CHIPMAKERS
Phision’s board backs tie-up
Flash memory controller maker Phision Electronics Corp (群聯) yesterday said the board has approved buying a 9.9 percent stake in memory module and memory card manufacturer Apacer Technology Inc (宇瞻) for NT$381 million (US$12.1 million) via a private placement. The deal priced Apecer at NT$25.38 per share, representing a discount of 19 percent, compared with Apacer’s closing price of NT$31.4 yesterday in Taipei trading.
PAYMENT SERVICES
Gamania unit boosts capital
Online game publisher Gamania Digital Entertainment Co (遊戲橘子) yesterday said its Gash Plus Co Ltd (樂點卡) unit will soon file an application to expand its paid-in capital from NT$10 million to NT$500 million, in line with an Electronics Payment Processing Institutions Act (電子支付機構管理條例) amendment. A change that cleared the legislature last week provides a legal basis for such services and requires non-financial firms entering the sector to have more than NT$500 million in paid-in capital.
REAL ESTATE
Treasury eyes idle plots
The National Treasury Administration is to join forces with local governments to develop idle state-owned land plots in New Taipei City and Greater Kaohsiung that may boost rental income and job opportunities, the agency said in a statement yesterday. The administration plans to turn a 1,150 ping (3,802m2) plot in New Taipei City into an industrial park that could house from five to 10 firms and create 200 jobs, the statement said. The agency intends to lease a 1,300 ping plot in Greater Kaohsiung that could become the site for creative industry firms, the statement added. The cluster could provide 2,000 jobs. The projects are valued at NT$1.71 billion, it said, adding that the investments could foster NT$3.49 billion in revenue per year.
AVIATION
FIH Regent, ANA dining deal
FIH Regent Group (晶華麗晶酒店集團) yesterday announced a year-long in-flight dining deal with Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA). Starting on Feb. 1, ANA’s business-class passengers flying from Taipei to Tokyo can choose cuisine designed by FIH Regent. FIH Regent said the deal could boost brand awareness among Japanese visitors. More than 40 percent of sales at the Regent Taipei (台北晶華酒店) come from Japanese travelers, Regent Taipei general manager Morton Johnston told a news conference yesterday.
REAL ESTATE
Housing trade values plunge
The value of housing transactions fell 31 percent year-on-year in the nation’s six special municipalities in the first 11 months of last year, a real-estate researcher said on Sunday, tying the drop to government measures to calm rising property prices. Transactions excluding new houses in Taipei, New Taipei City, Greater Taoyuan, Greater Taichung, Greater Tainan and Greater Kaohsiung fell to NT$701.34 billion in the 11-month period last year, from NT$1.165 trillion in the previous year, Yung Ching Realty Group (永慶房屋) market researcher Huang Shu-wei (黃舒衛) said. Citing data on the government’s real-estate deal registration system, Huang estimated that transactions in the six municipalities would reach at most NT$760 billion for last year. In Taipei and New Taipei City, housing trades slumped by 34 percent to NT$422.13 billion in the first 11 months of last year from the NT$214.93 billion in the same period of the previous year — the largest drops among the six major cities, Huang said.
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