■ S Korea tops compensation list
South Korea's hourly compensation costs have surged from 100 in 1990 to 311.6 for this year -- double Taiwan's level of 155.1, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中經院) reported yesterday in its latest weekly magazine. Citing the latest tallies released by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, CIER reported that South Korea made the largest increase in this category among 28 countries and areas surveyed. South Korea's 311.6 is also higher than Singapore's 198.6 and Hong Kong's 171.3 -- an indication that the country has to bear greater financial burden from workers' rising salaries, social insurance and retirement fees, CIER analyzed, pointing out that a hike in hourly compensation cost can negatively affect a country's economic growth rate and consumer product price increase rates.
■ Farming technologies released
Council of Agriculture officials announced yesterday that 30 farming technologies invented by the council's research laboratories will be released to the private sector to facilitate technical improvement in the agricultural sector. The list includes technology for Agaricus Blazei Murill processing, the fast detection reagent for viral nervous necrosis on fish and the Tainan-22 rice strain. A council spokesman said that by transferring these techniques from the government to the private sector, companies can save on costs as well as make the prices for their products more competitive.
■ NT dollar rises
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground on the US dollar yesterday, rising NT$0.01 to close at NT$31.913 on the Taipei foreign exchange market.
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
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
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
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks