Cautious sentiment hits TAIEX
Cautious sentiment about corporate earnings dragged down shares on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday ahead of third-quarter earnings reports by several high-tech heavyweights, dealers said.
Investors mostly stayed on the sidelines, which kept turnover low, as they nervously waited for sales guidance later in the day from large-cap electronics firms, such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and flat-panel maker AU Optronics Corp (友達), dealers said.
The TAIEX closed down 52.80 points, or 0.72 percent, at 7,262.08, after moving between 7,260.00 and 7,339.21. Turnover during the session was NT$61.06 billion (US$2.08 billion).
TVBS to build cloud center
Television Broadcasts Satellite (TVBS), a nationwide cable TV network, announced yesterday that it intends to earmark NT$5 billion (US$17 million) to build a cloud media center in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Linkou District (林口), to help give it a leading position in the cultural creative industry.
The center, which covers up to 51,772m2, would integrate TV show production, cultural and tourist attractions, TVBS said.
Although the entertainment company has produced a series of popular variety shows, it lacks drama productions, a segment of the market that is dominated by South Korean soap operas, TVBS TV Network chairman Harvey Chang (張孝威) said.
The center would contain 10 film studios with upgraded facilities, to create drama series that can help the nation win back this sector of the broadcasting market. It is estimated to increase the firm’s revenues by more than 50 percent in five years, Chang said.
US delegation visits Taiwan
A delegation of US officials led by the Office of the US Trade Representative arrived in Taiwan on Monday night for talks with Taiwanese officials on issues of interest to both sides, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said yesterday.
The delegation, which includes officials from the US Department of State, the US Department of Commerce and the US Department of Agriculture, is scheduled to leave today, the AIT said.
The legislature in late July lifted a ban on US beef imports containing a permissible residues of feed additive ractopamine, paving the way for the resumption of talks under Trade Investment and Framework Agreement (TIFA).
US Representative to APEC Atul Keshap announced the visit when he was in Taipei last month, saying the delegation would engage in a wide range of issues, including talks under the TIFA umbrella.
Buying spree to boost HTC
Smartphone vendor HTC Corp (宏達電) is expected to post slightly higher consolidated sales in the fourth quarter of this year, when the traditional Christmas buying sprees take place in the US and in Europe, Mega International Investment Service Corp (兆豐國際投顧) said yesterday.
In a research note, the investment advisory company said HTC is likely to post NT$73.78 billion (US$2.52 billion) in consolidated sales in the fourth quarter, up about 5 percent from NT$70.2 billion in the third quarter, on the back of new model launches.
HTC has scheduled an investors’ conference for today, during which the smartphone maker is expected to give its sales guidance for the fourth quarter and possibly disclose how its new models have been received.
NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday gained ground against the US dollar, adding NT$0.062 to close at NT$29.280.
Turnover totaled US$635 million during the trading session.
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
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],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
MAJOR BENEFICIARY: The company benefits from TSMC’s advanced packaging scarcity, given robust demand for Nvidia AI chips, analysts said ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packaging and testing service provider, yesterday said it is raising its equipment capital expenditure budget by 10 percent this year to expand leading-edge and advanced packing and testing capacity amid strong artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing chip demand. This is on top of the 40 to 50 percent annual increase in its capital spending budget to more than the US$1.7 billion to announced in February. About half of the equipment capital expenditure would be spent on leading-edge and advanced packaging and testing technology, the company said. ASE is considered by analysts