ELECTRONICS
Pegatron seeks self-learners
Pegatron Corp (和碩), one of Apple Inc’s iPhone assemblers, yesterday said it needs employees who can foster new skills and ideas through learning on their own if it hopes to flourish in the fast-changing mobile industry. The capability of such employees should be cultivated in schools by teaching them how to learn by themselves rather than relying on knowledge from textbooks, Pegatron chairman Tung Tsu-hsien (童子賢) said at a panel discussion organized by CommonWealth Parenting magazine.
BANKING
FSC approves Sunny HK bid
The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday said it has approved Sunny Commercial Bank’s (陽信商銀) application to set up a branch in Hong Kong. The local lender’s branch plan is subject to further deliberation and evaluation by Hong Kong’s financial regulator. Hong Kong has the most overseas Taiwanese bank branches. Local lenders have now set up 20 branches and three representative offices in Hong Kong, the commission said in a statement.
MANUFACTURING
Output index flashes blue
The composite indicator of Taiwan’s manufacturing sector was “blue” in February, indicating a severe slowdown, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) said in a report yesterday, after the index remained “yellow-blue,” indicating sluggishness, for the previous 10 months. The index fell 2.49 points from the previous month to 9.68, as the industrial production index and growth in export orders and imports all fell below their January levels, the TIER said.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Yuanta downgrades Formosa
Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) yesterday downgraded Formosa Laboratories Inc (台耀化學) shares, after the active pharmaceutical ingredient maker reported weaker-than-expected earnings of NT$0.69 per share for the final quarter of last year. The company on Monday said net profit was NT$262 million (US$8.34 million) last year, or NT$3.11 per share, with sales of NT$2.5 billion and a gross margin of 27.5 percent. The brokerage cut its price target on the stock to NT$72 and trimmed its earnings forecast to NT$0.5 from a previous estimate of NT$0.89 for the first quarter of the year on shipment delay concerns, as clients did not receive product approvals as anticipated. Shares closed 0.32 percent higher at NT$62.6 yesterday.
AVIATION
Turkish Airlines debuts flight
Turkish Airlines Ltd yesterday launched its debut flight between Taipei and Istanbul, making it the only airline operating in Taiwan with a direct flight to the Turkish city. Seven round-trip flights per week will service the route, using Airbus SAS A340-300 aircraft equipped with 34 business-class beds and 236 economy-class seats, the airline said in a statement. Turkish Airlines plans to further penetrate the Asian market to add to its network, which also comprises destinations in 108 countries, the statement said.
MOBILE PHONES
ZenFone makes Paris debut
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) on Monday launched its second-generation ZenFone in Paris, the European debut for the low-cost smartphone range. At a media event held at the historic Le Trianon theater, Asustek also launched its two-in-one detachable Windows notebooks, the Transformer Book Chi series, and its newest ZenBook laptops, according to a company statement.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last