TSMC ignores speculation
The world’s biggest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), yesterday declined to comment on speculation it will acquire local light-emitting-diode (LED) chipmaker Optotech Corp (光磊) via a share swap.
TSMC’s comments came after the Chinese-language Commercial Times reported yesterday that TSMC could acquire Optotech to help it tap into LED business.
TSMC has said it plans to diversify into green energy businesses, including LED and solar industries, to fuel future growth.
Last month, TSMC said it would buy a 20-percent share in Taiwan’s largest solar cell maker, Motech Industries Inc (茂迪), for NT$6.2 billion (US$195 million).
TXC sells convertible bonds
TXC Corp (晶技), a local maker of electronic components for computer and game consoles, has sold NT$800 million (US$25 million) in three-year convertible bonds to fund factory expansion.
TXC, based in Taipei, sold zero-coupon notes exchangeable at NT$57.60 per share, Bloomberg data showed.
The company announced the plan on Oct. 27. Shares of TXC fell 2.7 percent to NT$57.20 in Taipei after climbing to a two-year high of NT$58.90 on Dec. 31.
Foreign reserves show growth
The nation’s foreign exchange reserves amounted to US$348.20 billion at the end of last month, showing an increase of US$1.01 billion from the end of the previous month, the central bank said in a statement yesterday.
The main factor responsible for the increase in foreign exchange reserves last month was returns on foreign exchange reserve management, the bank said.
Compared with a year earlier, Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves rose by US$56 billion last year, raising speculation that the central bank may have intervened by buying US dollars.
3D display market growing
The 3D display market will post annual revenue growth of 38 percent, climbing to US$22 billion by 2018, researcher DisplaySearch said in a statement.
Screens measuring 1 inch to 4 inches, and those from 40 inches to 49 inches, will be the largest contributors to the 196 million 3D displays sold in 2018, the researcher said in a statement on Monday. The 3D market sold 700,000 units in 2008 for a total value of US$902 million, it said.
Oil prices may rise: minister
Crude oil prices could break US$100 per barrel if the world economy continues to rebound, a Cabinet official said on Monday.
Minister without Portfolio Liang Chi-yuan (梁啟源) said crude oil prices hinged on five main factors — the world economy, the US dollar exchange rate, crude oil inventories, interest rates and the political situation in the Middle East.
“I am paying most attention to interest rates and crude oil inventories,” Liang said at a seminar on this year’s outlook for international financial markets, sponsored by Taiwan Financial Services Roundtable (台灣金總).
“If the world economy continues to recover and interest rates do not shoot up or exceed 3 percent, oil prices could go over US$100,” he said, adding that prices would average between NT$85 and US$95 per barrel for the year.
NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, rising NT$0.038 to close at NT$31.860.
A total of US$1.142 million changed hands during the day’s trading.
The NT dollar opened at NT$31.898 and fluctuated between NT$31.743 and NT$31.898.
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
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