■SEMICONDUCTORS
Unimicron to acquire rival
Unimicron Technology Corp (欣興電子), a Taiwan-based maker of circuit boards, plans to acquire Phoenix Precision Technology Corp (全懋精密) to expand its market share. In the all-stock acquisition, each Phoenix share will be exchanged for 60 percent of a Unimicron share, the companies said in separate exchange filings on Friday. The swap ratio indicates Unimicron will get Phoenix at a 6.5 percent discount, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Friday’s closing share prices.
■BANKING
Bankruptcies in HK surge
Bankruptcies in Hong Kong soared as the territory’s recession deepened, reaching the highest level since the aftermath of the SARS epidemic in 2003. A total of 1,500 bankruptcy petitions were filed last month, up from 1,266 in January, the Official Receiver’s Office said on its Web site on Friday. Filings last month were the highest since October 2003, after SARS caused the city to slide into its last recession. The number of bankruptcy petitions increased to 11,620 last year from 10,918 in 2007.
■ECONOMY
PRC not the solution: expert
A recovery in China’s economy is not enough to haul the world out of its economic crisis because it is still a developing country, Xinhua news agency cited a leading Chinese economist as saying yesterday. A pickup in Chinese growth would have a positive but limited effect on the world economy, which needs a rally in major economies to recover, said Fan Gong, a member of the central bank’s monetary policy committee.
■AVIATION
Air France offers new class
Air France hopes to woo back crisis-hit executives who are deserting premium airline tickets with a new seat category priced half way between business and economy. Set for launch on April 1, the “Premium Voyageur” cabin promises long-haul passengers more leg space than economy class at a “highly competitive” price pitched at small and medium-sized businesses. The new cabin will be introduced on Paris flights to New York, Tokyo and Osaka — popular business routes — and then gradually phased in on all long-haul flights operated by Boeing 777s, Airbus A340s and A330s.
■BANKING
FDIC shutters FirstCity Bank
Regulators on Friday shut down FirstCity Bank in Georgia, marking the 18th failure this year of a federally insured US bank. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) was appointed receiver of the failed bank in Georgia, with more expected to succumb because of the recession. The FDIC estimated that the cost to the deposit insurance fund from the closing of FirstCity Bank would be about US$100 million. The fund now stands at its lowest level in nearly a quarter-century at US$18.9 billion as of Dec. 31, compared with US$52.4 billion at the end of 2007.
■TELECOMS
3D porn on iPhones
IPhone lovers can use their hot devices to view steamy adult videos in 3D. Adult entertainment titan Pink Visual is filming porn videos that can be viewed in 3D on iPhones encased in Wazabee 3DeeShells tailored for the popular Apple mobile devices by German firm Spatial View. 3DeeShell is described as “protective skin” that iPhones can slide into. A window built into the shell allows 3D viewing without special eyeglasses. Pink Visual saw visits to its video service soar after Christmas as people turned on new iPhones and tapped into porn.
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
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
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