AWARDS
Asustek named top brand
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) has been named the top Taiwanese global brand for the year on an annual list released yesterday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs. The ministry praised the computer maker, which was also the top brand on the 20-company list last year, for outstanding innovation and nimble adaptation to market needs, which helped it earn a brand value of US$1.723 billion last year. Internet security firm Trend Micro Inc (趨勢科技) ranked second, one notch up from the previous year, and Want Want China Holdings Ltd (中國旺旺控股), which has diverse interests including food making and news media, was third. The survey was conducted by consultancy firm Interbrand.
COMPUTERS
Acer founder touts growth
Acer Inc (宏電) founder and former chairman Stan Shih (施振榮) said yesterday that the PC maker is showing signs of regaining its growth momentum, thanks to its organizational restructuring. Acer employee morale also has improved since the company changed its corporate culture, Shih said at a press briefing the day before his 70th birthday. Acer reported operating income of NT$1.10 billion (US$36.27 million) and an operating margin of 1.3 percent for the third quarter, showing a profit for the third straight quarter and the highest margin in three quarters. The company aims to maintain its steady growth momentum this quarter amid seasonal promotions.
SEMICONDUCTORS
TSMC to produce in China
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, on Tuesday said it has plans to produce a small volume of mobile chips in China made on its mature 28 nanometer (nm) manufacturing technology. The production in China is expected to account for less than 10 percent of TSMC’s planned 28nm capacity expansion, TSMC chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) said at a press conference. “If we don’t go there, Samsung will,” Chang said of his firm’s main competitor, adding that the South Korean electronics giant has been aggressively making logic chips for use in mobile devices over the past two to three years. In the past quarter, chips made on TSMC’s advanced 20nm process made up 9 percent of its total sales, while those made on its 28nm process made up 34 percent.
TRADE
Thirty-one deals inked
Representatives from Taiwanese and Chinese corporations signed 31 agreements and memorandums of understanding at a two-day Cross-Strait CEO Summit that closed on Tuesday, including 24 deals focusing on small and medium-sized enterprises and the cultural and creative industry. Next year’s summit is to be held in Nanjing, China, but the exact date has not yet been set, said former vice president Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), who was the lead coordinator of the event.
PROPERTY
Asia dominates office prices
London’s West End remained the world’s highest-priced office market, but Asia continued to dominate the world’s most expensive office locations, accounting for three of the top five markets, according to CBRE Research’s semi-annual Global Prime Office Occupancy Costs survey. The study also found that prime rents are rising fastest in the Americas, where real-estate fundamentals continue to improve. Overall, the US accounted for five of the 10 markets with the fastest-growing prime occupancy costs, CBRE said in a press release.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure