NZ trade delegation visiting
A trade delegation from New Zealand is visiting Taiwan to seek more opportunities for bilateral trade cooperation, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, the country’s international business development agency, said yesterday.
The arrival of the 30-member delegation marks the first such mission to Taiwan since the Agreement between New Zealand and the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on Economic Cooperation took effect in December, the agency said.
The trade delegation is scheduled to depart tomorrow.
Acer leads in US Chromebook
PC vendor Acer Inc (宏碁) yesterday said it led the US Chromebook market in the first quarter of the year, with a 46.7 percent market share, citing statistics provided by market researcher NPD Group Inc.
Acer, which launched its first Chromebook model in 2011, said the strong showing reflects its competitiveness in building sales channels and determination to make a comeback in the Chromebook market.
Asustek retains Taiwan lead
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s fifth-largest PC vendor, yesterday said its commercial desktop products remained the bestsellers in Taiwan’s market during the January-to-March period, citing data compiled by the International Data Corp (IDC).
Asustek’s commercial desktops accounted for more than 30 percent of the home market during the first quarter, IDC said.
The company said it has held the record for more than five years since 2009.
Macquarie upbeat on Catcher
Metal casing supplier Catcher Technology Co’s (可成科技) sales could surge from next month, as it enters its peak third-quarter season and Apple Inc releases its new iPhone later this year, Macquarie Capital Securities said last week.
The research house forecast a quarterly sales growth of more than 20 percent in the third quarter for Catcher, which could push its revenue to a record high.
In the April-to-June period, the company posted NT$13.32 billion (US$445 million) in consolidated sales, up 27.9 percent from the first quarter.
Macquarie raised its forecast for Catcher’s earnings per share by 2.1 percent to NT$21.71.
Bond sale may see high yield
The Ministry of Finance may have to offer the highest yield for five-year bonds since 2008 at an auction today on speculation the central bank will raise interest rates.
Six of nine traders surveyed by Bloomberg say the government may sell less than the planned NT$40 billion (US$1.3 billion), with their median estimate for the cut-off yield at 1.24 percent. The rate may rise to 1.25 percent in the absence of a cut-off yield, according to the median of all nine forecasts.
The yield on the securities due in July 2019 was at 1.243 percent in when-issued trading in Taipei yesterday, GRETAI Securities Market data show.
Plastics show in September
The 2014 Taipei International Plastics and Rubber Industry Show will be bigger than ever when it opens on Sept. 26, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said yesterday.
The five-day event, which will take place at the Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall, is expected to attract more than 2,700 international buyers and generate US$200 million in business, TAITRA said.
The biennial trade show, now in its 14th year, has attracted 511 local and foreign exhibitors occupying 2,640 booths this year. That represents 14 percent more booths than the 2012 show, it said.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San