It has been reported that touch panel maker Wintek is to withdraw from touch panel manufacturing and switch to LED lighting and biotech food products.
The reports came after Wintek announced that it would be laying-off a further 2,360 employees, having last week cut 610 jobs (Display Monitor Vol 21 No 48). The company is said to have stopped production and carried out large-scale layoffs at three factories in China and Taiwan, with only a factory in Tanzi being expected to continue operating. Once the job cuts have been made, Wintek will employ only 300 employees in Taiwan, around 6% of the workforce previously employed when Wintek was at its most successful.
This week, the Bank of Taiwan and Taiwan Cooperative Bank were granted a civil ruling by the Taiwan Taichung District Court preventing Wintek from selling any of its real estate assets for a period of 90 days.
Last week, the company reported a 68% year on year fall in sales in November to NT$2.7 billion ($86.7 million), which was more than half the previous month’s total sales, bringing sales for the year to date to NT$63.1 billion ($2 billion), down 8.4% from the corresponding period of last year. The company also secured an extension for the repayment of bank loans and said it was also looking for a new injection of capital to finance its business.
