Interest rates unchanged
Taiwan's central bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a record low after this afternoon's quarterly policy meeting. The Central Bank of China is keeping its key rediscount rate at 1.625 percent, the bank said in a statement. The bank has cut the rate 14 times since December 2000, most recently on Nov. 11. Meanwhile, the Central Bank announced it would suspend open-market operations yesterday, without giving any explanation for the suspension. Matured deposit receipts totaled NT$450 million yesterday and outstanding deposit receipts exceeded NT$2 trillion. Currency dealers said the suspension of CBC open market operations might be related to the onset of a US-led war in Iraq. The CBC has made maintaining stability of the NT dollar's exchange rate one of its priority goals at the moment.
Quanta to invest in Taiwan
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), the world's biggest supplier of notebook computers, plans to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$2.9 billion) in Taiwan on expectations its business will grow, the Commercial Times reported. The company is looking for land close to its existing factories, located an hour south of Taipei, to build facilities for research and development of computer parts, the report said, citing company chairman Barry Lam (林百里). The report did not give a timetable for the plans. Quanta Display Inc (廣輝電子), a flat-panel display venture between Quanta Computer and Japan's Sharp Corp, plans to start building a NT$300 million factory soon, the report said. In the first two months this year, Quanta Computer's sales rose by 72 percent to NT$34.7 billion from a year ago. Quanta Computer's sales growth exceeded that of smaller rivals Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) and Inventec Co (英業達) Compal's sales rose by 29 percent and Inventec's by 40 percent in the same period.
Acer to rival Dell in China
Acer Inc (宏電), Taiwan's biggest desktop-computer maker, plans to rival Dell Computer Corp, the world's No. 2 personal-computer maker, in China in three years, the Commercial Times said, citing Acer President Wang Chen-tang (王振堂). China's personal-computer market, which last year became the world's second largest after growing at a rate that exceeded most other nations, should be the target for computer suppliers, the report cited Wang as saying. Acer will expand a network of 18 distribution centers in China in competition with Dell, which takes orders via the Internet and by telephone, the report said. In China, a nation of 1.3 billion people, Dell had 5 percent of the market in the second half, according to market researcher International Data Corp. That compares with 27 percent for Legend Group Ltd., the biggest Chinese computer maker.
Macronix factory use to stabilize
Macronix International Co (旺宏電子), Taiwan's largest maker of memory chips for electronic games, said its factory use would be stable in the first quarter. "This quarter's utilization level will be similar to the last quarter," chief financial officer Paul Yeh said at a technology conference organized by Merrill Lynch & Co in Taipei. The company said earlier that its fourth-quarter utilization rate fell to 57 percent from 70 percent in the fourth quarter of 2001. Prices and demand for the company's products still haven't rebounded, Yeh said. Macronix shares rose 0.5 percent to NT$9.50.
NT dollar gains
The new Taiwan dollar gained against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, rising NT$0.005 to close at NT$34.775. A total of US$666 million changed hands. The central bank said it "will intervene in the currency market if there are irrational or unreasonable factors affecting the market."
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been