Taiwanese PV makers’ revenue performance in December 2016 was not consistent to that in November 2016. Overall, cell makers saw significant increase in revenue, while wafer makers did not. Revenue in 1H16 has strong impact on the revenue condition in the entire year.

Wafer maker: SAS was the only one that experienced positive growth

Among all wafer manufacturers, SAS was the only one that witnessed positive growth for its revenue in December and consolidated revenue in 2016. The company officially acquired SunEdison Semiconductor in December, leading to a consolidated revenue of NT$ 4.72 billion, up 71% MoM and 102% YoY, reaching a record high.

Due to the decline of wafer prices after 3Q16, GET chose to outsource less, maintaining capacity utilization rate at 90%. Also, the company decided to ship out products selectively to avoid getting low-priced orders. Its consolidated revenue in December reached NT$ 758 million, down 23.4% MoM. The consolidated revenue in 2016 reached NT$ 15.3 billion, down 1% from 2015.

Danen’s revenue reached NT$ 64.77 million in December, a 15.53% rise from November, the highest point for 2H16. Its annual revenue declined 12.96% to NT$ 1.371 billion.

Due to the reduced amount of orders, the annual revenue reached NT$ 14.88 billion for Giga Solar and Gigastorage, a 6% dip YoY. The revenue in December only reached NT$ 935 million, down 45% YoY. We can see from the company’s financial report that its revenue last year has already started to decline since July. But Jiming Chen, Chairman of Giga Solar, said on January 23rd that they are optimistic about the Chinese market demand. Therefore, they will increase their positive silver paste shipment from 580 tons in 2016 to more than 600 tons in 2017. In addition, its market share will reach 70% in China this year.

Cell makers are greatly affected by the large fluctuation in the market 

Gintech is the Taiwanese cell maker with the largest growth rate within one month. Its consolidated revenue reached NT$ 1.293 billion in December, up 45.3% MoM but down 21.1% from December 2015. Revenue in 4Q16 increased 38.7% from 3Q16 to NT$ 3.005 billion, down 32% from the same period last year. Due to the poor market condition, the consolidated revenue in 2016 dropped 6.7% YoY to NT$ 14. 679 billion. Gintech indicated that the expansion at the Thailand factory has entered the mass production stage along with the increasing demand in China; the company is expecting better revenue in 1H17.

Thanks to the increasing module shipment, Neo Solar Power (NSP)’s consolidated revenue reached NT$ 1.166 billion, up 29.81% from last month. Yet, the company couldn’t catch up with the installation boom due to the poor shipping condition in 1H16. Furthermore, the capacity utilization rate remained unstable until 3Q16 due to the adjustment of production lines. The revenue in 2016 declined 25.38% from NT$ 22.215 billion to NT$ 16.576 billion in 2016. Looking ahead for the future, NSP is expecting higher demand in 1Q17.

TSEC’s consolidated revenue increased 1.8% to NT$ 622 million in December. The revenue in 2016 also increased 8.6% YoY to NT$ 7.747 billion. The company continues to expand its capacity. Its PERC cell capacity will represent 30% of the total cell capacity. A large module factory will be built in Taiwan as well.

Motech’s consolidated revenue dropped 0.2% MoM to NT$ 1.93 billion in December. But the consolidated revenue in 2016 increased 17% from NT$ 28.962 billion in 2015.
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