TAIEX surges past 7,600 points
The TAIEX closed above 7,600 points yesterday, as bargain hunters pushed the index back into positive territory toward the end of the session, dealers said.
Investors picked up select technology stocks, in particular flat-panel and solar firms offering either better profitability or relatively low valuations, they said.
However, strong selling in many old economy stocks as investors took profit capped the market’s upside, they added.
The weighted index closed up 1.07 points, or 0.01 percent, at the day’s high of 7,600.98, on turnover of NT$89.4 billion (US$3.1 billion).
Intel unveils memory array
US chip giant Intel Corp yesterday said it expected the technology to make a new type of energy- efficient memory chips, or three-dimension (3D) chips, would be ready next year, bringing it one more stop closer to the mass production of the chips.
Intel made the remarks in Taipei after kicking off a US$15-million 3D chip program in collaboration with local research powerhouse Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in December, last year.
Intel yesterday showcased a series of experimental memory array in Taipei after the research program unveiled around a year ago and set up an Intel lab in Taiwan jointly with the National Taiwan University.
Next year, those memory chips would be tested on mobile devices such as Ultrabooks and tablets, Intel chief technology officer Justin Rattner said.
By creating memory with the new architecture, devices will be able to achieve longer battery life, faster integration of mobile data and improved graphics with higher resolution.
HP sues CPT, Tatung
Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) has accused LCD panel makers Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (CPT, 中華映管) and Tatung Company of America Inc of price-fixing.
The scheme cost HP more than US$1 billion in damages from overcharges, it said in an antitrust complaint filed in San Francisco’s federal court.
HP said in the filing that the two companies and other LCD makers conspired to set prices and restrict output for panels from 1998 to 2006. The company is seeking treble damages, according to the complaint filed on Friday.
iPhone pre-orders start
Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) yesterday started accepting pre-orders online for the iPhone 5 after Apple Inc said on Monday that the latest version of its smartphone series would hit Taiwan on Friday next week.
Pre-orders on Chunghwa Telecom Co’s (中華電信) Web site is also set to begin today.
Tax agreement signed
Taiwan and Thailand on Friday signed a pact to prevent double taxation and income tax evasion.
The two sides first signed an agreement on July 9, 1999, but Bangkok failed to have it approved and signed into law.
The amended version of the agreement was finally passed in June this year at a meeting of Thailand’s Cabinet. The agreement will become effective in the near future after both sides exchange official letters, officials said.
NT edges up against US dollar
The New Taiwan dollar edged up NT$0.005 to close at NT$29.116 against the US dollar. Turnover was US$678 million.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”