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Chi Mei plans new factory

Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), the nation’s second-biggest maker of liquid-crystal displays (LCDs), plans to build a factory in the southern county of Kaohsiung, the local government said.

The LCD maker may spend NT$213 billion (US$7 billion) to build the so-called 10th-generation LCD manufacturing line, the county government said on its Web site yesterday. Construction will begin in the second half of next year, the statement said.

“We are looking for land next to our 8.5-generation plant,” Denis Chen (陳世賢), a spokesman for Tainan-based Chi Mei, said by phone. He declined to elaborate.

Chi Mei would join Sharp Corp and Sony Corp in producing television screens measuring 60 inches (152cm) or larger diagonally. Sony agreed in February to buy 34 percent of a venture that will operate a 10G LCD factory Sharp is building in Sakai City, Japan.

Chi Mei now operates seven LCD plants in Taiwan and is building a so-called 8.5G plant in Kaohsiung that will make LCD TV screens measuring 50 inches and larger diagonally.

Hon Hai downplays reports

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday downplayed media reports about potential loss of business in an ongoing dispute with China’s BYD Electronic (International) Co (比亞迪).

Foxconn International Holdings Ltd (富士康控股), a Hon Hai subsidiary based in Hong Kong, and BYD are currently embroiled in a dispute now being heard in China courts, with the former accusing the latter of stealing trade secrets.

Recent media reports had said that BYD was poaching some Foxconn employees, and that some Foxconn customers were thinking of moving their business to BYD.

“We do not believe the validity of these stories,” Hon Hai said in a statement.

BMW’s China sales boom

Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), the world’s largest maker of luxury cars, increased sales 28 percent in China in the first half as rising affluence in the world’s fastest-growing major economy spurred demand.

The automaker sold a total of 30,325 BMW and Mini cars in China from January through last month, it said in an e-mailed statement late on Thursday. Sales in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau rose 25 percent to 35,468 vehicles during the period, it said.

Munich-based BMW expects record deliveries worldwide this year after selling 1.5 million vehicles last year.

Chip spending may slow: report

Global spending on chip equipment may decline 22 percent this year, more than previously predicted, because of an economic slowdown and a glut of computer memory, Gartner Inc said.

Equipment spending might drop to US$49.2 billion this year, the Stamford, Connecticut-based researcher said on Thursday in an e-mailed statement.

The economic slump, triggered by slowing home sales and a tightening of credit markets, could further reduce chip-equipment demand as consumers forgo purchases of PCs and electronics. Spending on machines that make dynamic random access memory will decrease about 41 percent, Gartner said.

The economy’s condition and memory oversupply together add “significant risk to an already grim forecast for capital equipment,” analyst Klaus Rinnen said in the statement.

NT dollar gains on greenback

The NT dollar rose against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange Friday, advancing NT$0.026 to close at NT$30.392.

A total of US$779 million changed hands during the day’s trading.

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