■ Three investments approved
The Investment Commission, under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, said yesterday it approved three applications for China-bound investment worth US$51.50 million. The approved investment includes US$29.50 million Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) will spend on a unit in Kunshan in the eastern province of Jiangsu and US$16 million for Quanta Computer Inc's (廣達電腦) Shanghai unit, the commission said. Between Feb. 16 and March 17, the commission approved a total of 247 China-bound investment applications worth a combined US$358 million.
■ Yulon to set up parts venture
Yulon Motor Co (裕隆), the nation's largest automaker by market value, plans to set up an electronic parts venture and may invite some computer makers to be investors. Yulon plans to make components for vehicles in Taiwan, company Vice President Charles Shiau (蕭明輝) said today. "The venture is at the early planning stage, so details are still very sketchy," Shiau said. The project, aimed at tapping the world's NT$900 billion (US$28 billion) auto-electronics market, may involve an investment of about NT$10 billion, according to Chen Kuo-rong (陳國榮), the carmaker's president.
■ NT dollar dips
The New Taiwan dollar dropped for a fourth day on concern the central bank will sell it to protect exporters as the South Korean won and Japanese yen weakened. The NT dollar slid NT$0.103 to close at NT$31.776, the lowest close since Feb. 1. Turnover was US$897 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],”