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.
Taiwan’s exports soared 56 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$64.05 billion last month, propelled by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and cloud service infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) called the figure an unexpected upside surprise, citing a wave of technology orders from overseas customers alongside the usual year-end shopping season for technology products. Growth is likely to remain strong this month, she said, projecting a 40 percent to 45 percent expansion on an annual basis. The outperformance could prompt the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and
The demise of the coal industry left the US’ Appalachian region in tatters, with lost jobs, spoiled water and countless kilometers of abandoned underground mines. Now entrepreneurs are eyeing the rural region with ambitious visions to rebuild its economy by converting old mines into solar power systems and data centers that could help fuel the increasing power demands of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. One such project is underway by a non-profit team calling itself Energy DELTA (Discovery, Education, Learning and Technology Accelerator) Lab, which is looking to develop energy sources on about 26,305 hectares of old coal land in
Netflix on Friday faced fierce criticism over its blockbuster deal to acquire Warner Bros Discovery. The streaming giant is already viewed as a pariah in some Hollywood circles, largely due to its reluctance to release content in theaters and its disruption of traditional industry practices. As Netflix emerged as the likely winning bidder for Warner Bros — the studio behind Casablanca, the Harry Potter movies and Friends — Hollywood’s elite launched an aggressive campaign against the acquisition. Titanic director James Cameron called the buyout a “disaster,” while a group of prominent producers are lobbying US Congress to oppose the deal,
Two Chinese chipmakers are attracting strong retail investor demand, buoyed by industry peer Moore Threads Technology Co’s (摩爾線程) stellar debut. The retail portion of MetaX Integrated Circuits (Shanghai) Co’s (上海沐曦) upcoming initial public offering (IPO) was 2,986 times oversubscribed on Friday, according to a filing. Meanwhile, Beijing Onmicro Electronics Co (北京昂瑞微), which makes radio frequency chips, was 2,899 times oversubscribed on Friday, its filing showed. The bids coincided with Moore Threads’ trading debut, which surged 425 percent on Friday after raising 8 billion yuan (US$1.13 billion) on bets that the company could emerge as a viable local competitor to Nvidia