■ IT procurement to grow
The procurement of information technology (IT) and electronics products made by foreign companies' purchasing offices here is expected to reach US$54 billion this year, up 11 percent from US$48.5 billion last year, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. The ministry expects the purchasing amount to increase by 10 percent to US$60 billion next year. Hewlett-Packard remained No. 1 with purchasing of US$17.2 billion this year, up 6.2 percent from a year ago, and is sequentially followed by Dell, which spent over US$10 billion, Sony, Apple Computer and IBM, with purchases worth around US$4 billion each, the ministry said.
■ Government subsidies urged
The government should give more subsidies to help the service sector create brand value and expand outlets overseas, William Wang (王國安), director-general of the Association of Chain and Fran-chise Promotion (連鎖加盟促進 協會), said yesterday. The association has 1,366 members nationwide, which operate 80,000 outlets in Taiwan. Wang said the group plans to spend NT$1 million (US$30,000) on hiring professors next year to give courses on marketing and business-related knowledge.
■ NT dollar weakens
The New Taiwan dollar fell for a second day on speculation the central bank sold its currency to slow an appreciation, and after foreign investors reduced stock purchases. The currency slipped NT$0.143 to close at NT$33.117 against its US counterpart on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$970 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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six