■ Computers
ProMOS invests in China
ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德), the country's second-largest maker of memory chips, signed an investment agreement with the authorities of Chongqing in central China to build a semiconductor plant. The factory will manufacture chips from silicon wafers measuring 8 inches in diameter, the Hsinchu-based company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. There was no information about the investment amount or production capacity. The company, together with Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶), Taiwan's largest memory-chip maker, and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (日月光), last month received approval from the government to set up operations in China.
■ Currency
Yuan under pressure to rise
The Chinese yuan will continue to face pressure to rise this year due to an expanding trade surplus, an official from the country's foreign-exchange regulator said. "As China's surplus of international payment, a majority of which is made up of rising trade surplus, is likely to sustain this year, market expectation for the renminbi to rise further will remain throughout this year," Xie Hemin (謝和民), deputy director of the current account department at the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, said at a trade conference in Beijing yesterday. The yuan rose 0.31 percent to close at 7.7739 against the US dollar in Shanghai on Friday. It has risen 6.3 percent since a fixed exchange rate of 8.30 to the US dollar ended in July 2005.
■ Internet
Another library joins project
Google announced on Friday that another major US college library had joined its controversial project to put the world's books online. The more than one million written works at the University of Texas library in the city of Austin will be converted to digital format and added to Google Books Library Project. The university's collection includes rare books and manuscripts from early Latin American history, Google said. The Google Book Search project was initiated in 2004. Google has partnerships with the New York Public Library and major universities to add their collections to its virtual book shelves.
■ Trade
Business leaders call for FTA
Powerful US and Japanese business leaders called on Friday for a free-trade agreement to link the world's two largest economies. After day-long talks in New York, the US Business Roundtable organization and Japan's Keidanren group also pledged to work together on taking advantage of China's rapid growth, and on climate change. The groups said their proposed "Economic Partnership Agreement" held "tremendous potential" for the US and Japanese economies, and urged their governments to start negotiations as soon as possible.
■ Finance
Citigroup's Q4 profits drop
Citigroup announced a 26 percent drop in its latest quarterly profits on Friday, attributing the earnings slowdown to a one-time gain a year ago and the scaling back of its Japanese operations. However, Citigroup -- one of the world's largest financial institutions -- still posted hefty fourth-quarter net profits of US$5.13 billion, more than the combined profits of Merrill Lynch, Apple and American Airlines. Citigroup reported earnings per share of US$1.03, US$0.02 better than most Wall Street analysts had anticipated.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new