Taiwan Semiconductor Manufac-turing Co (TSMC,
The company's sales last month were up 48.30 percent from NT$12.76 billion a year earlier, TSMC spokesman Lora Ho (
Its sales in the nine months to last month rose 20.3 percent from a year earlier to NT$144.13 billion.
Rival United Microelectronics Corp (
In the nine months to last month, sales increased 22.55 percent to NT$61.14 billion.
TSMC, which in April received government approval for its initial investment to build a chip plant in China, said yesterday that it has invested NT$1.89 billion (US$56 million) in its Chinese subsidiary as part of its plan to set up a NT$33.75 billion plant there.
The subsidiary, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (Shanghai) Ltd, plans to have the plant up and running in the second half of next year.
A number of chip plants or "foundries," which manufacture semiconductors based on the designs of their clients, have already sprung up in China. So far, UMC has yet to submit an application with the government to invest in China.
TSMC faces further hurdles in its China plans.
The company has not applied for second-phase approval from the government before it can convince government officials that it will continue to build plants in Taiwan to prevent the exodus of jobs and technological prowess to China.
The government also wants TSMC to prove that its advanced, 300mm chip plant in Taiwan is running at "mass-production" levels before it gains second-phase approval.
TSMC's public relations manager, Tzeng Jinnhaw (
The government has so far offered no definition of "mass production" levels. Nor has it said how many phases of approval TSMC may have to go through.
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
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