AIDC announces alliance
State-funded Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC, 漢翔航空) announced yesterday that it has formed an alliance with Sagem Avionics Inc, a US avionics firm, to tap the digitized glass cockpit market in the Asia-Pacific region. AIDC will provide its experience in digitized glass cockpits while Sagem Avionics Inc will offer its customizable, comprehensive, and affordable display solutions to the partnership, AIDC said in a statement.
Meanwhile, AIDC said it has been awarded nearly 100 orders from Bell Helicopter Textron Inc (BHTI). BHTI contracted the manufacturing of its US Army AH-1Z and UH-1Y tailboom to AIDC in 2004, the company said in a statement. BHTI has placed new orders worth more than US$25 million, it said.
Insurance amounts rise
The maximum insured amount for each depositor has risen to NT$1.5 million (US$46,097) from NT$1 million since the beginning of last month, in line with the amended Deposit Insurance Act (存款保險條例), the state-run Central Deposit Insurance Corp (CDIC, 中央存保) said yesterday in a statement.
The NT$1 million coverage had been maintained unchanged for two decades, CDIC said. Therefore, the 50 percent increase in maximum coverage is necessary in view of a doubling national income and a more than 45 percent increase in consumer prices over the past 20 years, it said.
The increased coverage was based on an amendment to the Deposit Insurance Act (存款保險條例), which was promulgated by the president on Jan. 18.
TSMC begins chip supply
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufact-uring Co (TSMC, 台積電) said it has started supplying embedded dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips for Microsoft Corp's popular game console X Box 360.
The embedded DRAM chips are made using TSMC's 90 nanometer technology.
"Microsoft's selection of the TSMC 90nm eDRAM process for the graphics-rich Xbox 360 is an important validation of the capability and maturity of the technology," said John Wei (尉濟時), senior director of platform marketing, advanced technology division of TSMC. "Furthermore, the production marks the successful continuation to an ongoing collaboration between Microsoft and TSMC."
TSMC has been in 90nm embedded DRAM production since the first quarter of last year, and the design team has developed versatile sets of memory macros that are being used in more than a dozen 90nm customer products.
Kimpo board approves proposal
Kimpo Electronics Inc (金寶電子) yesterday said its board has approved a proposal to increase its stake in Vibo Telecom Co (威寶電信) to fund the money-losing third-generation (3G) mobile service provider.
Kimpo said it would buy 184 million new shares issued by Vibo for NT$1.84 billion, boosting its holding to 33 percent, according to a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Kimpo now has a 23 percent share of Vibo.
After the purchase, Kimpo will own 695 million Vibo shares.
Vibo plans to raise NT$6 billion in funds by selling new shares in the second half of this year.
Ratings remain unaffected
Taiwan Ratings Corp (中華信評) said yesterday that its ratings on Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行) and Land Bank of Taiwan (台灣土地銀行) would not be immediately affected by the government's announcement of a plan to group the two banks and the Export-Import Bank of the ROC (中國輸出入銀行) under a financial holding company structure before the end of this year.
Taiwan Ratings said it would monitor the execution of the initiative, which may be subject to political and regulatory developments.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last