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.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks