NT dollar retreats
The New Taiwan dollar dropped yesterday, snapping a three-day gain, as government reports showed factory output and export orders fell more than economists estimated.
The latest economic data showed that industrial production shrank 8.15 percent last month from a year earlier, the biggest contraction since August 2009, while export orders edged down 0.72 percent during the same period, the first decline since 2009.
“In terms of growth around the region, Taiwan looks to be one of the more affected economies by what’s happening in other parts of the world and this data certainly isn’t helping,” said Jonathan Cavenagh, a currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp in Singapore.
The NT dollar slipped 0.2 percent to NT$29.99 against its US counterpart, according to Taipei Forex Inc.
Turnover totaled US$629 million during the last trading session before the Lunar New Year holiday from tomorrow to Jan. 29.
“It’s very quiet today,” Union Bank of Taiwan (聯邦銀行) currency trader Tarsicio Tong (湯健揚) said. “The [New] Taiwan dollar should remain at current levels and hover at about NT$30.”
Giant recalls two models
Giant Inc (巨大集團) has recalled two bicycle models sold in the US because of fork design flaws, the company said yesterday.
Giant took the step voluntarily after discovering that the fork could break and pose a fall hazard to riders, company spokesman Jeffrey Sheu (許立忠) said.
To date, there have been no reported incidents or injuries because of the design flaw, Sheu said.
All this year’s Men’s Giant Defy Advanced bicycles and Women’s Giant Avail Advanced bicycles — numbering about 900 units — will be recalled, the company said.
The decision is not expected to have a major financial impact on the company, which sells 300,000 bicycles a year in the US, Sheu said.
Yani Tseng endorses Acer
Acer Inc (宏碁), the world’s No. 4 computer maker, announced on Thursday that world No. 1 female golfer Yani Tseng (曾雅妮) would act as its global spokeswoman.
Tseng’s powerful swing, accurate drive, tough mentality and stable performance highlight the qualities of Acer’s products to consumers, the company said in a statement.
Tseng, who turns 23 on Monday, said in the statement that she would like to make the Taiwanese brand more globally visible through international golf events.
Acer did not elaborate on the length of the contract or the endorsement fee, but it was speculated that the fee was more than US$1 million.
Acer’s selection of Tseng to endorse the company’s products came after it renewed its contract with Washington Nationals pitcher Wang Chien-ming (王建民) late last year.
Wang will be the brand’s spokesman in Taiwan for the eighth straight year.
Ruentex buys into Global Mobile
Taiwanese chemical fiber maker Ruentex Industries Ltd (潤泰全球) yesterday said it bought 116.2 million Global Mobile Corp (全球一動) shares for NT$1.16 billion, according to a Taiwan Stock Exchange statement.
The purchase of Global Mobile shares will increase Ruentex Industries’ stakeholding in the domestic WiMAX operator to 51.39 percent from an initial 3.96 percent.
Ruentex Industries, headed by Samuel Yin (尹衍樑), said the share purchase in Global Mobile was for investment purposes, according to the statement.
Cathay buys six new planes
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (國泰航空) yesterday said it had agreed to buy six Airbus long-haul aircraft for less than US$1.63 billion as part of its expansion plans.
The Hong Kong-based airline told the stock exchange it had purchased the A350-900 planes with “significant price concessions” from the manufacturer, for delivery between 2016 and 2017.
“It is normal business practice in the global airline industry to disclose the aircraft’s basic price, instead of the actual price, for aircraft acquisitions,” it said, putting the basic price at US$1.63 billion.
The company will fund the transaction with commercial bank loans, other debt instruments and internal cash resources, it added.
“The Airbus aircraft will replenish and expand the fleet capacity of the company,” it said.
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
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],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained