Inventec Corp., a leading Taiwanese contract notebook computer maker, said on Sept. 29 that it will invest at least 3 billion Taiwan dollars (US$95 million) to set up a solar cell unit.
The company said it established the new unit to diversify its business and stimulate growth as profit margins in the contract computer-making sector have kept narrowing.
Inventec is among a string of Taiwanese high-tech firms that have ventured into solar energy, an area expected to see rapid expansion in coming years as global warming concerns prompt a search for alternative to fossil fuels.
Chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) announced last year an investment of about $192 million for a 20% stake in Motech Industries Inc., the island's largest producer of solar cells.
TSMC, the world's top contract microchip maker by revenue, this year invested another $50 million in an American solar-panel maker.
Taiwan has estimated its solar energy industry to be worth up to 200 billion Taiwan dollars by 2020.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2010
