Taiwan's Billion-dollar Tech Companies

[Martian]

To qualify for this list, a Taiwanese company must have at least US$1 billion in sales. Also, this is a technology list. I'm excluding banks, insurance companies, steel, property, construction, etc.

I probably missed a few tech companies. I think I skipped the entire photovoltaic sector and machine tool industry.

This list is only meant to provide an idea of the depth of Taiwan's tech industry. I think I discriminated against Taiwan's entire bicycle industry. Taiwan holds a lot of the patents for expensive mountain bikes.

Hon Hai - $127 billion in sales
Pegatron - $32.2 billion
Formosa Petrochemical - $31.4 billion
Quanta Computer - $29.7 billion
TSMC - $25 billion
Compal Electronics - $23.1 billion
Wistron - $22 billion
Asustek Computer - $15.5 billion
Inventec - $14.9 billion
Formosa Chemicals - $14.5 billion
Innolux - $14.2 billion
AU Optronics - $14 billion
Acer - $12.1 billion
Lite-On Group - $10.93-12.5 billion
Synnex Technology International Corp. - $10.36 billion
Nan Ya Plastics - $10.2 billion
Chungwha Telecom - $7.7 billion
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) - $7.4 billion
Formosa Plastics - $7.3 billion
MediaTek - $7.2 billion
HTC - $6.75 billion
Delta Electronics - $5.8 billion
Chi Mei Corporation - $5.61 billion
TPK Holding Co., Ltd. - $4.97 billion
UMC - $4.3 billion
Tatung Co. Ltd. - $3.779 billion
Qisda Corp. - $3.73 billion
Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co. Ltd. - $3.32 billion
Siliconware Precision Industries Co., Ltd. (SPIL) - $2.67 billion
Micro-Star International (MSI) - $2.465 billion
Zhen Ding Technology - $2.14 billion
Inotera Memories - $2 billion
Elitegroup Computer Systems Co. (ECS) - $1.98 billion
Unimicron - $1.87 billion
Gigabyte Technology - $1.7 billion
HannStar Board Corp. - $1.52 billion
Largan Precision - $1.4 billion
Nanya Technology Corporation - $1.4 billion
Powerchip - $1.33 billion
Novatek - $1.32 billion
MiTAC - $1.26 billion
Winbond Electronics Corp. - $1.19 billion
Advantech - $1.12 billion
Everlight - $1.1 billion
A-Data Technology Co Ltd. - $1.05 billion
D-Link - $0.96 billion
Realtek - $0.95 billion
Epistar - $0.94 billion
Himax Technologies - $0.84 billion
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation (VIS) - $0.78 billion
----------

References:

The World's Biggest Public Companies List - Forbes
Morningstar
Bloomberg
Company websites

 

[Martian]

What does Taiwan's $60 billion merchandise trade surplus mean?

For 2015, Taiwan's merchandise trade surplus is running at $5 billion per month. This means Taiwan's tech sector is stronger than ever.

For example, TSMC had a net income of $8 billion last year. This is expected to grow to a $10 billion net profit this year. MediaTek's profit has surpassed $1 billion. Some Taiwanese tech companies are growing very quickly.

On my top 50 list of Taiwanese tech companies (e.g. semiconductors, electronics, and specialty chemicals), most of the sales revenue data were from 2013. A few were from 2014. Practically every company on the list will have sales of over $1 billion this year, with the exception of Vanguard.

For example, Himax Technologies had quarterly sales of $227 million (see citation below). Annualized, Himax sales for 2015 will exceed $1 billion.

Bank of America Downgrades Himax Technologies to Underperform (HIMX) - American Banking News
"Himax Technologies (NASDAQ:HIMX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The company reported $0.09 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.09. The company had revenue of $227.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $225.05 million."

The interesting aspect of Taiwan's hi-tech sector is the huge number of companies bubbling below $1 billion in sales. Between $100 to $900 million, there is an army of Taiwanese tech companies fighting their way to the top. For PCB companies alone, there are about 20 Taiwanese tech companies in the medium-size range.

Also, Taiwan tech superstars tend to come out of nowhere. They are usually spun off as independent units and some outgrow their parent company. For example, MediaTek was spun out of UMC in 1997. Today, MediaTek ($7.2 billion) has larger sales than UMC ($4.3 billion)!

I think Hon Hai is starting to focus on industrial robots. Hon Hai's future tech business will look different from today.

Pegatron was spun off from Asus in 2010.

Vanguard International Semiconductor Corporation (VIS) has an assured future, because it is an affiliate of TSMC.

The point is that Taiwan has a very dynamic tech industry. Companies are constantly being spun off and some grow into giants in their own right. You never know which Taiwanese company will become the next billion-dollar behemoth.

It's a fun past-time to watch the constant jockeying among Taiwan's tech companies. Will Taiwan's Genius Electronic Optical Co. Ltd. (the mouse scroll-wheel patent holder) succeed in growing from $0.3 billion to become a billion-dollar company? Check back in ten years to find out!

 

[Martian]

Hon Hai had $4.17 billion in net profit for 2014

Taiwanese companies are highly profitable. Many of them generate billion-dollar plus in net income. This funds research and development into the next generation of technology. Also, it allows the companies to diversify into new high-tech businesses. I would describe Taiwan as being in a virtuous cycle upwards. Above-average profits from Taiwanese patents incorporated into Taiwanese products provide the monetary resources for new and exciting products.

Profit at iPhone Assembler Foxconn Rose 22% Last Year - WSJ

"Hon Hai said its net profit in 2014 rose to 130.53 billion new Taiwan dollars ($4.17 billion) from NT$106.69 billion a year earlier. Revenue rose 6.5% to 4.21 trillion new Taiwan dollars from NT$3.95 trillion a year earlier. The company didn’t disclose quarterly earnings."

 

[Martian]

EE Times: MediaTek sells 550 million chips per year

Taiwan's MediaTek sells 400 million smartphone, 100 million smart TV, and 50 million tablet chips annually (see EE Times citation below).

MediaTek is notable for being the first company in the world to build a true octa-core chip.[1]

Also, MediaTek was the first to build a true octa-core with LTE.[2]

Finally, MediaTek is closing the gap with market leader Qualcomm's Snapdragon 810.[3]

References.

1. MediaTek launches world's first true octa-core mobile chip, first devices due end of year
2. MediaTek announces world's first 4G LTE octa-core processor
3. MediaTek Takes on Snapdragon 810 with New 64-bit Chip
----------

Why MediaTek Pushes Cross-Device Sharing | EE Times

 

[Martian]

Taiwan's Catcher had $1.75 billion in sales and $568 million in net income for 2014

I have been uncertain as to whether Catcher qualifies as a high-technology company. It makes "magnesium- and aluminum-alloy chassis" for notebook computers and smartphones.

Anyway, I have included Catcher in this thread. You can make up your own mind whether it qualifies as a high-tech company.
----------

Login to DIGITIMES archive & research

----------

Taiwan's Catcher earns record income NT$17.87 b in 2014 | Customs Today Newspaper

 

[Martian]

Taiwan's 1,042 public manufacturing companies had record results in 2014

"Taiwan’s 1,042 listed manufacturing companies posted best-ever sales, profitability and R&D numbers in 2014...." (see citation below).

Think of Taiwan as China's R&D center. Taiwan is posting record revenues, profitability, and R&D investment. This bodes well for China. Taiwanese technology keeps migrating to the mainland.

TSMC (splinter group) --> SMIC
MediaTek employees --> actively sought by Spreadtrum
Taiwan's Andes (chip designer since 2005) --> headed to China in five to ten years
Taiwan's spin-FET transistor (1,000 times faster than Intel's 10nm transistor) --> headed to China in ten years
----------

Taiwan Today - Taiwan manufacturers turn in top performances

 

[Martian]

Biotechnology is Taiwan's next big industry

From the citation below, Taiwan's biotechnology sector is growing at 24% year-over-year.

Since the New Taiwan Dollar to US Dollar exchange rate is about 30 to 1, it means Taiwan's biotech industry at the three large science parks had revenues of US$100 million for the first two months of the year. Annualized, Taiwan's biotech industry is worth $600 million.

Finally, Taiwan's high-tech sector is growing at a healthy pace of 19% year-over-year.
----------

Taiwan science park January-February total revenues top NT$365 billion, says MOST

 

[Martian]

Taiwan's Five Largest Chip-Design Companies

1. MediaTek. It specializes in SoC (ie. System on a Chip). Most MediaTek SoCs are used in smartphones. MediaTek is the world's third-largest fabless design company behind Qualcomm and Broadcom.

2. Novatek Microelectronics - LCD driver IC supplier.

3. Realtek Semiconductor - WLAN (ie. Wireless Local-Area Network) chip specialist.

4. Himax Technologies - Design of panel driver ICs.

5. Richtek - Analog chips.
----------

ESMT, Etron enter Taiwan top-10 IC design houses in 1Q15 | DigiTimes

 

[Martian]

Taiwan's Compeq "High-density interconnect (HDI) PCB specialist" Manufacturing has over US$1 billion in annual revenue

Compeq to enjoy profit growth in 3Q15 | DigiTimes

 

[Martian]

Correcting Taiwan's Inventec to $13.3 billion in revenue

I make the occasional error and it's embarrassing. As soon as I realize it, I correct it.

Inventec's actual revenue is $13.3 billion (see citation below). I apologize for the mistake.
----------

Inventec sets revenue target of US$20 billion for 2017 | Tech | FOCUS TAIWAN - CNA ENGLISH NEWS

 

[Martian]

Taiwan's Coretronic has annual revenue of $2.5 billion dollars (see Hoovers citation)

CORETRONIC CORPORATION | Revenue and Financial Reports

 

[Martian]

Taiwan's Phison Electronics had $1.12 billion in revenue for 2015

"Phison is now a market leader in NAND Flash controllers and applications including USB, SD, eMMC, PATA and SATA."

Phison reports record 2015 revenues | DigiTimes

 

[Martian]

Taiwan's Motech Industries grew its revenue by 24% in 2015 to $750 million.

At its current rate of revenue growth, Taiwan's Motech Industries will cross the $1 billion revenue mark within three years.

Motech Industries is a manufacturer of crystalline silicon solar cells.

The average New Taiwan dollar ($NT) to US dollar exchange rate is 32 $NT to 1 $US.

Revenue of NT$24.75 billion = $750 million US dollars
----------

Motech Industries, TSEC December revenues up | DigiTimes

 

[Martian]

Taiwan's Sino-American Silicon had wafer sales totaling $848 million in 2015.

Taiwan's Sino-American Silicon (SAS) should have a billion-dollar annual revenue in the next three years.

Firstly, as the citation below shows, Sino-American Silicon is planning to expand its capacity (which leads to increased sales).

Secondly, the New Taiwan Dollar is fluctuating against the US Dollar. With Taiwan's $52 billion merchandise trade surplus in 2015, the Taiwanese currency is bound to bounce back.
----------

Sino-American Silicon wafer sales remain flat through year-end but expansion planned | PV-Tech

 

[Martian]

Taiwan's TSMT is an LCD surface-mount technology (SMT) production solutions provider with revenue of US$0.9 billion

http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20160407PM205.html

 

[HariPrasad-1]

This small country is doing exceedingly well. Now i know why china has a bad eye on Taiwan.

 

[Bahamut]

Hope India and Taiwan have more co operation in R&D and industry.