TAIEX down on tech ‘slump’
The TAIEX ended in negative territory yesterday as the electronics sector led a downward trend amid concerns over global demand for high-tech devices, dealers said.
Selling focused on large-cap electronics stocks, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海), after several US counterparts reported disappointing earnings for the third quarter of this year, dealers said.
However, selected “old economy stocks,” in particular ones with close business ties to China, appeared more resilient on hopes that the Chinese authorities will come up with further stimulus measures to boost that country’s economy, they added.
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, fell 1.59 percent to close at NT$86.70, and Hon Hai, which assembles iPhones and iPads for Apple, shed 1.94 percent to end at NT$85.80. The weighted index closed down 56.65 points, or 0.76 percent, at 7,408.76, on turnover of NT$58.20 billion (US$1.99 billion).
Communications chips surge
The worldwide production value of chips used in communications devices is expected to outpace that of chips used in computers by 2014, putting communications chips at the top of the global integrated circuit sector, a research report said on Thursday.
In the report, IC Insights forecast that the global output of communications chips will reach US$114.4 billion by 2014, 4.6 percent higher than the US$109.4 billion value expected for computer chips. After 2014, communications chips are likely to remain the biggest category, it said.
IC Insights forecast a 9.2 percent annual increase in the output value of communications chips this year to US$90 billion and estimated the production value of computer chips at US$100.7 billion. Next year, the figures are likely to be US$100.5 billion for communications chips and US$103.4 billion for computer chips, it said.
IC Insights said communications chips accounted for 31.2 percent of the total global chip output last year, while computer chips made up 41.7 percent. However, by 2016, communications chips will comprise 42.2 percent of the total IC output and computer chips only 34 percent, IC Insights said.
Job fair lists 3,000 openings
More than 3,000 job openings were offered by 37 employers in the electronics and manufacturing sectors at a job fair in Taichung on Thursday.
The job fair, organized jointly by the Central Taiwan Science Park and Taichung City Government, attracted a crowd of about 6,000, with 5,500 job seekers submitting resumes, according to Yang Wen-ke (楊文科), director-general of the park.
Tang Kuo-tai (唐國泰), CEO of the Central Taiwan Joint Services Center under the Executive Yuan, said the primary job match rate at the fair was about 50 percent.
Meanwhile, exports from companies at the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) rose 19.08 percent year-on-year in the third quarter to NT$96.25 billion (US$3.29 billion), Yang said. Revenue for this year is estimated at NT$300 billion, compared with NT$291.1 billion last year, he said.
Cautious markets watch euro
The New Taiwan dollar fell against the US dollar yesterday for a second day, declining NT$0.017 to close at NT$29.286 amid cautious sentiment toward global demand, dealers said.
The quiet trading session came as many traders watched the eurozone’s ongoing debt woes before EU leaders wrapped up their latest summit later in the day, they said.
Turnover totaled about US$632 million during the trading session.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI