臺資觸摸屏企業關閉東莞工廠

Taiwanese group Wintek, formerly a major supplier of touchscreens for Apple’s iPhone and iPad, has shuttered two plants in southern China and axed 7,000 jobs, leaving unpaid suppliers to chase debts of Rmb230m ($37m).

臺灣勝華科技(Wintek)關閉了中國南方的兩家工廠，裁掉了7000員工，並虧欠供應商大約2.3億元人民幣（約合3700萬美元）的賬款。勝華科技曾是蘋果(Apple) iPhone和iPad觸摸屏的主要供應商之一。

Armed police surrounded the plants in the city of Dongguan as workers collected final pay this week, while suppliers demonstrated in front of the factories. Wintek declined to comment.

本週武警包圍了這兩家設在東莞的工廠。工人們聚集在廠門口討要工資，供應商也上門來討債。勝華科技拒絕置評。

The company sought insolvency protection in October, filing in Taiwan for a restructuring of more than NT30bn ($961m) in debts owed to local and mainland lenders and suppliers. Wintek reported a loss of NT$10bn for 2013 and a NT$3bn loss in the first half this year. The Taipei-listed company was once one of the main suppliers for Apple, but placed a bet that failed after Apple selected a rival touchscreen in late 2012.

該公司10月在臺灣提交了破產保護申請，希望重組超過300億元新臺幣（合9.61億美元）欠臺灣和大陸銀行及供應商的債務。勝華科技2013年虧損了100億元新臺幣，今年上半年虧損了30億元新臺幣。這家臺北上市公司曾是蘋果的主要供應商之一，但蘋果在2012年底選擇了競爭對手的觸摸屏，致使其押注失敗。

The episode represents a cautionary tale for high-tech manufacturers in southern China who aspire to being an official Apple supplier.

勝華科技的例子給有志成爲蘋果供應商的華南高科技製造企業敲響了警鐘。

While Wintek was the largest supplier of touchscreens for the iPhone 4, Apple switched to a different technology in 2012 for its iPhone 5, eliminating much of Apple’s need for Wintek’s technology.

雖然該公司曾是iPhone 4最大的觸摸屏供應商，但是蘋果在2012年爲iPhone 5選擇了另一種技術，消除了蘋果對勝華科技技術的大部分需求。

In 2013, Apple then opted for film touch panels in its iPads, rather than the glass touch panels made by Wintek. Apple still lists a Wintek facility in Suzhou, near Shanghai, as a supplier, but not any of its Dongguan plants.

2013年，蘋果爲iPad選擇了薄膜觸摸屏面板，而不是勝華科技生產的玻璃觸摸屏面板。蘋果仍將勝華科技設在蘇州的一家工廠列爲其供應商，但勝華的東莞工廠未被列入供應商名錄。

Jerry Chen from Shenzhen Laibao Hi-tech, another touchscreen maker, said, such incidents are common “although it did come a bit suddenly with Wintek”.

另一家觸摸屏製造商——深圳萊寶高科技公司(Shenzhen Laibao Hi-tech)的Jerry Chen表示，這種情況是常見的，“只是在勝華科技的案例中確實有些突然”。

“It mostly has to do with the growing competition and lower margins. Before there used to be two to three companies sharing a single order and now there may be as many as 10,” he said.

他表示：“這主要與競爭加劇和利潤率下滑有關。以往的情況是兩、三家公司分享一份訂單，現在可能有多達10家廠商分享一份訂單。”

But he said the plant closures did not necessarily mean Wintek was obsolete, as it still made the leading technology in “on glass solution” (OGS) touchscreens.

但他同時也指出，關閉工廠未必意味着勝華科技已經出局，因爲它仍掌握着“單玻璃解決方案”(OGS)觸摸屏領域的先進技術。

Wintek’s shares were suspended in mid-November at NT$1.83.

勝華科技的股票已於11月中旬停牌，最後的收盤價爲1.83元新臺幣。