PANELS
LCD panelmaker revenue fell
Revenue from the world’s major LCD panelmakers declined 19 percent to US$6.9 billion last month, from US$8.6 billion in the same period of last year, market researcher NPD DisplaySearch’s latest report showed yesterday. That represented a less than 1 percent decline from September’s US$7 billion, the research house said. South Korea’s LG Display Co posted US$2.16 billion in revenue for last month, making it the top LCD panel maker in the world, according to NPD DisplaySearch. Samsung came next with US$1.29 billion in revenue. AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) grabbed No. 3 position by making US$1.15 billion in revenue. Meanwhile, Innolux Corp (群創光電) ranked No.5 with revenue of US$938 million.
CHIPMAKERS
LED chipmaker seeks buyer
LED chipmaker Chi Mei Lighting Technology Corp’s (奇力光電) said it was seeking to sell two plants to repay bank loans after it suspended its operation in August, according to a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Monday. Chi Mei Lighting owes NT$5.64 billion in loans to local lenders. The company is now under a court’s receivership after all its managers and board members quit their jobs. Chi Mei Lighting’s biggest shareholder, Innolux Corp (群創光電), said it respected the company’s decision. Innolux, the nation’s biggest LCD panel maker, holds about 34 percent stake in the LED chipmaker.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last