MANUFACTURERS
HTC reports revenue drop
Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday reported worse-than-expected consolidated revenue for last month after two consecutive months of gains. Consolidated revenue was NT$21.1 billion (US$711 million) last month, down 4.6 percent from April and down 27.37 percent from a year ago, HTC said in a statement. Total revenue for the first five months of the year reached NT$76.3 billion, down 16.54 percent from the previous year, the company said. HTC has projected that its second-quarter consolidated revenue will be between NT$65 billion and NT$70 billion, a target that will require revenue this month of NT$21.8 billion.
AVIATION
Cargo to bring profit: CAL
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) said yesterday that its slowly recovering cargo business will help the company turn to profit this year, as global market demand for air cargo might have bottomed out late last year. “It is somewhat challenging [to be profitable], but we are sparing no efforts to meet this goal,” CAL chairman Sun Huang-hsiang (孫洪祥) said on the sidelines of the annual International Air Transport Association (IATA) meeting in Doha. According to IATA research, carriers in the Asia Pacific region are more likely to see moderately stronger cargo markets this year, which could help boost collective net profits to US$3.2 billion, up US$1.2 billion from last year.
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