EVA Airways says profit may fall
EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空), the country's second-largest airline, forecast profit will fall 22 percent. Profit is expected to fall to NT$2.04 billion (US$59 million), while sales are predicted to rise 6 percent to NT$68.6 billion in the 12 months to Dec. 31 from a year earlier, the company said in a statement distributed by the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The airline didn't elaborate on the forecasts.
EVA returned to profit of NT$2.6 billion last year, helped by passenger and cargo demand in Asia and a port shutdown in the US, after posting a net loss of NT$3.2 billion the year before.
Intel CEO may cancel trip
The CEO of Intel Corp, the world's leading chipmaker, may postpone a planned trip to Taiwan due to concerns over the virus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome.
Intel's Craig Barrett was slated to address the spring 2003 Intel Developer Forum in Taipei on April 14 and 15. "The concern is always there," Stanley Huang (黃逸松), Intel's director of marketing and technical services in Taiwan, told the Taipei Times yesterday. "We are evaluating the status of the disease. There has been no confirmation [of Barrett's attendance at the forum] yet."
GIO aims to rate Web sites
Internet portals, Internet service providers along with the government are working on an online content rating system to protect the youth from browsing inappropriate content, a government official said yesterday.
"Just like movies, we plan to rate the content in four categories," said Ho Chi-sen (何吉森), a section chief at the Government Information Office under the Executive Yuan.
The government proposal will request Web sites to post a rating tag on its home pages.
GIO is scheduled to have a public hearing Tuesday discussing details and legal issue about the Internet content rating system.
Chi Mei plans China plant
Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), the nation's second largest maker of flat-panel displays, plans to set up an advanced liquid crystal module (LCM) plant in Shanghai, China, a Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday, citing chairman Hsu Wen-lung (許文龍). Future production from the proposed plant will supply mainly to Greater Shanghai area, Hsu added.
Chi Mei currently have two flat-panel factories in Taiwan and one -- together with its joint venture International Display Technology Inc -- in Japan. The company's third flat-panel factory in Taiwan, using the fifth generation, or 5G, technology is expected to start production in the last quarter of the year.
Hsu said the company hasn't decided whether its planned fourth flat-panel factory will use 6G or 7G technology. "Probably we will [skip the 6G and] jump directly to the 7G technology," Hsu said.
Petroleum prices to stabilize
Despite the war in the Middle East, the state-owned Chinese Petroleum Corp (中油) said yesterday that the price of domestic petroleum will remain unchanged for the time being for the sake of stabilizing domestic oil and commodity prices.
Chinese Petroleum said that the second quarter is traditionally the low season for the crude oil market, but the war in Iraq has caused crude oil prices to shoot to 10-year highs, the company said.
NT dollar rises
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded higher against its US counterpart, rising NT$0.042 to close at NT$34.75 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$287.5 million, compared with last.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
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
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI