NT dollar falls on outflow fears
The New Taiwan dollar fell by the biggest amount since March on concern that capital will flow out of the country after the US Federal Reserve raised its 2015 assessment for US interest rates.
Global investors cut holdings of Taiwan’s equities for a seventh day yesterday, according to the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s data. They bought US$10.3 billion more local stocks than they sold in the first six months of this year.
“There are now more Fed officials who think rates can rise more quickly,” KGI Securities Co (凱基證券) economist Andrew Tsai (蔡耀德) said. “As foreign investors bought quite a lot of Taiwan stocks in the first half of the year, they may be adjusting their positions now.”
The NT dollar dropped 0.4 percent, the most since March 20, to NT$30.256 against the greenback, representing the weakest level since April 30.
Taiwan Star offers low contract
Taiwan Star Telecom Corp (台灣之星) yesterday said it would offer free new iPhones if consumers agree to pay a minimal monthly fee of NT$1,599 on 4G contracts ranging from two years to two-and-a-half years. New subscribers will enjoy another NT$2,000 price cut on the total amount, the company said in a statement.
The company’s minimal monthly payment is the lowest among local peers.
Consumers signing up with Taiwan Mobile Co’s (台灣大) 4G package will have to pay at least NT$2,599 a month for a free iPhone, while Far EasTone Telecommunications Co Ltd (遠傳電信) and Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) require users to pay minimal monthly charges of NT$2,699 and NT$2,636 respectively.
HTC, China Mobile to partner up
The heads of Taiwan’s HTC Corp (宏達電) and China Mobile Ltd (中國移動) yesterday said the two companies would step up their partnership from smartphones to a broader range of developments.
However, neither HTC chairwoman Cher Wang (王雪紅) nor China Mobile chairman Xi Guohua (奚國華) elaborated on what other fields of business they will work in together.
China Mobile is the world’s largest wireless carrier by number of subscribers.
They made the remarks after Xi wrapped up a three-hour visit to HTC’s headquarters in New Taipei City’s Xindian District (新店).
JFE Steel cancels MOU
JFE Steel Corp, the No. 2 steel maker in Japan, said on Tuesday that it had canceled its memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Taiwan’s E United Group (義聯集團) and terminated a feasibility study for building a steel plant with the Taiwanese group in Vietnam because of an oversupply of steel in Asia.
JFE and E United signed the memorandum in March 2012 to commence the feasibility study.
They originally planned to spend about US$4 billion to build a steel mill capable of making 3.5 million tonnes of crude steel a year.
Luxury-home deals plunge
Transactions in luxury residential properties fell sharply in July due to recent government measures to cap high housing prices, according to data released by Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) on Wednesday.
Transactions involving homes valued at NT$70 million (US$2.33 million) or higher fell to eight units in Taipei in July, representing a significant fall from the monthly average of 36 units recorded in the first half of this year.
The July figure fared even worse when compared with the monthly average of 60 units recorded in the first half of 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
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