TAIEX dips on high-tech sell-off
The stock market extended its losses yesterday as investors sold Apple Inc supply chain stocks after a local media report said the US consumer electronics giant was cutting its orders, dealers said.
Concern over the eurozone debt crisis also lingered despite a pledge by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to step down, lifting Wall Street overnight, they said.
The TAIEX closed down 38.93 points, or 0.51 percent, at the day’s low of 7,561.86 and off a high of 7,654.15, on turnover of NT$82.81 billion (US$2.75 billion).
Asustek revenue up 16%
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC brand, posted unconsolidated revenue of NT$31.3 billion last month, flat from the prior month, but up 16 percent from last year.
Total unconsolidated sales for the first 10 months of the year advanced 5.68 percent from last year to NT$263.24 billion, according to a company statement yesterday.
Pegatron Corp (和碩) and Unihan Corp (永碩) — Asustek’s manufacturing arms — reported combined revenues of NT$56.62 billion last month, up 5.3 percent from September and a jump of 45 percent from a year ago.
Their total sales for the first 10 months of the year rose 10.3 percent to NT$394.56 billion.
Chimei revenues fall 3.2%
Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子), the nation’s biggest LCD panel maker, yesterday said revenues dropped 3.2 percent to NT$40.16 billion last month from NT$41.47 billon in September, joining local rivals such as AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) in reporting a decline in revenues.
Last month’s sales were the lowest since February’s NT$37.4 billion.
Shipments of LCD panels used in PCs and TVs shrank 11.4 percent month-on-month.
Shipments of flat panels used in tablets and mobile devices expanded 12.5 percent last month to 43.09 million units, from 38.31 million in the previous month.
ITC to probe VIA’s complaint
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) on Tuesday said it had voted to launch an investigation into a complaint filed by Taiwan-based chip designer VIA Technologies Inc (威盛電子) for patent infringement against US-based Apple Inc.
The ITC said the complaint covers three patents related to the functionality of microprocessors used in mobile phones and tablet computers.
According to the complaint, which was filed in September, VIA has asked the ITC to issue orders to ban importation and sale of certain Apple products in the US market.
The commission said it would set a target date for completing the probe within 45 days from the launch of the investigation.
FPCC schedules maintenance
Formosa Petrochemical Corp (FPCC, 台塑石化) plans to shut refinery units in April and October next year to carry out scheduled maintenance, company spokesman Lin Keh-yen (林克彥) said.
The refiner will halt a crude distillation unit, a residual catalytic cracker and a residual desulfurization system at its Mailiao (麥寮) complex in Yunlin County for 40 days in April, Lin said.
A second residue desulfurizer will close in October for 35 days, he said.
The company also plans maintenance at its No. 1 ethylene plant, Lin said. The naphtha cracker may shut in August for 40 to 45 days, he said.
NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan rose against the US dollar yesterday, adding NT$0.04 to close at NT$30.066 on turnover of US$472 million.
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