SEMICONDUCTORS
TSMC ranked third globally
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) ranked third in a list of the world’s top 50 semiconductor enterprises last year, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported yesterday, citing IC Insights data. TSMC generated US$24.97 billion in sales last year and its annual sales growth of 25 percent was the fastest among the top 10 semiconductor companies in the world, Yonhap said. Intel Corp topped the semiconductor sales rankings with revenue of US$51.3 billion, up 6 percent from the previous year, while Samsung Electronics Co saw its chip sales rise 8 percent to US$37.2 billion, the report said. Following TSMC were Qualcomm Inc, Micron Technology Inc and SK Hynix Inc.
SMARTPHONES
Sony eyes longer cycles
Sony Mobile Communications, the mobile device unit of Japanese electronics maker Sony Corp, is aiming to extend its product lifecycle for smartphones in Taiwan through more marketing campaigns with retail and telecom partners. Jonathan Lin (林志遠), general manager of Sony Mobile’s Taiwan branch, told a news conference on Monday that the company will also streamline its products this year from nine models last year and put more focus on mid-tier and high-end handsets. “Our current strategy is on how to extend product lifecycle, for which we plan to offer more mobile content and new-color phones,” Lin said, adding that most Android-powered smartphones from other brands have just three to six months of staying power before fading from the market.
BANKING
UBS leads in pretax profits
Foreign banks’ local branches reported total pretax profits of NT$20.887 billion (US$670.34 million) as of Nov. 30 last year, led by UBS AG of Switzerland with NT$3.371 billion, the Financial Supervisory Commission said yesterday. Japan’s Mizuho Bank Ltd was second, with pretax profit of NT$2.518 billion as of Nov. 30, followed by BNP Paribas SA of France with NT$2.25 billion. Bank of New York Mellon Corp of the US, Spain-based Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA and Hong Kong’s Bank of East Asia Ltd (東亞銀行) were the only three foreign banks reporting pretax losses as of Nov. 30 last year, the commission said.
PRECIOUS METALS
HK gold exports to China dip
Gold shipments from Hong Kong to China fell 32 percent last year from a record high a year earlier, as lower prices failed to boost the purchases of bars, coins and jewelry amid a Chinese clampdown on corruption and an economic slowdown. Net imports by China were 750 tonnes last year, down from 2013, when shipments more than doubled to 1,108.8 tonnes, according to calculations by Bloomberg News based on data from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department. Imports for last month fell 36 percent from the same month in 2013, according to the figures, which deduct flows from China into Hong Kong.
PHARMACEUTICALS
PharmaEngine names head
Anticancer drug developer PharmaEngine Inc (智擎生技) yesterday said its board had elected director James Ho (何俊輝), also chairman of Hwa Sun Asset Management Co Ltd (華盛資產管理顧問), to serve as its new chairman, replacing Lin Rong-jin (林榮錦). Lin stepped down earlier this month from the chairmanship under his capacity as the legal representative of TTY Biopharm Co (台灣東洋藥品) amid embezzlement allegations.
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],”
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
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained