Tax worries weigh on TAIEX
The TAIEX came under pressure yesterday as concerns over a proposed capital gains tax on stock and futures investments continued weighing on market sentiment, dealers said.
Fears over a slowing economy in the US and lingering debt problems in the eurozone also cast shadows over the market throughout the session, they added.
The TAIEX closed down 115.54 points, or 1.52 percent, at 7,507.15, after moving between 7,507.15 and 7,605.22 on turnover of NT$79.07 billion (US$2.68 billion).
Metal casing maker Catcher Technology Co (可成科技) fell 7 percent to NT$185 amid speculation that the company could lose orders from Apple Inc as the US firm will use liquid metal casings, instead of the aluminum and magnesium housings the company provides, on its new version of the iPhone.
Touch panel manufacturer TPK Holding Co (宸鴻) also fell 7 percent to close at NT$388, while Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), which assembles the iPhone and iPad, closed down 2.37 percent at NT$103.
Shanghai delegation inks deal
A business delegation from Shanghai signed a deal in Pingtung yesterday to purchase NT$40 million (US$1.36 million) of agricultural products.
Under the procurement contracts, three Shanghai distributors are buying products such as processed livestock, poultry, eggs and fresh fruit supplied by seven companies, said Wang Xinping (王新平), a vice chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce.
Wang also expressed the hope that Taiwan’s farming and livestock industries would set up production, processing and marketing bases in suburban Shanghai in the future.
Hon Hai ranked 156 in world
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) was ranked as the 156th-largest company in the world and the No. 1 in Taiwan on Forbes Global 2000 list this year.
Hon Hai, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, was estimated by Forbes to have a market value of US$37.8 billion. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, was listed in 284th place.
A total of 136 Chinese companies made it onto the list, while the US had 524 and Japan 258.
HTC faces Apple in court battle
HTC Corp (宏達電) told a London court on Thursday that the use of touchscreen technology, including the “slide-to-unlock” icon, on its smartphones does not infringe Apple Inc’s patents.
HTC is disputing four Apple patents on zooming in and scrolling between photos, multiple touches on the same screen, unlocking phones and the use of various character sets when sending text messages.
The two companies are suing over patents in British, German and Dutch courts as they battle for a share of the international smartphone market. If HTC wins in London and invalidates Apple’s patents, it could use the UK judgement to help prove during the German trial that it is not infringing Apple’s European patents.
Euro gives boost to NT dollar
The NT dollar rose against the US dollar yesterday, adding NT$0.011 to close at NT$29.521 as traders responded to a rising euro following a smooth bond auction in Spain overnight, dealers said.
However, turnover remained thin as many traders stayed on the sidelines, waiting for more economic data from Washington to get a clearer picture of the global economy amid mixed US indicators, they said. Turnover totaled US$455 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
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],”