Quake risk to fabs leaked
Insurers won't underwrite more than a third of the nations 12-inch silicon wafer plants because of earthquakes potential, raising the cost of risk for companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), a Chinese-language newspaper reported, citing unidentified insurers.
The one-third limit is on par with the underwriting ceiling on less advanced 8-inch wafer plants, the paper said. Factories that can produce 12-inch wafers cost about US$3 billion.
The 921 earthquake, resulted in insurance claims of about NT$10 billion (US$288 million) from the semiconductor industry.
Evergreen stock rises
Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運) shares rose after US West Coast port operators and dockworkers reached agreement on a contract that would increase wages and benefits.
Shares of Evergreen, which runs the world's fourth-largest shipping line by capacity, rose as much as 4.3 percent to NT$14.70 as of 9:23am. The US is the second-largest buyer of Taiwan exports.
Display makers pessimistic
Taiwan's flat-panel computer display and television manufacturers are to face tough times ahead, a government research think tank announced at an Industrial Tech-nology Intelligence Services 2002 IT market seminar yesterday.
Flat-panel analyst Chen Mao-cheng (陳茂成) warned manufacturers that new generation products from South Korea and Japan would threaten their markets.
Taiwan needs to make larger panels to compete, especially in the television sector which is expected to quadruple to almost one million units globally by 2004.
Chip tester stock rises
ST Assembly Test Services Ltd shares rose as much as 7 percent on expectations the company will benefit from an increase in demand after its customer TSMC raised its sales forecast.
The shares of ST Assembly Test Services, the world's fourth-biggest chip-tester, rose as much as S$0.10 to S$1.53 and traded at S$1.52 in mid-day trading in Singapore. The shares rose 13.5 percent on Friday and have climbed 24 percent in the last week.
Singapore-based ST Assembly Test Services gets about half its orders from TSMC, which said fourth-quarter shipments would be about equal to the third quarter, exceeding its earlier prediction of a 10 percent decrease.
Privitization progresses
The government plans to sell more than half its stake in state-owned Bank of Taiwan (台銀), the nation's biggest lender by assets, by the end of 2005, bank chairman Chen Mu-tsai (陳木在) said.
The bank also plans to sell its 12 percent stake in First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) and 31 percent stake in Hua Nan Financial Holdings Co (華南金控), subject to the timing and amount dictated by the finance ministry, Chen said.
The government has said it will also offer stakes in Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫), Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), the Central Trust of China (中央信託局), Taiwan Business Bank (台灣企銀), Chang Hwa Commercial Bank (彰化銀行), CTB Financial Holding Co (交銀金控) and the Farmers Bank of China (農民銀行).
NT dollar falls
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday fell against its US counterpart, losing NT$0.047 to close at NT$34.804 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$372 million, compared with last Firday's US$391 million.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six