Largan posts 74% growth
Largan Precision Co (大立光), which supplies smartphone camera lenses to Apple Inc, yesterday posted 74 percent annual growth for last month’s revenue to NT$4.62 billion (US$151.8 million) and the company said it expects the growth momentum to carry into this month.
Largan said customer demand was rising after their new products hit the stores.
Last quarter, Largan’s revenue expanded 69 percent to NT$12.09 billion, compared with NT$7.16 billion in the same period last year.
On a quarterly basis, revenue rose 2.11 percentage points from NT$9.98 billion in the second quarter.
Fubon founder dies at 86
Fubon Group (富邦集團) founder Tsai Wan-tsai (蔡萬才) yesterday died at the age of 86, the financial conglomerate said in a brief statement.
Fubon Financial did not elaborate on the cause of death, except to say that Tsai died in a peaceful manner.
Tsai is the father of Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金) chairman Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠) and Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) chairman Richard Tsai (蔡明興).
The family was ranked the richest in the nation in Forbes magazine’s list of the 40 richest Taiwanese in 2012.
Tsai Wan-tsai, born in Miaoli County in 1929, was the younger brother of Cathay Group patriarchs Tsai Wan-lin (蔡萬霖) and Tsai Wan-tsun (蔡萬春).
Tsai Wan-tsai served as a lawmaker and advisor to the Cabinet and the Presidential Office, among many other positions, before founding Fubon Group.
Hon Hai to offer jobs
Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團) said on Saturday that it is planning to create 10,000 new engineer positions over the next five years, as it is expanding its plant in New Taipei City.
Over the next two years, the company is to recruit 5,000 engineers from around the world, Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) said.
In the next five years, the number of new positions for engineers at Hon Hai is expected to reach 10,000, he added.
The job openings are part of Hon Hai’s plans to expand its research and development center in Tucheng District’s (土城) Dingpu High-tech Industrial Park (頂埔高科技園區), Gou said, adding that he hopes to see more convenient transportation and the continued development of industry and technology in the district.
Hon Hai, the parent company of Foxconn in China, is the world’s largest computer components manufacturer and assembles products for Apple — including the iPhone — as well as Sony and Nokia.
It has 1.4 million employees in 14 countries.
In China alone, it employs about 1 million workers, roughly half of them based at its main facility in the southern city of Shenzhen.
Event to promote investment
The Ministry of Economic Affairs expressed optimism on Saturday that the nation would be able to attract more investment from overseas this year than last through an upcoming annual investment promotion event.
The ministry has held the annual Taiwan Business Alliance Conference since 2003.
The next event is scheduled for Wednesday at the Taipei International Convention Center.
Last year, the conference drew investments worth a record NT$138.8 billion.
According to ministry officials, at least five companies are planning to invest more than NT$5 billion in the nation this year, while a Western company intends to invest NT$10 billion in a travel and recreation project.
New plane for China Airlines
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) on Friday took delivery of a Boeing 777-300ER as part of its efforts to upgrade its fleet and expand its transportation capacity.
It is the first of 10 Boeing 777-300ERs the airline ordered in 2012 and CAL is to take delivery of the second and the third planes later this month and next month, with the remainder of the new purchases to arrive by the end of 2016, the company said.
CAL said each environmentally friendly Boeing 777-300 ER is expected to help the carrier save about NT$300 million in costs per year.
The first Boeing 777-300ER is scheduled to begin flights in December, flying passengers from Taipei to Los Angeles, the carrier said.
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) today unveiled a long-haul network expansion plan at a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei, including direct flights to Barcelona, Spain, and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as a service connecting Taipei, Sydney and New Zealand. Starlux is to become the first Taiwanese carrier to offer non-stop services to the two European cities, while the inaugural oceanic route is expected to expand transit opportunities within the Australia-New Zealand market, Starlux said. Flight services to Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York are under evaluation, the airline added. Prior to the shareholders’ meeting, the airline earlier this year announced that it would be
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Nvidia Corp yesterday announced that CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) would attend an employee meeting in Taipei tomorrow to celebrate the launch of the company’s Taiwan headquarters project. Huang would attend a gathering at the site of Nvidia’s planned headquarters in Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區), the company said in a statement. After arriving in Taiwan on Saturday last week, Huang told reporters that he plans to meet with Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), and would attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Nvidia’s Taiwan headquarters tomorrow. Nvidia has not yet applied