STOCK EXCHANGE
Stock exchange signs MOU
The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Miami-based MIAX Options Exchange to promote mutual cooperation and information exchanges. MIAX is the 11th-largest options exchange in the US. “The signing of the MOU will enable US exchange-traded fund [ETF] issuers to launch options on MIAX that track ETFs linked to TWSE-listed stocks,” the local bourse said in a statement yesterday. ETFs are investment funds traded on stock exchanges. Taiwan’s ETFs have grown at an average rate of 25 percent per year over the past few years, totaling NT$142.81 billion (US$4.76 billion) in the first half of this year. The local stock exchange said the deal would help boost international links to the nation’s capital market and promote trade in Taiwanese securities.
Electronics
Touch panel exports to drop
Shipments of touch panels for smartphones and tablet computers are likely to drop sequentially in the third quarter, Digitimes Research said. As the product cycles for Apple Inc’s iPhone 4 and 4S and the older model 9.7-inch iPad come to an end, Taiwanese panel makers are facing bigger challenges, the researcher said. Moreover, panelb makers have failed to secure orders for Apple’s new products, it added. Shipments of touch panels for smartphones and tablet are expected to drop 19.7 percent and 28 percent quarter-on-quarter respectively in the third quarter, Digitimes said.
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],”