EU warns China over IPR
EU trade chief Peter Mandelson said yesterday that he could "not rule out" opening a case against China for its failure to protect intellectual property rights (IPR), like the US has done.
"I do not rule out initiating or joining action at the WTO if in our view China is failing to take its responsibilties seriously," he told journalists in Brussels.
"China has agreed to protect [intellectual property rights]. It did so when it joined the WTO and despite considerable efforts by the Chinese government, IPR protection in China reamins patchy and uneven," he said.
Wall Street gains boost shares
Shares closed up 0.55 percent yesterday at the day's high on the back of Wall Street's overnight gains, dealers said.
The market also took note of Intel Corp's rally in US electronic aftermarket trading following the disclosure of its first-quarter earnings, they said.
The TAIEX finished up 44.02 points at 8,003.31, on turnover of NT$101.03 billion (US$3.06 billion).
Risers led decliners 729 to 382, with 230 stocks unchanged.
BlackBerry service disrupted
Research In Motion's BlackBerry service experienced disruptions in North America and other parts of the world, affecting an unspecified number of the company's 8 million subscribers.
The Waterloo, Ontario-based company hasn't provided a timeframe for when the service might be restored.
The disruption may be limited to North America, with some problems in other parts of the world for customers who receive their e-mails through North American servers. Mobile-phone companies in Asia and Europe said they haven't experienced problems. Taiwan Mobile (台灣大哥大), which carries the BlackBerry service in Taiwan, had no reports of problems, said Shirley Zhu, a spokeswoman for the Taipei-based operator.
IDC gets new director
Market researcher International Data Corp (IDC) Taiwan announced a new managing director yesterday. Jimmy Chen (陳建名), who took over from predecessor Terry Tsao (曹志堅), was officially onboard yesterday, the company said in a statement.
The 46-year-old Chen is a veteran in the local IT scene with nearly 20 years of experience.
He was public sector's sales manager at Hewlett-Packard Taiwan Ltd before taking up the leadership in IDC Taiwan.
"IDC Taiwan will continue to expand its research areas for the local market, creating strategic values to the clients," Chen said in the statement.
Microsoft picks Beijing
Microsoft Corp plans to set up a multimillion-dollar joint research and development center in Beijing with China's leading computer maker Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想), the Chinese firm said yesterday.
Lenovo spokesman Chen Ji said each party will hold 50 percent of the joint research and development center.
The state-run China Daily said yesterday that the facility will be in Lenovo's existing research base in Beijing, with around 40 engineers from Lenovo and equipment, training and some staff from Microsoft.
The partners will try to identify opportunities in the consumer and mobile markets such as digital photography, digital media and the Internet, the China Daily said, citing Craig Mundie, chief research and strategy officer at Microsoft.
NT dollar rises
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against its US counterpart yesterday, rising NT$0.002 to close at NT$33.159 on the Taipei Forex Inc. Turnover was US$958 million.
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
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”