■ Tax changes pass first reading
The legislature's Economics and Energy Committee yesterday approved the first reading of the amendments to the Statute for Upgrading Industries (促進產業升級條例), which will increase the taxation on shares given by firms to their employees as bonuses. Bonus shares will be taxed on the basis of 80 percent of their fair market value in the future, rather than the face value of NT$10 per share, according to the bill. The fair market value is based on the average price within one month prior to the issuance of the bonus shares, the draft bill said. The new regulation is subject to further discussion between the government and opposition party lawmakers before the bill is submitted for the second or third reading by lawmakers. Some lawmakers remain worried that the tax regulation may make it difficult for high-tech firms to attract quality manpower.
■ Motech, MEMC in joint project
Motech Industries Inc (茂迪) and MEMC Electronic Materials Inc will jointly build a NT$100 million (US$3.1 million) silicon wafer plant in Taiwan, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported yesterday. The paper quoted Motech's chief executive officer Simon Tsuo (左元淮) as saying the plant would be completed in two years, ensuring a supply of silicon wafers to Motech for eight years. Motech is the nation's largest solar cell maker and ranks itself at No. 10 in the world. Motech declined to confirm or deny the details reported by the newspaper. "It's just a direction, so far the details haven't been finalized. We could finalize a deal by the end of June," said an executive who spoke on condition of anonymity. Once the plant is completed, ownership will be transferred completely to MEMC, which makes silicon wafers used in solar cells and semiconductors, the paper said.
■ FSC authority may be stripped
The Cabinet may decide to strip the Financial Supervisory Commission of financial policy-making authority after its chairman, Kong Jaw-sheng (龔照勝), was suspended earlier this month for alleged corruption in a former position, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported yesterday. Financial policy-making authority could be shifted to the Ministry of Finance, the report said. In response, both the commission and the finance ministry were evasive about the issue, but did not deny the report. Minister of Finance Joseph Lyu (呂桔誠) said he respected whatever decision the Cabinet makes. The commission's acting chairman Lu Daung-yen (呂東英) declined to comment on the possibility the commission could be stripped of its authority. There have been discussions about separating financial policy-making and supervision after the commission, which is in charge of both, was formed in 2004.
■ Dragon Steel to boost capacity
Dragon Steel Corp (中龍), an affiliate of the nation's biggest steelmaker China Steel Corp (中鋼), said it will boost the capacity of a planned mill by 25 percent to help increase earnings. The plant, which is under construction in central Taiwan, will be able to produce 2.5 million tonnes of crude steel a year, up from the 2 million previously planned, Dragon Steel said Monday. China Steel and subsidiaries own a total 70 percent in the company. The rise in planned capacity will lift total investment to NT$78.9 billion (US$2.5 billion) from NT$69.8 billion, according to Dragan Steel.
■ NT dollar slides
The New Taiwan dollar lost ground against its US counterpart, declining NT$0.198 to close at NT$32.146 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$1.02 billion.
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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six