■ Acer signs licensing deal
Acer Inc, the fourth-largest name-brand personal computer vendor in the world, said yesterday it has been granted patent licensing on computer system memory management from Integraph Hardware Technologies of the US. "The patent licensing involves flash memory chips used in Pentium level central processing units equipped in laptop and desktop computers," an Acer spokesman said. The two companies signed the patent agreement on Friday. However, Acer declined to disclose other details about the agreement.
■ CDFHC makes special report
China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控) yesterday made a special report on its controversial hostile takeover bid for Taiwan International Securities Corp (金鼎證券) to its board of directors on the demand of new chairman Lin Cheng-yi (林誠一), who said later on that he recognized the company did not commit any unlawful activities during the process. The ad hoc meeting progressed smoothly and all the directors agreed to improve corporate governance in the future, China Development's vice president of corporate affairs Civi Tsai (蔡玉如) said yesterday. Tsai however declined to elaborate on Lin's decision on whether to proceed with the acquisition of Taiwan International Securities, citing confidentiality. The financial group announced yesterday that it has stepped up its shareholding in the targeted brokerage to 41.08 percent. China Development Financial is expected to carry on with its takeover of Taiwan International Securities or it would need to bear all the investment loss, SinoPac Securities Corp's analyst Chu Yu-chun (朱玉君) said. The financial holding firm is facing a judicial investigation of its alleged involvement in insider trading amid its hostile takeover attempt after the financial regulator handed over the case to prosecutors earlier this month.
■ Chen named Taipower chief
Edward Chen (陳貴明), president of Taiwan Power Co (台電), was named as the state-run utility's chairman, the Ministry of Econ-omic Affairs said in a statement released yesterday. Chen, 58, who has a master's degree in nuclear engineering from National Tsinghua University, will succeed Morgan Hwang (黃營杉), who was appointed minister of economic affairs, it said. The government owns 97 percent of Taiwan Power, which generates about 75 percent of the electricity the nation uses and monopolizes transmission. One major task for the new chairman is the adjustment of electricity prices. Fuel costs have surged by NT$70 billion from 2003 to date, Chen said. The company is evaluating the mechanism for the price hike, and may increase the rates for consumption of over 110 kilowatt-hours per month, he said. The average household electricity consumption is about 360 kilowatt-hours per month, he said.
■ Tesco after local suppliers
Tesco, the UK's largest supermarket chain, is to hold a procurement presentation to attract local suppliers of cosmetics, automobile accessories, stationery, toys and children's products, a spokesman for the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) said over the weekend. Tesco is organizing the event at TAITRA'S invitation, the spokesman said. Tesco opened its first local outlet at the end of 2000 in Taipei's Nangang District. The shop was acquired from Makro, a Dutch group that shifted its business to wholesale from retail. Tesco is set to pull out of Taiwan's retail market later this year.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure