Taiwan Tech Firms Chase The Sun For New Growth
FROM TOYS TO CHIPS TO SOLAR Taiwan has fashioned itself into a leading chipmaker after it lost its crown as the top toymaker to China. It is now ready for another transformation as chips and PC margins come under pressure and solar firms in Europe, Japan and the U.S. increase outsourcing. Taiwan's government is allocating T$20 billion ($625 million) for energy-related research in the next five years. U.S. research firm iSuppli Corp forecasts global photovoltaic (PV) installations will nearly double to 13.6 gigawatts in 2010, and rise further to 45.3 gigawatts in 2014. Last year, TSMC said its green energy business would garner revenue of $2 billion by 2018 when its core foundry sales would hit $14-$15 billion, while AU forecast its solar business would make up 10 percent of total revenue in the next few years. Sanyo Electric plans to spend 170 billion yen ($1.8 billion) on its rechargeable battery and solar cell operations in the next three years. Japanese solar firms will also benefit from strong domestic demand, thanks to about 70 billion yen ($745 million) in state subsidies for solar installations up to 2011. Taiwan's domestic demand is negligible. South Korea's Samsung Group would also invest 23.3 trillion won ($20.6 billion) by 2020 in new businesses that include green energy technology.
