Computex hopes boost TAIEX
The TAIEX rose 21.60 points, or 0.24 percent, to 8,810.00 yesterday on turnover of NT$96.30 billion (US$3.34 billion) as follow-through buying continued to lift the bellwether electronics sector on expectations that Computex Taipei 2011, Taiwan’s largest computer fair set to open next week, will boost local consumption, dealers said.
Apple Inc’s official release of its iPad 2 tablet devices in Taiwan yesterday also kept high-tech shares in the market spotlight, they said.
Cheng Uei sells SolLink shares
Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co (正崴精密) will book a NT$482 million gain from the sale of 50 million shares in SolLink Inc (高強光電) to Qualcomm Global Trading Inc on Thursday, according to a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
SolLink makes energy saving flat panels using Qualcomm’s Mirasol technology.
In its filing, Cheng Uei said the share sale aimed to match the changes in its investment strategies. The company said it sold the SolLink shares at NT$21.60882 each, or a total of NT$1.08 billion.
Solargiga secures loans
Local solar wafer maker Solargiga Energy Holdings Ltd (陽光能源) yesterday obtained US$75 million in syndicated loans from 11 banks, led by the Industrial Bank of Taiwan (IBT, 台灣工銀) and BNP Paribas, according to a statement released by IBT.
Solargiga, which trades its shares on Hong Kong and Taiwan’s stock markets, plans to use the loans to fund its operation after businesses increased.
G-Tech files for TAIEX listing
G-Tech Optoelectronics Corp (正達國際), which makes cover glasses used in touch-panel displays, yesterday filed an application to trade its shares on the TAIEX, the stock exchange said in a statement.
G-Tech was the 13th local company to file for listing on the main bourse this year.
G-Tech, which has NT$2.11 billion in share capital, made NT$490 million in pre-tax profits last year
Chinese firms face dumping tax
Taiwan will levy provisional anti-dumping tax on Chinese makers of Portland cement type I, type II and clinker from Monday, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on its Web site yesterday.
A final decision will be made within 60 days. The ministry said it would impose a 95.26 percent tax on imports from Daewoo Cement (Shandong) Co and 95.29 percent on other Chinese cement makers.
Formosa factories to close
The Yunlin County Government has requested Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑), the nation’s biggest maker of polyvinyl chloride, or PVC, to shut down two factories in Mailiao (麥寮) that had fires on May 12, and fined the company NT$2 million for air pollution.
The county government said in a statement that they found gas leakage from the plants.
Formosa said in a statement filed to the stock exchange that it would file a statement in response after receiving an official notification.
NT dollar hits 2-month low
The New Taiwan dollar dropped the most this week in more than two months after overseas investors trimmed holdings of the nation’s stocks on concern a slowdown in China’s economy will hurt demand for exports.
The NT dollar weakened 0.4 percent this week to NT$28.888 against its US counterpart, according to Taipei Forex Inc. The currency strengthened 0.2 percent yesterday.
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
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”