BICYCLES
Merida posts higher revenue
Local bicycle maker Merida Industry Co (美利達) said on Monday that its revenue grew 5.53 percent year-on-year and 10.2 percent month-on-month to NT$1.93 billion (US$64.58 million) last month, according a company filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, its local rival, Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械), reported its revenue rose 6.89 percent year-on-year and 0.67 percent month-on-month to NT$4.85 billion last month, Giant said in a separate stock exchange filing. Giant said the company aims to increase its revenue by between 5 percent and 10 percent this year.
HEALTHCARE
Trade show breaks record
An international trade show featuring healthcare equipment and devices will open in Taipei on Thursday next week, the organizers said yesterday. The four-day Taiwan International Medical and Healthcare Exhibition (Medicare Taiwan), which will coincide with the Taiwan International Senior Lifestyle and Health Care Show and the Taiwan International Herbs and Functional Food Expo, has attracted a record 500 local and foreign exhibitors with nearly 1,000 booths, the event’s organizers said. According to a government report, the production value of the country’s medical device sector is expected to grow about 7 percent year-on-year to US$2.71 billion this year on the back of rising demand for contact lenses and blood-sugar monitors.
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],”