Report: Apple supplier to expand Taiwan operations

A supplier of metal casings for Apple Inc. plans to invest NT$10.25 billion ($354.6 billion) to build new factories in Southern Taiwan, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.

Catcher Technology Co. plans to locate the new plants, which are expected to make magnesium alloy casings used in smartphones and laptops, in the Tainan Science-based Industrial Park.

“The investment represents for our determination to develop in Taiwan over the long-term," said James Wu, Catcher’s corporate finance vice president.

But he said he foresees some problems hiring new workers in the region. Currently Catcher has three plants in China with some 30,000 workers.

He said about 40 percent of Taiwan’s unemployed population are college graduates or have advanced degrees, and these people may not be willing to work as basic production line workers.

“Since the casing manufacturing is a capital- and labor-intensive industry, we will need to hire at least 10,000 operators to work in each of these new plants, which will become a problem for us in the region," Wu said.

“We hope the government will help us to come up with a solution," he added.

Catcher counts Apple and HTC Corp. among its clients.

It posted earnings of NT$2.37 billion from April to June, up 24.3 percent from the first quarter and up 182.8 percent from a year earlier.

Sales rose 25.4 percent from the previous quarter to NT$8.9 billion.

In the first six months of 2011, Catcher posted a net profit of NT$4.29 billion, up 204.7 percent from a year earlier, with an EPS of NT$6.29, which came close to the NT$6.66 recorded last year. — TJD, GMA News