■ SEMICONDUCTORS
No signs of inventory build
Qualcomm Inc, the world's second-biggest maker of mobile-phone chips, said manufacturers aren't stockpiling its IC chips ahead of a possible embargo by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) this week. "We haven't seen significant inventory build," chief executive officer Paul Jacobs told a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co conference in New York yesterday. The ITC is scheduled to rule on Thursday whether to ban phones with some Qualcomm chips after finding in December that they infringed a Broadcom Corp patent for a battery-saving feature.
■ SEMICONDUCTORS
Micron, IC makers win suit
Micron Technology Inc, the US' biggest memory IC maker chipmaker, and seven other chipmakers won dismissal of some claims they overcharged consumers by fixing prices of memory chips. US District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton in San Francisco threw out claims that would have allowed lawyers for consumers and other indirect purchasers of memory chips in dozens of states to seek triple damages against chipmakers for alleged violations of state and federal antitrust laws. The other defendants are Infineon Technologies AG, Hynix Semiconductor Inc, Elpida Memory Inc, NEC Electronics America Inc, Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), Mosel Vitelic Corp (茂矽) and Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子). Hamilton said that consumers lacked standing to pursue the antitrust claims because they didn't purchase DRAM chips directly.
■ STEEL
CSC inks iron ore deal
Kaohsiung-based China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼) signed a four-year contract on Friday with Samarco to secure its supply of iron ore pellets. Under the contract, the Brazilian mining company will supply 1.9 million tonnes of iron ore pellets from next year to 2011, securing 25 percent of CSC's annual iron ore pellet demand. The two companies have maintained good commercial relations since 1998, when CSC first contracted Samarco to buy iron ore pellets, said the state-run CSC, which produces 11 million tonnes of raw steel per year.
■ SOFTWARE
Oracle expands SAP suit
Business software maker Oracle Corp has added copyright infringement and breach of contract claims to a lawsuit alleging rival SAP AG trespassed on its computers to obtain secret product information so it would have a better chance to reel in new customers. The documents filed on Friday in San Francisco federal court expands on a complaint that Oracle filed against Germany-based SAP in late March. The lawsuit charges SAP with "corporate theft on a grand scale." Redwood Shores, California-based Oracle alleges that SAP trampled on its intellectual property rights by heisting computer code and claiming it as its own.
■ TELECOMS
Aborigines seek damages
Aborigines in western Canada are seeking compensation from a local telephone carrier for every cellphone signal that crosses their lands. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs determined at a recent economic development summit to negotiate revenue sharing with Manitoba Telecom Services for signals that cross their reserves and traditional territories. "[The request is] based on the understanding that we do have some fundamental rights as indigenous people to land, water and airspace," Chief Ovide Mercredi of the Grand Rapids First Nation told public broadcaster CBC.
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
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