TELECOMS
T Star offers Xiaomi phone
Taiwan Star Telecom Co (T Star, 台灣之星), one of the nation’s 4G wireless service providers, yesterday said it would launch Xiaomi Corp’s (小米) latest smartphone, the Xiaomi 2, for local consumers for free if they sign up to a 30-month service contract with a minimum monthly fee of NT$599. It is the first time Taiwan Star has offered a Xiaomi phone. The Xiaomi 2, which supports 4G technology, features a 4.7-inch screen and runs on Qualcomm Inc’s quadruple-core chipset. The phone will be available from Thursday next week in Taiwan Star’s stores. Taiwan Star also said store visitors grew 20 percent during the Lunar New Year holiday, helping boost its sales of smartphones such as Samsung’s Galaxy E7.
BROKERAGES
TAIEX likely to keep rising
Cathay Futures Corp (國泰期貨), a subsidiary of Cathay Securities Corp (國泰證券), yesterday said that the benchmark TAIEX is likely to extend its uptrend next month, based on its track record over the past 15 years. Historical data show that the benchmark index has a 66.7 percent chance of rising next month, only lower than the probability of 80 percent for an increase recorded in December last year, the company said in a statement released yesterday. However, the outlook for the second quarter is less rosy as seasonal weakness in the electronics sector, as well as adjustments of investors’ portfolios before the dividend distribution season in June, may increase uncertainties for the nation’s securities market, the firm said. Historical data show that the securities market has less than a 50 percent chance of rising in the second quarter, it said.
INVESTMENT
Chinese deals approved
The Investment Commission yesterday said it had approved three companies’ China-bound investments. Taiwan Cement Corp (台泥) gained approval to invest US$156.56 million to acquire a 75.74 percent stake in a Chinese cement company based in Hunan Province, the commission said in a statement. Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑工業) also received the commission’s approval to invest US$75 million in a Chinese stainless steel company in Fujian, it said. Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), the nation’s top power supply maker, was approved by the commission to invest a total of US$329 million in four Chinese electronics companies via a third-party company — Lombard International PCC Ltd, the commission said. Investment Commission acting executive secretary Emile Chang (張銘斌) said the commission also rejected a Chinese company’s planned investment in a Taiwanese electronics company because the Chinese firm has a military background. Chang refused to disclose the name of the company, citing national security reasons.
ELECTRONICS
Acer wins iF Design Award
Computer vendor Acer Inc (宏碁) yesterday said its C205 LED light and portable projector has won a German iF Design Award in the audio and video category. “Winning this coveted award reflects the jury’s recognition of outstanding achievements in design quality, finish, choice of materials, degree of innovation, environmental impact and functionality, as well as universal design,” the company said in a statement. The Acer C205 carries a small footprint of just 144mm x 108mm, and weighs 0.3kg, making it “a great companion for mobile devices,” Acer said. The projector can also work cable-free with a built-in battery. Since 1953, the iF award has become synonymous for outstanding design around the world.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”