Lenovo picks MediaTek chips
MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the nation’s biggest handset chip designer, said China’s PC brand Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) has picked its chips for Lenovo’s latest tablet running on the Android system.
Lenovo will use MediaTek’s MT6575 and MT6620 Android chips in its new tablet, according to a statement released by MediaTek on Thursday. The chips are currently used by many of MediaTek’s leading customers in their latest smartphone and tablet offerings, the Taiwanese firm said.
MediaTek’s mobile platform would help mobile device manufacturers, such as Lenovo, to address the mid-range and entry-level tablets. Gartner Inc forecast global tablet shipments would grow to 494 million units in 2016 from this year’s 119 million units.
Real-estate tops NT$218 billion
The volume of presale real-estate projects in northern Taiwan for the Sept. 28 promotional season starting this weekend totals NT$218.9 billion (US$7 billion), a new eight-year high, according to the latest survey by Chinese-language MyHousing magazine.
New Taipei City (新北市) leads the northern region with NT$92.1 billion in volume, followed by NT$49.4 billion in Hsinchu and NT$43.6 billion in Taipei City, according to the survey.
Cathay acquires China offices
Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽), the nation’s largest insurance company by market share, has acquired five floors of an office building in Shanghai for NT$3.18 billion at NT$883,300 per ping (3.3m2), marking the first real-estate investment by Taiwanese insurers in China, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported yesterday.
The life insurer, the flagship company of Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), will use the space as its headquarters in China, the newspaper said. More Taiwanese insurers are expected to follow Cathay Life in their bids to acquire real estate in China, if the Financial Supervisory Commission loosens restrictions on insurers’ cross-strait property investments, the report said.
Solar firms anticipate orders
Taiwanese solar product manufacturers at a solar energy fair in the US were expected to secure more than US$10 million in orders, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) said on Thursday. Operating at 22 booths, the 14 Taiwanese companies at Solar Power International 2012 at the Orange County Convention Center in Florida displayed products such as solar power generation systems, polycrystalline silicon cell chips, solar modules and connectors, the TAITRA said.
Taiwanese participants included photovoltaic system component maker Topper Sun Energy Technology Co (上陽), solar module suppliers Ablytek Co (綠晁) and Tynsolar Corp (頂晶), the council said.
Lenovo names GM for Taiwan
Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) announced yesterday it had named Jack Lee (李世傑) as general manager for operations in Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, with the appointment taking effect on Oct. 1.
Lee will report to Milko van Duijl, president for the Asia-Pacific and Latin America regions at Lenovo Group, the company said in a statement. Lee currently serves as vice president at Lenovo Group. Prior to this position, he was general manager for Lenovo’s operations in the Middle East and Africa.
NT dollar gains on greenback
The New Taiwan dollar rose against the US dollar yesterday, adding NT$0.23 to close at NT$29.469.
Turnover totaled US$1.05 billion during the trading session.
JITTERS: Nexperia has a 20 percent market share for chips powering simpler features such as window controls, and changing supply chains could take years European carmakers are looking into ways to scratch components made with parts from China, spooked by deepening geopolitical spats playing out through chipmaker Nexperia BV and Beijing’s export controls on rare earths. To protect operations from trade ructions, several automakers are pushing major suppliers to find permanent alternatives to Chinese semiconductors, people familiar with the matter said. The industry is considering broader changes to its supply chain to adapt to shifting geopolitics, Europe’s main suppliers lobby CLEPA head Matthias Zink said. “We had some indications already — questions like: ‘How can you supply me without this dependency on China?’” Zink, who also
The number of Taiwanese working in the US rose to a record high of 137,000 last year, driven largely by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) rapid overseas expansion, according to government data released yesterday. A total of 666,000 Taiwanese nationals were employed abroad last year, an increase of 45,000 from 2023 and the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. Overseas employment had steadily increased between 2009 and 2019, peaking at 739,000, before plunging to 319,000 in 2021 amid US-China trade tensions, global supply chain shifts, reshoring by Taiwanese companies and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) received about NT$147 billion (US$4.71 billion) in subsidies from the US, Japanese, German and Chinese governments over the past two years for its global expansion. Financial data compiled by the world’s largest contract chipmaker showed the company secured NT$4.77 billion in subsidies from the governments in the third quarter, bringing the total for the first three quarters of the year to about NT$71.9 billion. Along with the NT$75.16 billion in financial aid TSMC received last year, the chipmaker obtained NT$147 billion in subsidies in almost two years, the data showed. The subsidies received by its subsidiaries —
At least US$50 million for the freedom of an Emirati sheikh: That is the king’s ransom paid two weeks ago to militants linked to al-Qaeda who are pushing to topple the Malian government and impose Islamic law. Alongside a crippling fuel blockade, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has made kidnapping wealthy foreigners for a ransom a pillar of its strategy of “economic jihad.” Its goal: Oust the junta, which has struggled to contain Mali’s decade-long insurgency since taking power following back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, by scaring away investors and paralyzing the west African country’s economy.
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