APBT shareholders approve cut
Shareholders of telecom operator Asia Pacific Broadband Telecom Co (APBT, 亞太固網寬頻) yesterday approved a proposed 50 percent cut in capital to NT$32.84 billion (US$1.1 million) to improve its financial status. That will lead to a 50 percent cancelation of debt-ridden APBT's shares.
During yesterday's special shareholder's meeting, APBT shareholders also okayed the issuance of new shares, aiming to raise NT$20 billion. The company said it was confident it could obtain new investment by the end of March, next year.
As of last year, APBT had accumulated NT$43 billion in losses.
APBT currently has 2 million 3G subscribers and 1 million broadband users.
Hannstar reports record profit
Hannstar Display Corp (瀚宇彩晶), the nation's fourth-biggest maker of liquid-crystal displays, rose to its highest position in more than two years in Taipei trading after reporting a record quarterly profit.
Hannstar's stock jumped by the daily 7 percent limit to NT$12.25 at the end of trading on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, its highest level since Aug. 4, 2005.
Shares of Taoyuan-based Hannstar resumed trading yesterday following a two-week suspension after the company wrote off 17 percent of its stock this month.
Businesses must shift focus: Lin
Taiwan's businesses should shift their focus from production to intangible assets such as intellectual property rights and brands to enhance their competitiveness, Industrial Technology Research Institute (工研院) chairman Lin Hsin-i (林信義) said yesterday.
According to Lin, with stiffer competition from developing countries such as China, Vietnam and India, where production costs are relatively low, it is crucial for Taiwan to develop a branding strategy to persuade international buyers to spend 10 percent to 20 percent more to purchase Taiwanese products.
Lin pointed out that "quality, brand names and taste" are what customers are looking for and that a lot of effort is required to make consumers develop trust in and preference for a particular product.
Income boost for Chartered
Custom-built microchip manufacturer Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (特許半導體) said yesterday third quarter net income quadrupled from a year earlier due to a hefty tax benefit.
Net income from July to last month rose to US$114.8 million from US$26.8 million in the same quarter last year, the Singapore-based company said in a statement.
Profit was boosted by a tax benefit of US$118.5 million from allowances made in the previous years related to its Fab 3 manufacturing plant, it said.
Revenue for the quarter totaled US$354.8 million, just off the US$355.3 million in the same period last year.
For the fourth quarter, Chartered is projecting revenue of between US$334 million and US$346 million, with net profit expected to come in between US1 million and US$11 million.
Blaze hits CPC plant
A Kaohsiung distillation plant belonging to state-run CPC Corp, (CPC, 台灣中油) caught fire yesterday evening, possibly because of a fuel leak, company spokesman Liao Tsang-long (廖滄龍) said.
No casualties were reported from the blaze at the sixth distillation plant, Liao said. At press time, CPC was still evaluating the financial loss incurred from the fire, as well as how the accident would affect the plant's operations, Liao said.
There was a fire at the same plant in July, when CPC workers started trial operations of a furnace, caused by a fuel leak.
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],”