UMC, Quanta to join Simplo's board as strategic shareholders

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on May 12, 2006. It reports that Taiwan's United Microelectronic Corp. and Quanta have recently participated in a private capital-raising project conducted by Simplo Technology Co., Ltd. Such participation has enabled the two companies to become Simplo's strategic shareholders.

Simplo is currently the world's No.2 supplier of notebook PC battery packs. The United Microelectronic Corp. is one of the top two semiconductor-manufacturing conglomerates in Taiwan, while Quanta is a leading contract notebook PC supplier.

According to industry analysts, in recent years, the energy industry has become a major investment target for the United Microelectronic Corp. The company already set up a solar-cell manufacturing subsidiary in late 2005. In contrast, Quanta has always maintained close cooperation ties with Simplo. Both companies have set up plants in Shanghai.

In 2006, Simplo expects to ship 16 million notebook PC battery packs. This will enable the company to challenge the world No.1 position currently held by Japan's Sanyo. Meanwhile, Simplo has also been actively developing newer and better battery products, including power solutions for cell phones and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

In the first quarter of 2006, Simplo registered revenue of NT$3.01 billion (US$93.94 million), up 34.92 percent from the same period in 2005. Also in the first quarter of 2006, the company maintained a profit margin of 15.67 percent, a considerable increase from 12 percent in 2005. In the second quarter of 2006, Simplo expects to have revenue of NT$3.3 billion to NT$3.6 billion (US$103.12 million to US$112.5 million).

In March 2006, Simplo began to construct a new plant in Changshu in China's Jiangsu Province. The first-stage construction of the new plant is expected to be completed in August 2006, and monthly shipment volume at that time will be 2 million to 2.5 million sets. The plant will be Simplo's largest production base. The monthly capacity at the plant is expected to reach 35 million sets in the future three years.