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.
UNPRECEDENTED PACE: Micron Technology has announced plans to expand manufacturing capabilities with the acquisition of a new chip plant in Miaoli Micron Technology Inc unveiled a newly acquired chip plant in Miaoli County yesterday, as the company expands capacity to meet growing demand for advanced DRAM chips, including high-bandwidth memory chips amid the artificial intelligence boom. The plant in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), which Micron acquired from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion, is expected to make a sizeable capacity contribution to the company from fiscal 2028, the company said in a statement. It would be an extended production site of Micron’s large-scale manufacturing hub in Taichung, the company said. As the global semiconductor industry is racing to reach US$1 trillion
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan’s food delivery market could undergo a major shift if Singapore-based Grab Holdings Ltd completes its planned acquisition of Delivery Hero SE’s Foodpanda business in Taiwan, industry experts said. Grab on Monday last week announced it would acquire Foodpanda’s Taiwan operations for US$600 million. The deal is expected to be finalized in the second half of this year, with Grab aiming to complete user migration to its platform by the first half of next year. A duopoly between Uber Eats and Foodpanda dominates Taiwan’s delivery market, a structure that has remained intact since the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) blocked Uber Technologies Inc’s
Memory chip stocks extended their losses yesterday after Alphabet Inc’s Google publicized research that could allow more efficient use of the storage needed for artificial intelligence (AI) development. SK Hynix Inc and Samsung Electronics Co, South Korean leaders in the market, fell more than 6 percent and about 5 percent respectively in Seoul. In the US, Micron Technology Inc, Western Digital Corp and Sandisk Corp slid more than 2 percent in pre-market trading, after they all closed lower on Wednesday. Memory companies have been on a tear in recent months as the rapid development of AI infrastructure triggered a spike in chip
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