TECHNOLOGY
Hon Hai moves into cars
Hon Hai Technology Group (鴻海科技集團), the operator of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) — which makes iPhones and iPads for Apple Inc — yesterday said it has signed an agreement with Chinese Internet company Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊) and China Harmony Auto Holding (中國和諧汽車) to team up on producing electric cars in China and developing Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies would form a team to design and manufacture electric cars in China’s Henan Province. In December last year, Hon Hai gained a 12 percent share of China Harmony Auto for HK$608 million (US$78.4 million). China Harmony focuses mainly on high-end luxury and super-luxury brands and aims to become China’s first luxury-only auto dealer. It has 46 outlets and after-sales service centers across China, including in Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Xiamen, Wuhan and Xian.
CHIPMAKERS
ADATA posts NT$112m loss
DRAM module maker ADATA Technology Co (威剛) yesterday posted a quarterly net loss of NT$112 million (US$3.56 million) for the final quarter of last year after booking massive inventory losses. That brought the company’s total net profit last year to NT$808 million, or NT$3.52 per share. The figure represents a 59.4 percent decline from the net profit of NT$1.99 billion, or NT$9.08 per share, ADATA recorded in 2013. The company’s board yesterday approved a plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$2.5 per share based on last year’s net profit — a 71 percent payout ratio. The company is scheduled to discuss cash dividend distribution during an annual shareholders’ meeting on June 9.
SOLAR PANELS
E-Ton improves loss
Solar cell maker E-Ton Solar Co (益通光能) yesterday posted a narrowed loss of NT$811 million for last year on the back of recovering demand. That marked the sixth consecutive year of losses for the Tainan-based company. In 2013, E-Ton lost NT$1.58 billion. Revenue surged 36 percent to NT$4.452 billion last year, compared with NT$3.268 billion a year ago.
BANKING
E.Sun’s foreign plans passed
E. Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行) has obtained the green light to set up new operations in China and Vietnam. The parent company of the bank, E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控), announced in a statement released on Friday that the China Banking Regulatory Commission has approved its plan to set up a subsidiary and a new branch in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. According to the bank, its Chinese subsidiary is to be established in Shenzhen’s Qianhai area and will have 2 billion yuan (US$321.92 million) available in capital, while its new branch is to be opened in Futian District in the next six months. E.Sun said the new operations in Shenzhen would allow it to better tap into opportunities created by China’s Silk Road economic belt and maritime Silk Road initiatives, in which the southern city is strategically located. The bank currently operates a branch and a sub-branch in Dongguan, and also in Guangdong, according to its Web site. The bank announced on Sunday that the Vietnamese central bank has approved its plan to set up a branch in Dong Nai Province, which is expected to open by the end of this year. The bank said Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam, where many Taiwanese businesses have operations, is a key market.
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],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
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