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.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that revenue would rise moderately in the second half of this year, driven primarily by robust demand for advanced wafers used in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, a key component of artificial intelligence (AI) technology. “The first quarter is the lowest point of this cycle. The second half will be better than the first for the whole semiconductor industry and for GlobalWafers,” chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) said during an online investors’ conference. “HBM would definitely be the key growth driver in the second half,” Hsu said. “That is our big hope
The consumer price index (CPI) last month eased to 1.95 percent, below the central bank’s 2 percent target, as food and entertainment cost increases decelerated, helped by stable egg prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. The slowdown bucked predictions by policymakers and academics that inflationary pressures would build up following double-digit electricity rate hikes on April 1. “The latest CPI data came after the cost of eating out and rent grew moderately amid mixed international raw material prices,” DGBAS official Tsao Chih-hung (曹志弘) told a news conference in Taipei. The central bank in March raised interest rates by