The TAIEX fell yesterday, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) after orders at Novellus Systems Inc missed some forecasts, adding to concerns that earnings growth in the chip industry may slow.
AU Optronics Corp (
The TAIEX lost 73.17, or 1.3 percent, to close at 5,685.57. About eight shares fell for every three that rose. Futures for delivery this month slipped 0.8 percent to 5,661. A China Daily report that China would conduct sea, air and land military exercises southwest of the Taiwan Strait weighed on companies that run businesses in China.
"Today's focus was on worries over the outlook for the global semiconductor industry, and reports about China's military exercises also triggered concerns," said Winnie Tiao (刁明華), chief investment officer at HSBC Asset Management Taiwan. TSMC slipped 1.3 percent to NT$44.20.
Orders for companies such as Novellus, whose equipment builds circuits in computer chips, are a gauge of the industry's expansion plans. Orders in the second quarter lagged behind chief executive Richard Hill's forecast, sending the company's shares down 4.3 percent in regular trading in New York.
AU Optronics fell 4.1 percent to NT$47. Rival Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (
"Most recent reports on technology shares are negative, forcing us to cut holdings in electronics shares," said Jim Chang, fund manager at Barits Securities Investment Trust Co (倍利投信).
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