Banks fined for TRF sales
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday imposed fines of between NT$2 million (US$66,531) and NT$4 million against nine banks for their sales of yuan-linked target redemption forwards (TRFs) to unfit customers.
The nine lenders are Citibank Taiwan, CTBC Bank (中信銀行), Ta Chong Bank (大眾銀行), E.Sun Bank (玉山銀行), Taishin International Bank (台新銀行), Shin Kong Commercial Bank (新光銀行), Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank (台北富邦銀行), Cathay United Bank (國泰世華銀行) and EnTie Commercial Bank (安泰銀行), the commission said in a statement.
Future bright for battery sector
Global output of consumer batteries is expected to grow more than 8 percent this year, driven by upgrades to electronic devices and advances in telecommunications, market researcher EnergyTrend said in a research note yesterday.
The gradual evolution of the sector from cylindrical batteries to polymer and thin-film batteries has provided an impetus for growth and the trend is expected to continue as batteries for laptop computers focus on higher capacity to meet ultra-thin product trends, EnergyTrend said.
In addition, because many wearable devices come with motion sensors, the batteries can be applied to consumer and industrial products, thereby generating a new wave of demand within the battery industry, the researcher said.
More shopping on tablets
Tablets have continued to catch up with smartphones as the device most frequently used for online purchases, according to a survey by Japanese giant Rakuten Inc.
The E-Commerce Index survey, which was conducted by Rakuten to give an insight into shopping trends in 14 markets, showed the use of tablets by online shoppers grew by 41.9 percent last year from 2012, outpacing the growth rate of 9.7 percent for the use of smartphones during the same period.
“We have seen a continued change in the interaction between consumers and retailers following the development of digital platforms,” Taiwan Rakuten Ichiba Inc head of business (台灣樂天市場) Grace Lo (羅雅薰) said in a statement yesterday.
While tablets’ larger displays offering a better shopping experience than smartphones, retailers may lose business opportunities if they do not optimize their online presence, Lo said.
Achem sells land in Linkou
Achem Technology Corp (萬洲) announced on Monday that it has sold five plots of land in Linkou District (林口), New Taipei City, for a total of NT$1.01 billion.
By disposing of the land, Achem would be able to book an extra NT$73.23 million profit in the second quarter, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Achem is a major supplier of PVC tape products for vehicles and a member of Yem Chio Group (炎洲), which focuses on production of upstream petrochemical raw materials.
In the first quarter of the year, Achem reported NT$115 million in net profit, or earnings per share of NT$0.29.
Analysts said the latest land sale would boost the company’s earnings per share by NT$0.18.
Coretonic to cut its capital
Coretronic Corp (中強光電), which makes backlight modules for flat panels, yesterday said its shareholders had approved a proposal to slash its capital by 25 percent by buying back 181 million common shares.
The company said the capital reduction is aimed at boosting shareholder equity. The company does not plan to distribute a dividend.
Coretronic made a net profit of NT$1.94 billion, or earnings per share of NT$2.68, last year.
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],”