SEZ wins order
SEZ Holding AG, an Austrian semiconductor-equipment maker listed in Switzerland, won an order worth 11 million Swiss francs (US$8 million) from a Taiwanese DRAM manufacturer for machines to clean wafers used for computer chips.
The unspecified customer ordered "several" machines due to be delivered in December, the Villach, Austria-based company said in a statement.
The machines will be used to clean polymer residue from the back of 300mm chips, it said.
Computex set for next week
The 2003 Taipei International Computer Show -- Computex Taipei -- will be held from Monday to Sept. 26 at the Taipei World Trade Center.
Approximately 1,000 domestic and 152 foreign companies will use 2,500 booths to display their products at the exhibition sponsored by the China External Trade Development Center and the Taipei Computer Association.
Computex Taipei is one of the three most famous computer shows in the world. The other two are Cebit in Germany and Comdex Fall in the US.
Products to be exhibited at the 2003 Computex Taipei include computer components and parts, display equipment, peripherals, software and applications, as well as motherboard and add-on cards.
Quanta to sell shares overseas
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦), the world's largest notebook computer maker, plans to sell as many as 141 million shares overseas, valued by the market at about NT$12.3 billion (US$360 million), partly to finance purchases of parts.
The company hired Morgan Stanley to sell as many as 60 million new shares and help Quanta Computer chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and three other shareholders sell up to 81 million, Quanta Chief Financial Officer Tim Li (李杜榮) said.
The chairman and other shareholders may be selling shares to help finance the Taiwan-based company's flat-panel display unit Quanta Display Inc (廣輝電子), some investors said.
Lite-On PR manager dies
John Chen (陳中平), public relations manager at the nation's largest manufacturer of computer monitors and printers, Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技), was killed in a car accident in China last Friday, the company said in an e-mail statement yesterday. Chen, 38, had been working at Lite-On for over one year, and had previously worked as a journalist for Commonwealth Magazine and China Television. He was unmarried and did not have any children.
Describing Chen's death as a great loss, the statement said, "His commitment to the job and great contributions to Lite-On were very much appreciated and will always be remembered by us."
Investment limit may be eased
Taiwan may ease a rule limiting the nation's business investment in China, which is currently at 40 percent of a company's net worth, a Chinese-language newspaper reported, citing an unidentified Cabinet official.
The government may also make it easier for smaller and medium-sized Taiwanese companies, many of which have exceeded the investment limit, to seek a listing in Taiwan, the newspaper said.
The deregulations may require those companies seeking to sell shares in Taiwan to set up operational headquarters on the island in addition to increasing research and development investment, the paper said.
NT dollar loses ground
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday traded lower against its US counterpart, declining NT$0.047 to close at NT$34.147 on the Taipei foreign exchange.
Turnover was US$577 million.
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