GIS Head: No Change in Overseas Production Expansion Plans

GIS-KY (6456-TW), a leading touch panel manufacturer, has continued to expand its business in two main areas, electric vehicles and the metaverse, in line with the development layout of its parent group, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (2317-TW), according to GIS-KY Chairman Chou Hsien-ying.

Speaking at a shareholders’ meeting on Tuesday (May 31), the chairman announced the investment in a new factory in Houli, Taichung, and a medium and long-term plan to set up factories in Vietnam and India, which have remained unchanged.

GIS-KY’s capital expenditure this year could reach NT$5 billion, lower than last year’s NT$10 billion, mainly due to the end of significant investments in tablet PCs and notebooks. Chou said this year’s capital expenditures will focus on electric vehicles and metaverse applications.

In line with the group’s layout, Chou revealed that some new products are under development, and part of the new plant in Houli, Taichung is to expand investment in the automotive glass coating.

In addition to the existing automotive touch products, the cover business will cooperate with panel manufacturers and other strategic partners to improve customer adhesion. Still, it is expected that the relevant operational contribution will take 1-2 years.

Regarding metaverse applications, Chou said that GIS-KY will also focus on the optical field related to its existing business and expects to start making some revenue contributions next year.

In the past few years, GIS-KY has continued to increase its investment in Taichung and Houli in response to customer requirements and confidence in hiring more talents in optical fields in Taiwan.

Chou said that the medium- and long-term plans to expand the worldwide layout in Vietnam and India have not changed in terms of planning global production capacity.

At present, the location of the factory is settled. The initial investment is not expected to be too large; only hundreds of millions of dollars could be invested in constructing cleanrooms this year.

The purchase of equipment, emphasizing the expansion of non-Chinese production capacity, is still in line with customers and assembly plants’ final assembly, test and packaging (FATP). However, China remains the main production base.