Friday, March 25, 2011

Smart.

Very Smart.

Setting up shop in post colonials (in this case, Siam) is quite astute as the paper dragon weakens. The fact that now costs are lower is telling...and ominous for China given the possibility of labor unrest.

Wintek Corp. (2384), a Taiwanese maker of panels for Apple Inc.
(AAPL)’s iPhones, plans to invest as much as $150 million on a new
plant in Vietnam to take advantage of lower labor costs in the
Southeast Asian country.

The shares of Wintek climbed 1.8 percent to NT$51.70 at the 1:30 p.m.
close of trading in Taipei, the biggest gain since March 18. The panel
maker plans to invest $100 million to $150 million on the plant in
northern Vietnam’s Bac Giang province, Jay Huang, a spokesman for
Taichung, Taiwan-based Wintek said by phone today.

Wintek told the Bac Giang Industrial Zones Authority that it will make
touch panels for iPhones and iPads, according to Nguyen Van Hien, the
authority’s chief administrator. Huang declined to confirm or deny
whether the products would be used in the Apple devices.

“There’s no question this is great news for Vietnam and great for the
Vietnamese economy,” said Than Trong Phuc, managing director of Ho Chi
Minh City-based DFJ Vinacapital L.P., a technology investment fund.
“Multinational companies are looking for a second country to China
where they can diversify their investments and save on costs.”

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