ELECTRONICS
US to consider AUO claims
A US trade agency said it would consider AU Optronics Corp’s (AUO, 友達光電) patent-infringement claims against Samsung Electronics Co over LCDs used in televisions, computer monitors and mobile phones. Notice of the investigation was posted on the Washington-based agency’s Web site on Thursday. AUO, Taiwan’s second-biggest maker of LCDs, is seeking to block products including Samsung’s 46-inch LCD television, Captivate smartphone and 10.1-inch laptop screen.
ENVIRONMENT
Jiajing, KingHao sign deal
Jiajing Environmental Protection Equipment Co (佳境環保設備) has signed a deal with China’s Hubei KingHao Technology Co (湖北建浩科技) to handle the wastewater of a Chinese industrial park, a move it said represents a milestone for Taiwan’s efforts to tap into China’s vast wastewater treatment market. Chairman Nelson Cheng (鄭元良) said on Friday the reduction or elimination of industrial wastewater discharge will be a future goal for Taiwan’s industries.
CHINA
Official warns of risky loans
The country must act to bring under control “relatively high risks” from some local government borrowings, said Jia Kang (賈康), head of the finance ministry’s Institute of Fiscal Science. Risks that under certain circumstances might “trigger crisis in some regions” and “hurt the government’s credibility” may be found in some local projects funded with debt, Jia told a symposium at Peking University yesterday. Total borrowings by local governments remain “within a safe zone,” Jia said.
INTERNET
Winklevosses’ suit dropped
Facebook Inc won a dismissal of a second lawsuit by the US Olympic rowing twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, who have sought to increase their US$65 million settlement with the social media company and its founder Mark Zuckerberg. US District Judge Douglas Woodlock in Boston dismissed the case on Friday, one month after the Winklevosses abandoned a possible appeal to the US Supreme Court of an April ruling against them by a California federal appeals court.
INTERNET
Struggling E*Trade eyes sale
E*Trade Financial Corp, the online brokerage whose shares have fallen 94 percent in four years, responded to its biggest owner’s request to address those “catastrophic losses” by hiring Morgan Stanley to explore a sale of the company. Citadel LLC, Ken Griffin’s Chicago-based hedge fund, asked E*Trade on Wednesday to arrange a meeting for shareholders to vote on items such as hiring an investment banker and removing two directors. While New York-based E*Trade rejected a meeting, the board decided to retain Morgan Stanley for advice on “strategic alternatives,” according to a statement on Friday.
CANADA
Inflation eases to 3.1%
The annual inflation rate eased to 3.1 percent last month from May, but high food and gas prices kept it at a relatively fast pace, the federal government said on Friday. The year-on-year rate dropped from 3.7 percent in May, Statistics Canada said in a statement. Food prices continued to rise in the period — prices were up 4.8 percent in the 12 months to last month, compared with just 4.2 percent in the year to May. Excluding the often-volatile food and energy components, the core consumer price index rose 1.4 percent last month, it
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
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
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San