Taiwan's stocks fell, paced by MediaTek Inc (聯發科技), after the world's biggest designer of chips for DVD players said it was too early to give guidance about the outlook for next year.
The TAIEX dropped 10.74, or 0.2 percent, to close at 4564.06. The index gained 2.4 percent this week.
MediaTek slid NT$11, or 3.2 percent, to NT$335. The company had a third-quarter profit of NT$2.6 billion (US$75 million), up 37 percent from a year ago and meeting analyst expectations.
"The fourth quarter and first quarter will be bad," said Lin Che-cheng, who manages NT$3.3 billion at Capital Trust Investment Corp (群益投信). "Expectations beyond that are predictions."
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) fell NT$5.5, or by its 7 percent daily limit, to NT$74.50. Taiwan's largest motherboard maker was downgraded to "reduce" from "hold" by UBS Warburg AG, which cited falling gross margins in the third quarter.
Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體) fell NT$0.20, or 1.4 percent, to NT$13.60. Taiwan's third-largest computer-memory-chip maker's problems with producing high-speed chips using a process that shrinks their size limited the company's output, a Chinese-language newspaper reported.
Walsin Technology Corp (華新科技) rose NT$1.4, or 6.8 percent, to NT$22.10 after Yageo Corp (國巨) agreed to drop a lawsuit against the computer-parts maker.
Eten Information Systems Co (倚天資訊) fell 10 cents, or 0.8 percent, to NT$13. The maker of Chinese language pagers providing real-time stock quotes dumped its NT$83.4 million profit forecast for the year for an NT$58.5 million loss.
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