■CHINA
Inflation, loans pose danger
Economic growth in China has mainly been pushed by government policy, with the “hidden danger” of inflation and bad loans, Tang Shuangning (唐雙寧), chairman of Everbright Bank (光大銀行), said in an e-mailed statement. “China’s government implemented the right stimulus policy and effectively fought against the impact of the financial crisis on China’s economy,” Tang said. “But if we can’t look beyond the phenomenon or the other side of such conflicts, it’ll be one-sided.” He did not elaborate. Tang spoke about the world economy and financial crisis at a conference in Beijing yesterday.
■TECHNOLOGY
Inventec monthly sales fall
Notebook computer maker Inventec Corp (英業達) said yesterday that sales last month fell 5.4 percent from June largely because of weakening demand from Europe. Inventec posted sales of NT$32.86 billion (US$1.04 billion) last month, down from sales of NT$34.73 billion in June. The figure for last month was also down 11.77 percent from a year earlier. For the first seven months of the year, the company recorded sales of NT$200.75 billion, down 10.53 percent year-on-year. Apart from the lingering impact of debt problems in the eurozone, demand in Europe also fell due to the ongoing summer vacations and because many orders to meet demand for the back-to-school season in September were shipped in June, said Hsu Hsin-chun (徐信群), the company’s senior vice president.
■TECHNOLOGY
FIC teams up with Tridium
First International Computer Inc (FIC, 大眾電腦) and US-based Tridium, a device-to enterprise application software and integration solution provider, signed a reseller agreement on Friday to jointly explore the worldwide equipment market. FIC will work with Tridium to develop reliable and user friendly platforms to manage the automation, security and energy saving systems of buildings, according to Chien Ming-jen (簡明仁), FIC’s chairman and president. An alliance with Tridium, FIC will provide customers with complete device-to-enterprise solutions for building management.
■AUTOMOBILES
Prius to be made in Thailand
Toyota Motor will start producing the Prius hybrid in Thailand this year, stepping up overseas output amid swelling global demand, reports said yesterday. Toyota, the front-runner in hybrid cars that use two power sources — a petrol engine and another source such as an electric motor — launched the Prius, the world’s first mass-produced hybrid car, in 1997. It will make the latest model of the Prius in Thailand, the second hybrid car after the hybrid version of the Camry sedan, the Nikkei daily and Jiji Press reported without citing sources. Local subsidiary Toyota Motor Thailand Co will oversee production of the Prius, with the technology-sensitive hybrid system including batteries and engines to be supplied from Japan, the reports said.
■TECHNOLOGY
Google acquires Slide
Google on Friday announced that it has bought hot online networking application maker Slide as part of a drive to “make Google services socially aware.” Slide is the San Francisco-based startup behind such playful or practical applications as SuperPoke and FunSpace that have become hits on Facebook and other social-networking Web sites. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Max Levchin, a co-founder of the PayPal online financial transactions service, launched Slide in 2005.
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
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six