Deals not likely soon: Nichia
Japan’s Nichia Corp, the world’s largest manufacturer of LED chips, yesterday said that there are still no signs of a settlement in its patent litigations with Everlight Electronics Co (億光電子) in the near term.
Nichia would consider a settlement with Everlight if the Taiwanese LED chip packager is willing to establish a good relationship with Nichia’s management team, but it has not seen such a development so far, Nichia chief legal and intellectual property officer Katsuyuki Akutagawa told a media briefing in Taipei.
The two companies have sued each other repeatedly since 2006 over patent infringement issues in 28 cases in Taiwan, Japan, the US, Germany and China, with Nichia having had its patent claims upheld in 19 of the cases and Everlight winning just one lawsuit in Taiwan in 2011.
Lenovo to create new firm
Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) said on Wednesday it would create a new company in China next year focused on selling mobile phones online.
The new smartphone company will have a different brand name, but Lenovo said it will continue to sell own-brand phones in China through local carriers and retailers, according to a company statement.
The new smartphone company is to start operations on April 1 next year, Lenovo said.
Meanwhile, Lenovo chief strategy officer Zhou Qingtong (周慶彤) said in an interview in New York that the company should close its US$2.91 billion purchase of Google’s Motorola Mobility unit this year.
Average wealth rises
Taiwan’s average wealth per adult in US dollars grew 3.7 percent annually during the 2000-2014 period based on the current value of the greenback, according to a Credit Suisse report.
Credit Suisse said that in terms of the constant US dollar exchange rate, Taiwan’s average wealth per adult grew 4.7 percent annually during the same period.
In its Global Wealth Report, Credit Suisse said that Taiwan’s average wealth per adult currently stands at US$182,800, beating many developing and transition countries, and comparable to the wealth levels in many countries in western Europe.
According to Credit Suisse, Taiwan’s adult population has reached 18 million, compared with the total population of 23 million.
Ministry plans industry group
The Ministry of Economic Affairs is forming a special task force, led by Industrial Development Bureau Director-General Wu Ming-ji (吳明機), to help upgrade and transform existing industries.
Minister of Economic Affairs Woody Duh (杜紫軍) said on Wednesday that the task force would consist of experts from seven private associations, 22 institutions and more than 10 universities.
The ministry has drafted plans, approved recently by the Cabinet, for the transformation of traditional industries. Efforts to maintain the competitiveness of mainstream industries and nurture new industries are also included in the plans.
Chinese bank sells capital
Bank of China (中國銀行) yesterday sold US$6.5 billion worth of contingent capital, launching a landmark wave of fundraising by China’s biggest banks as they improve their balance sheets to meet new global bank capital rules.
It is the first time a Chinese bank has issued so-called additional Tier 1 preference shares, instruments which behave like bonds and convert into common equity if the bank’s core capital falls below certain trigger ratios.
DECOUPLING? In a sign of deeper US-China technology decoupling, Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its iPhones, the Wall Street Journal said China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said. Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said. They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said. The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor
Nvidia Corp earned its US$2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial intelligence (AI) chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from start-ups to Microsoft Corp, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet Inc. Almost as important to its hardware is the company’s nearly 20 years’ worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than 4 million global developers rely on Nvidia’s CUDA software platform to build AI and other apps. Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm Inc, Google and Intel Corp plans to loosen Nvidia’s chokehold by going
ENERGY IMPACT: The electricity rate hike is expected to add about NT$4 billion to TSMC’s electricity bill a year and cut its annual earnings per share by about NT$0.154 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has left its long-term gross margin target unchanged despite the government deciding on Friday to raise electricity rates. One of the heaviest power consuming manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC said it always respects the government’s energy policy and would continue to operate its fabs by making efforts in energy conservation. The chipmaker said it has left a long-term goal of more than 53 percent in gross margin unchanged. The Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded a power rate evaluation meeting on Friday, announcing electricity tariffs would go up by 11 percent on average to about NT$3.4518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to