Via Technologies Inc (
The company, in partnership with a school of the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, will focus on making a computer that can withstand erratic power supply and the heat and dust of India's rural hinterland, Via President Chen Wen-chi (
Via has already tested a design for such computers, which will have to cope with unreliable rural power supply.
"We have tested it to run up to 30 hours on a 12-volt car battery," Chen said.
About 56.5 percent of India's 138.3 million rural households don't get electricity, according to the Ministry of Power. India's peak power deficit, or the gap between supply and demand during evening hours, narrowed to 10 percent in the nine months ended Dec. 31, 2005, compared with an 11.7 percent gap in the full year ended March 31, 2005, according to the Ministry of Power's Web site.
Desktop computer sales in India, Asia's fourth-biggest economy, may rise 29 percent to 4.7 million units in the year to March 31, the Manufacturers Association of Information Technology, a group of computer makers, said in New Delhi on Jan. 5. India sold 3.63 million computers in the previous year.
While Via said it wants to make affordable computers, the company didn't give details. The cheapest branded computers in India, the world's second-most populous nation, sell for 10,000 rupees (US$226).
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves fell below the US$600 billion mark at the end of last month, with the central bank reporting a total of US$596.89 billion — a decline of US$8.6 billion from February — ending a three-month streak of increases. The central bank attributed the drop to a combination of factors such as outflows by foreign institutional investors, currency fluctuations and its own market interventions. “The large-scale outflows disrupted the balance of supply and demand in the foreign exchange market, prompting the central bank to intervene repeatedly by selling US dollars to stabilize the local currency,” Department of Foreign
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
AI-FUELED DEMAND: The company has been benefiting from the skyrocketing prices for DRAM chips amid the AI frenzy, especially its core product — DDR4 DRAM chips DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday reported that its revenue for the first quarter surged 582.91 percent to NT$49.09 billion (US$1.54 billion) from NT$7.19 billion a year earlier, as the supply crunch caused chip price spikes. Last quarter’s figure is the highest on record. On a quarterly basis, revenue jumped 63.14 percent from NT$30.09 billion, the company said. In January, Nanya Technology expected global DRAM supply scarcity to continue through the first half of 2028, thanks to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) forecast prices of standard DRAM chips would rise between 58 percent and 63
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