Business briefs

Share plan safe: Chunghwa

Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) said the Legislative Yuan's decision to restrict government sales of its shares will not derail plans to offer some of the stock as American depositary receipts overseas.

"The ADR plan was initiated some time ago and work is already in progress," spokeswoman Shen Fufu (沈馥馥) said. "The legislature's decision will not retroactively block the decision made earlier."

Lawmakers on Friday required government to hold 10 auctions of Chunghwa shares at home before offering the stock overseas or selling them to private investors.

But the legislature did not specify whether its decision applied to overseas share sales, leaving room for interpretation.

"The legislative resolution was vaguely worded and our interpretation is that it only limits domestic share sales," said Wang Ting-chun (王廷俊), section chief at Ministry of Transportation and Communications.

New car registrations fall

New car registrations fell 9.9 percent to 31,110 vehicles last month from the previous month, according to statistics provided by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. The figure rose 1.3 percent from a year earlier.

Major automakers -- Kuozui Motors Ltd (國瑞), China Motor Co (中華汽車), Yulon Motor Co (裕隆汽車) and Ford Lio Ho Motor Co (福特六和) -- posted slower sales last month, saying that the SARS outbreak negatively impacted auto demand during the month.

Toyota's local sales agent, Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), saw the mid-sized and large-sized sedan segments were hit hard by the SARS outbreak last month, with sales dropping by 10 percent and 40 percent respectively, Hotai spokesman Steven Yang (楊湘泉) said.

While the outbreak seems to be under control, automakers remain vigilant against the situation and would not too optimistic over the sales figure for this month, said Yulon's marketing manager Chen Chun (陳俊).

VIA Technologies Inc (威盛電子), the nation's second-largest designer of semiconductors, yesterday filed suit against its rival MediaTek Inc (聯發科技) for patent infringement by its optical storage controllers, VIA said in a statement.

The suit was filed in the US District Court in San Francisco. It alleges that MediaTek's DVD-ROM, CD-RW and CD-RW/DVD Combi controller products infringe VIA's US patent.

VIA will seek a preliminary injunction on the sale, display and import of MediaTek's products into the US, the company said. It may also ask for compensation and the destruction of MediaTek's inventory in the US.

Hitachi to buy displays

Hitachi Ltd, Japan's largest electronics maker, will buy up to half of the flat-panel displays for use in televisions that HannStar Display Corp (瀚羽彩晶) will make at a new factory opening by the end of the year, a local newspaper said.

HannStar, the country's fourth-largest maker of liquid crystal displays, will open a so-called fifth-generation flat-panel plant and supply the panels to Hitachi, which has agreed to share production technology with HannStar through June 2008, the report said, citing HannStar vice president Chou Ding-hui (周定輝).

Hitachi plans to use the screens in televisions that will be sold in the Japanese market in competition with Sony Corp and other local rivals, the report said.

NT dollar ends strong

The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded stronger against the greenback, rising NT$0.012 to close at the day's high of NT$34.687 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$258 million.