LGD falls on patent suit loss
Shares of LG Display Co (LGD), the world’s second-largest LCD maker, fell the most in two weeks in Seoul trading after a US federal judge ruled that AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) didn’t infringe four of the company’s patents.
LGD lost 2.2 percent to 46,850 won (US$42) as of 12:05pm on the Korea Exchange, heading for the biggest drop since April 19. The benchmark Kospi stock index fell 1.2 percent. Hsinchu-based AUO gained 0.3 percent to NT$36.70.
LGD failed “to establish infringement by a preponderance of the evidence,” and AUO “has not established invalidity,” US District Judge Joseph Farnan Jr wrote in a 69-page opinion released in Wilmington, Delaware, on Friday.
The decision came as part of a series of claims and counterclaims in which Seoul-based LGD contended AUO and Taiwan’s Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美) infringed its patents.
LGD plans to take action after receiving the final ruling, spokesman Park Sang-bae said by telephone yesterday.
TSMC buys equipment
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) bought NT$3.3 billion of gear from Applied Materials Inc and three other vendors, the Hsinchu-based company said in exchange filings.
The chipmaker purchased NT$1.1 billion of equipment from Applied Materials South East Asia Pacific Ltd, NT$1 billion of gear from Tokyo Electron Ltd, NT$569 million from Ebara Corp and NT$642 million from Lam Research International Corp, it said in separate filings.
Nan Shan review delayed
The regulatory review of the acquisition of Nan Shan Life Insurance Co (南山人壽) by a Hong Kong-based consortium led by Primus Financial Holding Ltd (博智) and China Strategic Holding (中策) will likely be delayed till July, the Investment Commission said yesterday.
The commission has asked the consortium to submit several supplementary documents before it can initiate the review process, along with the Financial Supervisory Commission and the Council of Labor Affairs.
Brushing aside questions of whether the delay could spell difficulty for the deal to be closed before its July 12 deadline, Nan Shan and Primus Financial said they would immediately submit documents required by the commission to allow the review process to proceed.
NT reverses gains, ends down
The New Taiwan dollar fell in the final two minutes of trading, reversing earlier gains, amid speculation the central bank intervened to combat appreciation that may hurt exporters.
The central bank sold the local currency for US dollars, said two traders who declined to be identified.
The currency has appreciated 1.9 percent this year amid the global economic recovery and optimism that improving ties with China would boost growth. Foreign funds have bought about US$4.3 billion more Taiwanese equities than they sold this year, according to stock exchange data.
“In the past days, the CBC [Central Bank of China] has come in quite frequently,” said Suan Teck Kin, an economist in Singapore at United Overseas Bank Ltd.
Monetary authorities “find the NT dollar has appreciated quite a bit. They are worried about [Taiwan’s] export competitiveness,” the economist said.
The currency weakened 0.3 percent to close at NT$31.519 against its US counterpart, according to Taipei Forex Inc. The currency earlier rose as much as 0.2 percent and last week reached NT$31.269, the strongest level since August 2008. It has weakened in the final two minutes of trading on most of the past 10 days.
WEAKER ACTIVITY: The sharpest deterioration was seen in the electronics and optical components sector, with the production index falling 13.2 points to 44.5 Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last month contracted for a second consecutive month, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipping to 48, reflecting ongoing caution over trade uncertainties, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The decline reflects growing caution among companies amid uncertainty surrounding US tariffs, semiconductor duties and automotive import levies, and it is also likely linked to fading front-loading activity, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “Some clients have started shifting orders to Southeast Asian countries where tariff regimes are already clear,” Lien told a news conference. Firms across the supply chain are also lowering stock levels to mitigate
IN THE AIR: While most companies said they were committed to North American operations, some added that production and costs would depend on the outcome of a US trade probe Leading local contract electronics makers Wistron Corp (緯創), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Inventec Corp (英業達) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) are to maintain their North American expansion plans, despite Washington’s 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods. Wistron said it has long maintained a presence in the US, while distributing production across Taiwan, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. The company is in talks with customers to align capacity with their site preferences, a company official told the Taipei Times by telephone on Friday. The company is still in talks with clients over who would bear the tariff costs, with the outcome pending further
Six Taiwanese companies, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest firms by revenue. In a report published by New York-based Fortune magazine on Tuesday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), ranked highest among Taiwanese firms, placing 28th with revenue of US$213.69 billion. Up 60 spots from last year, TSMC rose to No. 126 with US$90.16 billion in revenue, followed by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) at 348th, Pegatron Corp (和碩) at 461st, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) at 494th and Wistron Corp (緯創) at
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
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