiconductor industry, one of the world’s largest by output value and a bedrock of the island’s economy. The perpetrators have usually been Chinese companies seeking to close the technology gap with…
Artificial intelligence, blockchain, and cryptocurrency all offer avenues for growth as global demand eases for mobile devices. Taiwan’s semiconductor manufacturer are looking for new growth drivers as the global market for mobile devices cools. Emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and virtual currencies appear to be offering abundant opportunities. “We’re seeing a rapid diversification…
While Taiwan’s semiconductor industry continues to grow, China poses a formidable long-term challenge. For years, industry analysts have cautioned that Chinese competitors in the semiconductor sector would steadily erode the technology advantages of Taiwanese chipmakers, ultimately wooing away many of their customers with lower prices. Despite China’s rapid progress in the semiconductor sector in recent…
Restrictions on Chinese investment in the semiconductor sector have failed to stymie budding ties among chipmakers on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. In January, Powertech Technology announced it would annul a share agreement with Tsinghua Unigroup that would have given the Chinese chipmaker a 25% stake in one of Taiwan’s top semiconductor packaging and…
Allowing Chinese investment in the sector could give Beijing immoderate influence over Taiwan’s most prized industry, yet shunning it could undermine competitiveness. The semiconductor sector is one of the last areas of the global consumer electronics supply chain where Taiwanese firms retain an edge over their Chinese competitors. Taiwanese integrated circuit (IC) makers have…
