Ritek plans spinoff
Local optical-disk maker Ritek Corp (錸德) yesterday said it planned to spin off its optronics unit and expected the new business to generate NT$100 million in earnings and NT$500 million to NT$600 million in revenues this year, a report by the Chinese-language online news provider cnyes.com (鉅亨網) said, citing Ritek spokesman Eric Ai (艾元瑞).
The optronics unit will make up 2.5 percent of Ritek's total revenues, and the spinoff will take effect on Aug. 31, Ritek said, adding that it planned to list the new unit on the GRETAI Securities Market in future.
Healthy donuts launched
Mister Donut Taiwan Co (統一多拿滋) yesterday marked the opening of its 21st store near the Guting mass rapid transit station by unveiling low-calorie ball-shaped donuts. The donut firm uses high-fiber, sugar-free soybean milk to produce the latest series of confectioneries, company president Kitami Tadashi said.
The firm plans to open up to 40 stores this year and 100 shops by 2009.
"The nation's donut market has heated up again after Dunkin' Donuts entered the market," he said.
The US brand staged a comeback in January and looks to expand to 10 stores this year. It currently has four outlets, all located in the capital.
NT dollar advances
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar on the Taipei foreign exchange market yesterday, advancing NT$0.005 to close at NT$33.281.
Turnover was US$919 million.
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
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
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