Tie-up to work on analytics
The Chinese Consumer Center (龍吟研論) established by Acer Inc (宏碁) founder Stan Shih (施振榮), yesterday teamed up with research company Eastern Online Co (東方線上集團) to develop an analytics system for the Chinese-language consumer market.
Shih signed a cooperation agreement with Jan Hung-tze (詹宏志), chairman of the Taipei-based research company, to integrate the two firms’ strengths in qualitative and quantitative analysis.
The center was established in October 2012 and has annual funding of about NT$30 million (US$963,000) provided by its 10 initial member companies.
Dating app head accused
A day ahead of its IPO, a popular Chinese dating app was yesterday facing accusations by its CEO’s previous employer that he stole technology and abused his position.
Netease.com (網易), one of the most-popular Web portals in China, accused Momo (陌陌) head Tang Yan (唐岩) of stealing information and technological resources in violation of Chinese labor laws.
NetEase also said Tang used his former position with it to award lucrative contracts to his wife’s company.
Momo, which boasts more than 180 million users, is to go public in New York today, but said it was unable to comment on the allegations.
Taiwan to remain No. 1: SEMI
Taiwan is forecast to remain the world’s largest spending region on semiconductor manufacturing equipment next year, according to trade association SEMI’s annual forecast.
The nation’s chipmakers will spend US$12.3 billion on new semiconductor manufacturing equipment next year, compared with US$9.63 billion for this year, SEMI said last week.
Worldwide, sales of new semiconductor manufacturing equipment will grow by 15.2 percent annually to U$43.76 billion next year, up from US$37.97 billion this year, the association said.
WT reports revenue rise
Semiconductor component distributor WT Microelectronics Co (文曄科技) on Wednesday said its revenue for last month rose to the second-highest level in the company’s history on the back of strong demand for components fueled by robust sales of Apple Inc’s latest iPhones, as well as rising consumer electronics demand prior to the year-end holiday season.
Consolidated revenue rose 30.12 percent year-on-year and 5.64 percent month-on-month to NT$10.38 billion, with accumulated revenue in the first 11 months totaling NT$97.64 billion, up 22.13 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
HTC ‘wristband’ coming: blog
Smartphone vendor HTC Corp’s (宏達電) first wearable device, due to be launched early next year, will take the form of a wristband instead of a watch, according to tech blog VentureBeat.
An HTC spokesperson was quoted by VentureBeat in a report published on Tuesday as saying that “the new wearable will be very different from anything currently on the market.”
The spokesperson declined to elaborate.
HTC said in a statement yesterday that it does not comment on “rumors or speculation.”
Sumeeko expects profits to rise
Sumeeko Industries Co Ltd (世德工業), which supplies fasteners for major automakers such as General Motors Co, said on Wednesday that its profit this year is likely to reach NT$6 per share, or NT$214.31 million, this year, up 23.85 percent from NT$173.04 million a year ago.
The profit increase was because of an improved product portfolio, rising sales for new products for Japanese car manufacturers and better market sentiment in car markets in North America, Sumeeko said in a statement.
Taiwanese takes helm at IAEE
Taiwan External Trade Development Council (外貿協會) vice president Walter Yeh (葉明水) on Wednesday assumed office as president of the International Association of Exhibitions and Events’ (IAEE) Asia-Pacific branch, making him the first Taiwanese to hold the top position of the US-based exhibition association.
Yeh said he believes the job will help increase Taiwan’s visibility and proposed that the nation’s exhibition industry move toward more internationalization to get a bigger share of the pie.
With IAEE’s help, Taiwan can access more qualified teachers to train more exhibition talent, he added.
FSC to auction failed insurers
Potential buyers of debt-ridden Global Life Insurance Co (國寶人壽) and Singfor Life Insurance Co (幸福人壽) might soon surface through a public auction to be held by the end of March, the Financial Supervisory Commission said yesterday.
Details of the auction will be publicized by the end of this year, the commission said, adding that the government might offer beneficial terms and administrative forbearances for 20 years to buyers of the life insurers.
Thus far, five to 10 buyers have expressed interest in participating in the bidding, the commission added.
In August, the commission placed Global Life and Singfor Life under government receivership, as the two insurers had failed to contain financial losses and management malpractice.
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
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day