Millionth TSMC wafer to VIA
Computer chip designer VIA Technologies Inc (威盛電子) received its one millionth wafer from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday, e-mailed statements from both companies said.
"VIA's partnership with TSMC has been a key element to our success over the past nine years," said Chen Wen-chi (陳文琦), chief executive officer and president of VIA.
"This is a great milestone for VIA," said Rick Tsai (蔡力行), president of TSMC. "They currently have many new designs for a variety of innovative applications in the pipeline with us, and we expect an even stronger relationship going forward."
HP's center marks birthday
Hewlett-Packard Co's global standard Product Development Center (PDC) yesterday celebrated its first anniversary in Taiwan, saying it will double research fund to develop more new products for the second year.
"It's been a successful year, and we will keep enlarge the scale and depth of the PDC," Kai Hsiao (蕭國坤), director of HP Asia international Procurement Office said yesterday.
In the past year, the HP product center developed six products, including 16-inch Compaq Presario 3000 tablet PC and HP ProLiant ML servers.
Hsiao said HP is very content with the research and development environment here and aims to develop Taiwan into a regional product development center in Asia.
AU unveils big LCD panel
AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the nation's largest flat-panel display maker, yesterday launched its 46-inch LCD panel for High Definition Television (HDTV), the company said in a statement.
The panel will be manufactured at a "fifth-generation" technology plant, the company said, adding that the shipments are expected to begin in the first quarter of next year.
AU ranks third in the world after Samsung and L.G. Philips of South Korea.
By 2005, the company will have two fifth-generation plants and one sixth-generation site to meet demand for LCD TVs, it said.
Construction of the sixth-generation plant started at the end of July and it is scheduled to begin mass production in the second quarter of 2005 with an initial monthly capacity of 60,000 panels.
The company's joint development program with Fujitsu Display Technologies will underpin the development of LCD TV production.
Central bank to check accounts
The central bank, concerned about currency speculation, is investigating overseas funds that may have converted foreign currency to New Taiwan dollars and parked the money in domestic accounts, a Chinese-language business newspaper reported, without citing the source of its information.
The central bank is focusing on overseas investors who received regulatory permission to buy Taiwanese stocks but have tucked the money in bank accounts instead, the newspaper said.
It's also looking at comments made by some foreign institutions predicting the local currency will appreciate, the report said.
NT dollar hits 13-month high
The New Taiwan dollar had its strongest close in 13 months as exporters concerned the currency will extend gains hastened sales of the US dollar.
The NT dollar rose for a third day yesterday, climbing 0.2 percent to NT$33.735, its highest close since Aug. 14 last year, according to Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$1.275 billion.
Gains in the Japanese yen and South Korean won Monday surpassed the NT dollar's advance, spurring speculation there's more room for the currency to strengthen, said Tarsicio Tong, a trader at Union Bank of Taiwan (聯邦銀行).
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