■ TSMC raised to `overweight'
Sunil Gupta, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, has raised Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), to "overweight" from "equal-weight" because of strong demand for game consoles and handsets.
Results from Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd (特許半導體) indicate strong demand for Microsoft Corp's Xbox 360 game console, while handset manufactures have provided strong guidance for the fourth quarter because of growth in emerging markets, Gupta said in a report yesterday.
Singapore-based Chartered Semiconductor, the world's third-largest customized chipmaker, posted a smaller than expected third-quarter loss on Friday and forecast its first profit in more than a year as prices rise on demand for the Xbox 360 before its North American release on Nov. 22.
Gupta said he expects Taiwan Semiconductor to report "strong" third-quarter earnings on Thursday, when the company will likely forecast better-than-expected profit in the fourth quarter.
■ Investment totals NT$867bn
The sum of the government's major investment projects totaled at NT$731.43 billion during the January to September period, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. The initial target is to reach a total amount of NT$867 billion for the whole year, and the sum for the first nine months has accounted for 84 percent of the target, it said. Of the 1,070 major investment cases during the period, those over NT$10 billion involved companies such as AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), and United Microelectronics Corp (聯華電子), according to the government data.
Meanwhile, the ministry said it is currently reviewing the possibilities of relaxing investment regulations to attract more overseas investors. It will send delegates abroad to solicit more foreign investment on case-by-case basis.
■ Investment rules may change
Taiwan may abolish the ceiling for Taiwanese companies investing in China if they list on the Taiwan's new "international board," the Commercial Times reported.
Taiwan's Premier Frank Hsieh(謝長廷) will suggest the change to President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), it said.
Currently, Taiwan's listed companies cannot invest more than 40 percent of their net assets in China.
Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission Chairman Kong Jaw-sheng (龔照勝) said Oct. 6 the commission plans to introduce a foreign currency-denominated stock exchange, the so-called international board, by early next year.
"For the first year of operation, we expect 10 to 20 listings of good companies," Kong said in an interview. "Within two years, we wish to have 60-80 listings; three to five years, more than 100."
■ Chinatrust, SinoPac might buy
Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) and SinoPac Financial Holding Co (建華金控) are considering buying back shares to support their stock prices, the Economic Daily News reported. Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission plans to relax rules for financial companies to buy back their own shares as one of the moves to support the sluggish stock market, it said.
Chinatrust Financial is Taiwan's sixth-biggest financial services company. SinoPac Financial owns Taiwan's 10th-biggest lender.
■ NT dollar lowest in a year
The New Taiwan dollar had the lowest close in a year on speculation that global investors will take funds from Taiwan after selling the most stocks since March. It declined against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange Monday, losing NT$0.137 to close at NT$33.770. A total of US$1.1 billion changed hands during the day's trading.
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],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
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