Cell phone component makers chalk up stellar 2002

Taipei, Jan. 14, 2003 (CENS)--Manufacturers of components and parts for color cell phones in Taiwan, including Taiwan Green Point Enterprises Co. (GPE) and Phihong Inc., posted strong revenues last year.

Booming sales of plastic cases for color cell phones and new customers pushed GPE's revenues passed its original target of NT$922 million (US$26.64 million at US$1:NT$34.6) last year. The company posted revenue of NT$3.08 billion (US$89.13 million) last year, up 149.32% from the previous year's NT$1.24 billion (US$35.75 million).

GPE anticipates substantial growth this year after upgrading manufacturing technologies to meet the increased demand for sophisticated cell phone cases. The company said it has recently secured new orders for plastic cases for color cell phones.

Currently, GPE's major customers include Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Alcatel, and Philips. The company said it would also do business with mainland China's Haier Group and Germany's Siemens Group this year.

To cope with the increased demand for color cell phones, GPE has increased production of white back-light modules for manufacturers of color liquid crystal display panels.

One of the world's top-10 power supply manufacturers, Phihong supplies products to many world-class firms such as Motorola, Cisco Systems, Panasonic, Sony, Acer, Hewlett Packard, Sanyo, Toshiba and many others, on an original equipment manufacturer basis. The company said it would also add a South Korean firm to its customer list this year.

Phihong had revenue of NT$7.4 billion (US$213.87 million) last year and expects the figure to grow by over 20% to break the NT$10 billion (US$289 million) mark this year.

Phihong said it has recently received orders for industrial power supplies from Japan's JRC Group, with delivery to begin in June. It has also received new orders from the U.S.-based Palm Inc. for personal digital assistant power supplies.

Phihong will soon cooperate with some domestic firms to assemble personal computers in Taiwan and provide electronic manufacturing services in Brazil.

Phihong's Suzhou plant in mainland China, a joint venture with the Philips Group, will begin production of electronic ballasts on a trial basis in April to meet the booming demand of customers in eastern China.

Phihong will soon inaugurate its global operation headquarters in Linkou, Taipei County, while its greater China headquarters in Shanghai is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.