Cando, a Taiwan-based maker of projected capacitive touch sensors, will begin operation of its second 4.5G factory currently under construction in the Central Taiwan Science Park (CTSP) at the end of fourth-quarter 2011, according to company president CH Yuan.

The new factory will have a monthly capacity of 80,000-100,000 units, of which 30% will be utilized initially to meet growing demand for smartphones and tablet PC applications, Yuan said.

The construction of the factory entails a total cost of NT$7 billion (US$237 million) - NT$3.2 billion for land and buildings and NT$3.8 billion for equipment, Yuan noted.

Cando currently operates a 3.5G and a 4.5G plant in northern Taiwan, with the latter's monthly capacity of 100,000 units fully occupied and the former used to make touch sensors and color filters (CF) as well, Yuan indicated. The CF capacity at the 3.5G plant will be shifted to producing touch sensors by the end of 2011, Yuan added.

In second-quarter 2011, the revenue proportions for touch sensors for tablet PCs and smartphones will rise to 55-60% and 15-20% respectively while touch sensor revenues from the notebook segment and CFs will drop to about 10% and 7% respectively, Yuan noted.