The TAIEX gained, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC,
BenQ Corp (明基電通), the country's biggest mobile-phone maker, climbed after its main customer, Motorola Inc, reported three straight quarters of profit, the first time in more than two years.
``Motorola and Intel's reports come as a surprise,'' said Mike Shiao (
``Many people have already lowered their expectations on companies' earnings amid war in Iraq'' and SARS, he said.
The TAIEX gained 121.73, or 2.7 percent, to 4,609.32, its highest close since February 18. About nine stocks gained for every one that declined.
MSCI Taiwan futures for April delivery in Singapore added 3.1 percent to 198.20, while the Taiwan Futures Index gained 3.4 percent to 4,625.
TSMC, the world's largest maker of computer chips on a subcontracting basis, rose NT$2.20, or 4.9 percent, to NT$46.90. UMC, the second-largest, added NT$0.70 , or 3.5 percent, to NT$21.00.
Intel revenue this quarter will rise to US$6.4 billion to US$7 billion, from US$6.32 billion in the year-earlier period, on expectations that sales of personal-computer processors will continue to improve, chief financial officer Andy Bryant said on a conference call.
BenQ rose NT$1.4, or 3.6 percent, to NT$40.60. Motorola, the world's No. 2 mobile-telephone maker, had first-quarter net income of US$169 million.
China Airlines Co (
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
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained