HTC to fight Apple litigation
HTC Corp (宏達電) said it would “fully defend itself” against the latest patent complaint filed by Apple Inc.
“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions,” the Taiwanese company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday. “This latest litigation raised by Apple is predictable and believed to be a usual litigation strategic move.”
Apple filed a new suit against HTC at a district court in Delaware on Monday, more than three months after the filing of an initial case against the Taiwanese company, the maker of Google Inc’s Nexus One smartphone.
Formosa Plastics profits up
Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑), the nation’s largest maker of polyvinyl chloride, said first-half profits would top expectations after delays in the startup of chemical plants in the Middle East helped the company boost sales to China.
“First-half profit is far better than expected,” chairman Lee Chih-tsuen (李志村) told shareholders yesterday, without giving figures for net income and estimates.
Formosa Plastics plans to increase investment in China’s eastern city of Ningbo by more than US$600 million, Lee said after the meeting.
While the company has benefited from delays in the construction of petrochemical plants in the Middle East, expansion by rivals in the region and in China could affect future earning at Formosa, Lee said.
State-run bank heads appointed
The Ministry of Finance on Thursday announced the appointment of chairmen to three state-run banks.
Taiwan Futures Exchange Corp (台灣期交所) chairman Joseph Tsai (蔡慶年) will be appointed to serve as chairman of Taiwan First Holding Co (第一金控); Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) chairman Wang Rong-jou (王榮周) will take up chairmanship of Hua Nan Financial Holdings Co (華南金控); and SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) president Mckinney Tsai (蔡友才) will assume Mega Financial Holding Co chairmanship.
The personnel reshuffle, which will take effect on Thursday, came after Chen Yuh-chang (陳裕璋), former Taiwan First Holding Co chairman, was appointed to head the Financial Supervisory Commission early last month.
Pending regulatory approval, Stan Siao (蕭子昂) will replace Mckinney Tsai to take up the presidency of SinoPac Financial, the company said in a press statement yesterday.
Taipei rents highest since 2008
Taipei’s residential rents rose to their highest level in one-and-a-half years as an economic recovery bolsters demand for housing in the capital, a report from broker Evertrust Rehouse Group (永慶房仲集團) showed.
Monthly rental rates in the city averaged NT$870 per ping (3.3m²) in the second quarter, 12 percent more than the NT$776 in the previous three months and the highest since the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a survey by the Taipei-based company.
The number of residential units offered for lease in the Taipei metropolitan area fell 8 percent this month from last month, Evertrust said.
NCD and CD rates raised
The central bank raised the rates on its daily offerings of negotiable certificates of deposit (NCDs) and certificates of deposit (CDs) by six basis points yesterday, following its surprise 12.5-basis point increase in key interest rates on Thursday.
The central bank increased the rate on 30-day NCDs and CDs to 0.63 percent from 0.57 percent, the rate on 91-day NCDs and CDs to 0.67 percent from 0.61 percent and the rate on 182-day NCDs and CDs to 0.77 percent from 0.71 percent.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI