Shares slide on S&P move
Taiwan’s benchmark stock index made a pullback yesterday, snapping a two-day winning streak, over renewed concerns over the debt problems in the eurozone after Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgraded the credit ratings on 37 of the largest banks in the world, dealers said.
The S&P downgrades prompted investors to dump local financial stocks amid fears that the current financial turmoil would further squeeze the global financial sector’s bottom line, while the spikes in the government bond yields in Italy raised concerns over the escalating debt crisis, they said.
The TAIEX closed down 84.53 points or 1.21 percent at 6,904.12, after moving between 6,860.05 and 7,001.59, on turnover of NT$93.87 billion (US$3.09 billion).
First, Century pact possible
First Commercial Bank (第一銀行), the banking unit of First Financial Holding Co (第一金控 ), writedowns NT$303 million for ProMOS Technologies Inc’s (茂德科技) overseas convertible bonds, First Financial said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
Separately, First Securities Inc (第一金證券) plans to sign a cooperation agreement with China’s Century Securities Co (世紀證券) after getting regulatory approval, First Financial said in a separate exchange statement.
Acer wins Australia deal
PC maker Acer Inc (宏碁) yesterday said it has won a Queensland Department of Education and Training (DET) tender to supply 65,000 3G notebook computers for round three of the National Secondary School Computer Fund by the end of this year, according to a company statement.
“The rollout of high-end, 3G laptops has never been done before in Australia, let alone on this scale,” David O’Hagan, chief information officer at the DET, said in Acer’s statement.
Fujimi building R&D center
Fujimi Inc, the world’s No. 3 supplier of chemical-mechanical polishing slurry used in chip manufacturing, is set to start construction of a production line and a research and development (R&D) center in Hsinchu Science Park today.
Fujimi planned to invest NT$1 billion in the three years to 2013, the company said in a statement yesterday.
Taiwan would be Fujimi’s first research center outside Japan, as the Fujimi’s Web site indicates that it operates only one in Kakamigahara in Japan’s Gifu Prefecture.
Eee Transformer wins award
The Eee Pad Transformer produced by Taiwan-based Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) has taken the product of the year title at this year’s TrustedReviews awards, a UK Web site that provides expert reviews of the latest consumer electronics, IT and computing products.
In addition, the Transformer, a lightweight laptop that features a removable keyboard, beat Apple Inc’s MacBook Pro 15-inch and the iPad 2 to win the laptop of the year and tablet of the year awards.
TrustedReviews said the 16-hour battery life, stable operation and flexibility of the device were the winning features. Last month, it was also named tablet of the year by T3, another gadget Web site.
NT dollar in third-day rise
The New Taiwan dollar rose against the US currency yesterday, adding NT$0.067 to close at NT$30.345, as an increase in fund demand from the business sector at the end of the month pushed up the local currency, dealers said.
Further buying by foreign institutional investors on the local bourse also boosted the value of the NT dollar, helping the unit score gains for the third consecutive trading session, they said.
Turnover in the local foreign exchange market totaled US$863 million during the trading session.
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],”