Chinese Petroleum on alert
Chinese Petroleum Corp (CPC, 中油), a state-run oil refiner, said it is on alert after the government warned about possible terrorist attacks on its tankers in retaliation for Taipei's backing of the US in the Iraq war.
The government late last month asked the refiner to impose security measures "to avoid being attacked," company spokesman Liao Tsang-long (廖滄龍) said. Those measures include monitoring unidentified vessels nearby and bolstering security with help from the coast guard and police.
A Chinese-language newspaper yesterday reported that the US Homeland Security Department warned that terrorists might attack Chinese Petroleum's tankers, particularly near ports. Chinese Petroleum's oil tankers are included on a list of possible terror targets, the paper said.
TSMC to write off shares
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world's largest supplier of made-to-order computer chips, said it plans to cancel 124.7 million of its shares on Aug. 16, which the company bought to help lift stock prices.
The company announced the buyback plan on March 24 after Minister of Finance Lin Chuan (林全) urged companies to purchase stocks to help stop the key TAIEX from extending its two-day, 9.4 percent plunge following the March 20 presidential election.
NT dollar strengthens
The New Taiwan dollar continued strengthening against the US dollar yesterday, edging up NT$0.008 to close at NT$34.098 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
Turnover was US$447 million.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”