Patent allegations to be probed
The US International Trade Commission has decided to launch an investigation into patent infringement allegations against Taiwanese integrated circuit (IC) designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科), PC vendors Acer Inc (宏碁) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), and various other companies.
The commission said the decision to launch the probe follows a complaint filed in May by US-based Freescale Semiconductor Inc that accuses the firms of infringing on its patents.
The commission said it would look into certain ICs made on the technology asserted by Freescale, as well as products containing the same technology, such as wireless communication devices, wireless phones, televisions, optical disk players and tablet computers.
Other high-tech companies to be investigated include Taiwanese television maker Amtran Technology Co (瑞軒), Japan’s Sharp Corp and Sony Corp, and China’s PC vendor Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想), as well as US-based Amazon.com Inc.
Wintek’s revenue rises
Wintek Corp (勝華), which supplies touch panels to Chinese handset maker Xiaomi Corp (小米), yesterday said revenue rose 1.8 percent to NT$6.89 billion (US$230 million) last month, from NT$6.77 billion.
That brought last quarter’s revenue up 27.53 percent to NT$20.8 billion, compared with NT$16.31 billion in the first three months.
On an annual basis, May revenue soared about 57 percent from NT$4.39 billion, Wintek said in a statement.
In the first six months of this year, revenue increased 2.84 percent to NT$37.11 billion from NT$36.09 billion during the same period of last year, according to the statement.
4G services expand
Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) yesterday expanded its fourth-generation (4G) telecom services network to Changhua City and Greater Tainan, boosting its national coverage to 85 percent of Taiwan’s total population, from 80 percent across six major cities.
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) also extended its 4G network to Changhua County, Greater Tainan and Taitung County yesterday.
Market researcher IDC Corp has raised its forecast of Taiwan’s 4G subscribers to more than 1 million users this year from its earlier estimate of 600,000 users. The number of 4G users will at least double next year from this year, it said.
ScinoPharm president to retire
ScinoPharm Taiwan (台灣神隆), which supplies active pharmaceutical ingredients, yesterday said its president and CEO Jo Shen (馬海怡) would retire at the end of this month.
The company said Shen’s decision was made due to family issues, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The 67-year-old Shen has led the company for 17 years and she will remain on the company’s board after she retires on July 31, the company said, without specifying a successor.
Plastic One M8 to go on sale
A cheaper plastic variant of HTC Corp’s (宏達電) One M8 flagship smartphone has been certified by the National Communications Commission (NCC) for sale in Taiwan.
In a statement posted on the commission’s Web site, the device called the HTC One (E8) 4G was approved by the commission on Friday, indicating that the company is set to release the new handset in its home market in the coming weeks.
The E8 supports full-spectrum 4G long-term evolution (LTE) connectivity in Taiwan, including the 700 megahertz (MHz), 900MHz and 1,800MHz frequency bands, the commission 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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six