Fed fears drag TAIEX lower
The TAIEX lost ground yesterday, ending below the key 8,000-point level as investors took cues from a weakening Wall Street overnight amid fears that the US Federal Reserve is planning to scale back its liquidity easing measures, dealers said.
The weighted index closed down 71.64 points, or 0.89 percent, at 7,957.46 on turnover of NT$77.59 billion (US$2.62 billion).
Acer to unveil new phones
Acer Inc (宏碁), the world’s fourth-largest PC vendor, on Wednesday said it plans to unveil three new Android smartphone models at the upcoming Mobile World Congress, which begins in Barcelona, Spain, on Monday.
Acer said the new smartphones are the Liquid C1, powered by Intel Corp’s Atom chip, a dual SIM card slot Liquid E1 and an entry-level Liquid Z2.
The Liquid C1 is a high-end model made to meet office workers’ needs by allowing them to modify documents on a high-speed processor, the mid-tier Liquid E1 features a dual-speaker sound system and a “zero shutter delay” camera, while the entry-level Liquid Z2 is designed to help beginners get used to the smartphone experience, the firm said.
Acer said the new models would go on sale in the first quarter.
Amazon UK to sell HTC One
Online retailer Amazon.com Inc’s UK Web site says that the firm will start selling Taiwanese firm HTC Corp’s (宏達電) new flagship smartphone, the HTC One, next month.
Amazon put up an HTC One pre-order page yesterday, listing the new device, due to go on sale on March 15, at a price of £519.99 (US$792.46).
The price is higher than that of its predecessor, the One X, which was priced at £490 when it went on sale on Amazon in April last year.
HTC said the phone would go on sale globally next month through more than 185 telecoms operators.
Daikure begins work on plant
Japanese heat exchanger maker Daikure Co Ltd is to hold a groundbreaking ceremony today at the Southern Taiwan Science Park, becoming the first to build a plant at the Taiwan-Japan Park, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The ministry forecast Daikure would finish construction of its 10,514m2 new plant, which is being built at a cost of NT$5.5 billion, by the end of this year.
After starting mass production, the new plant is forecast to generate NT$150 million (US$5.06 million) and create about 50 jobs, the ministry said in a statement.
Machine tool exports disappoint
Local machine tool makers exported products worth US$287.27 last month, down 13.3 percent from US$331.34 million the previous year, because of dwindling demand and a loss of orders to Japanese rivals, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI, 機器工業同業公會) said.
Machine tool exports to Thailand, Turkey and India, the third, forth and fifth-largest importers of Taiwanese machine tools respectively, all posted double-digit year-on-year declines last month, while exports to the US, the second-largest importer of the products, declined 4.6 percent.
However, exports to China, the largest importer of Taiwanese products, rose 7.2 percent to US$87.08 million last month from US$81.23 billion in January last year.
Despite the decrease in machine tool exports, overall machine exports rose 3.4 percent to US$1.57 billion last month from US$1.52 billion the previous year.
NT dollar win streak ends
The New Taiwan dollar fell against the US dollar yesterday, down NT$0.08 to close at NT$29.680 to end a three-session winning streak.
Turnover was US$875 million.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks