TAIEX gains on electronics
The TAIEX yesterday closed up 16.98 points, or 0.22 percent, at 7,738.64. Turnover was NT$83.35 billion (US$2.87 billion).
Smartphone vendor HTC Corp (宏達電), chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) and handheld device camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) brushed off pressure from lower-than-expected sales reports last month to help lift high-priced electronics stocks. Largan rose 0.54 percent to NT$742, while MediaTek rose 3.1 percent to NT$312 and HTC gained 1.63 percent to end at NT$281.
Innolux revenues increase
Innolux Corp (群創), the nation’s biggest LCD panel maker, yesterday said revenue rose 2.4 percent to NT$44.32 billion last month, from NT$43.28 billion in November last year, thanks to increase in shipments of PC and TV panels.
That brought the company’s total revenue in the fourth quarter of last year up just 0.04 percent to NT$129.6 billion from NT$129.55 billion in the third quarter.
Last month, Innolux shipped 13.23 million units, up from 12.82 million units in November. Last quarter, shipments shrank 5.5 percent to 38.45 million units from 40.71 million units.
AUO showcases new TV panel
AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電), the nation’s No.2 flat panel maker, yesterday said it was showcasing a 56-inch high-resolution OLED TV panel jointly with Japanese electronics company Sony during the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The screen is the biggest flat panel with ultra-high-definition technology of 4kx2k.
AUO also said revenue dropped 5.4 percent last month to NT$32.06 billion from NT$33.9 billion in November last year, after shipment of PC and TV flat panels dropped 3 percent month-on-month to 10.38 million units.
In the fourth quarter, revenue slipped 3.3 percent to NT$99.41 billion, compared with NT$102.78 billion in the third quarter.
Green Energy sees revenue fall
Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能科技), the nation’s biggest solar wafer maker, yesterday said revenue fell 3.7 percent to NT$740 million last month, from NT$768.72 million in November last year.
Green Energy blamed the decline on an increase in lower-priced solar module business.
Last year, Green Energy said its revenue halved to NT$9.84 billion, from NT$18.6 billion in 2011.
Jinli posts record revenue
Jinli Group Holdings Ltd (金麗集團控股), which runs two apparel and shoe brands in China, yesterday said its consolidated revenue last year marked its highest level ever at NT$3.85 billion, up 17.36 percent from a year earlier.
However, consolidated sales last month dropped 47.15 percent year-on-year to NT$405.27 million, as the comparison basis in December 2011 was relative high because of the earlier Lunar New Year holiday in January last year.
Ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday next month, Jinli maintained a bullish outlook on sales this month because of strong seasonal demand, it said in a statement.
Yulon unveils new car in China
Taiwanese automaker Yulon Group (裕隆集團) will unveil its new high-end vehicle, the Luxgen CEO, in China this year, a group executive said on Tuesday.
The car will debut at a price of 418,000 yuan (US$67,150), more than the starting price of a Mercedes Benz, which is 340,000 yuan, according to Yulon Group president Chen Kuo-jung (陳國榮).
NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar rose against the US dollar yesterday, up NT$0.017 to close at NT$29.110.
Turnover totaled about US$595 million during the trading session.
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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six