Delta takes Wujiang as major production base

Taipei, Sept. 22, 2003 (CENS)--Delta Electronics Co., Ltd., one of Taiwan's largest manufacturers of electronic products, has selected Wujiang of Jiangsu Province, mainland China as a major production base after it kicked off mass production at a plant there at the end of last year.

Delta said its Wujiang plant, owned by affiliate Delta (Jiangsu) Electronics Co., is increasing the production of front projectors, DA/AC converters, and switching power supplies for notebook computers. The company noted the Wujiang plant will turn out NT$10 billion (US$293.25 million at US$1:NT$34.1) worth of electronic products this year, accounting for 20% of Delta Group's total production value. Overall production value of the plant is expected to double next year.

The Wujiang plant currently occupies only 2.664 million square feet out of a land area of 5.04 million square feet. Accordingly, there is ample room for the plant to launch expansion in the near future.

According to C.L. Liao, president of Delta (Jiangsu), Delta Group first rent a plant in Wujiang to produce switching power supplies for communication products in 2000 because Jiangsu government offers favorable terms to solicit investors. Last year Delta (Jiangsu) set up 10 production lines at three plants there for the production of front projectors, DC/AC converters, motor controllers, fiber-optical telecommunication components, and switching power supplies for notebook computers.

At present, domestic listed electronics firms that have set up production facilities in Wujiang include Delta, Arima Computer Inc., Ultima Electronics Co., Chunghwa Picture Tubes Co., ADI Corp., Radiant Opto-Electronics Corp., Microtek International Inc., Cal-Comp Electronics (Thailand) Corp., and Lung Hwa Electronics Co. Of them, Delta (Jiangsu) is the largest with a work force of over 8,000.

Liao said half of the products rolled from Delta's Wujiang plant are supplied to the domestic market in the mainland, mainly to the Taiwanese-invested electronics firms located in Eastern China area. Currently switching power supplies account for 45% or 50% of the plant's total production.

As Delta Group has focused production on switching power supplies for desk-top computers and servers, transformers, electric fans, and a wide range of electronics components in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, the Wujiang plant will concentrate on the production of game consoles, switching power supplies for notebook computers and liquid crystal display monitors, and some electronic components.

Fan Chih-lu, Delta Group's special assistant to president, said his group has made investments in Dongguan since 1992. Currently the group owns five plants there with a work force of 20,000.