INSURANCE
FSC to issue OIU licenses
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) is aiming to issue 10 licenses by the end of June to local insurers to conduct business via offshore insurance units (OIU), as local life insurers are to be able to start applying for permits to set up OIUs from the middle of next month. The commission yesterday unveiled various regulations for life insurers to apply for an OIU. Most insurers are qualified to run the business, except Hontai Life Insurance Co (宏泰人壽) and Chaoyang Life Insurance Co (朝陽人壽). Under the commission’s regulations, a life insurance company in Taiwan must see its risk-based capital reach 250 percent to make it a qualified candidate to apply for an OIU, with an applicant required to allocate at least US$2 million for its operating capital. After the establishment of an OIU, a life insurer will be allowed to sell policies to foreign clients through its offshore unit, with the launch of new products only requiring a report to the commission, instead of being reviewed by the commission.
FINANCE
Broker raises TAIEX target
A Japanese brokerage has revised its target for the TAIEX from 9,886 points to 10,239 points, citing better-than-expected earnings forecasts for financials. In a research note on Monday, the brokerage said that there were notable fund flows on the TAIEX last week in the tech sub-sectors and among financial stocks, despite expected weaker demand for tech products in the second quarter of the year. The increased net buying was driven by higher earnings forecasts for several financial companies, new market liberalization measures and investor optimism toward potential stock connect programs, the brokerage said. It said its preferred stocks in the financial sector were Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控), E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) and Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控). Under Taiwan’s regulations, the name of the brokerage cannot be reported, because it was offering specific forecasts that could influence the market.
ELECTRONICS
Samsung launches Tab A
Samsung Electronics Co on Monday launched an entry-level tablet with a digital stylus in Taiwan as part of the South Korean tech giant’s plans to reduce the number of tablet models it offers in the local market this year. The Galaxy Tab A reflects an adjustment by the company of its product pipeline to fit the new “Samsung Tablet 2.0” initiative, Samsung Taiwan mobile communication team assistant product manager Ryan Yang (楊鎧澤) said. Samsung introduced four Galaxy-branded tablets in Taiwan last year, but Yang said it would reduce its lineup this year to navigate a market that has been eroded by large-screen handsets.
TELECOMS
Taiwan Mobile eyes trades
Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), the nation’s No. 2 telecoms operator, yesterday said it is working with Softbank subsidiary Brightstar to trade used Apple Inc iPhones and smartphones from HTC Corp (宏達電) and Samsung Electronics Co. Brightstar is to assess the condition of the used handsets and determine prices for them. Brightstar said there were 45 million handsets traded globally last year, including 2 million units from Taiwan. Consumers could be paid up to NT$10,000 per phone in cash or an equivalent in telephone bills or phone accessories, Taiwan Mobile said in a statement released yesterday. Taiwan Mobile yesterday also launched new telephone maintenance services.
DECOUPLING? In a sign of deeper US-China technology decoupling, Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its iPhones, the Wall Street Journal said China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said. Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said. They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said. The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor
Nvidia Corp earned its US$2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial intelligence (AI) chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from start-ups to Microsoft Corp, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet Inc. Almost as important to its hardware is the company’s nearly 20 years’ worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than 4 million global developers rely on Nvidia’s CUDA software platform to build AI and other apps. Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm Inc, Google and Intel Corp plans to loosen Nvidia’s chokehold by going
ENERGY IMPACT: The electricity rate hike is expected to add about NT$4 billion to TSMC’s electricity bill a year and cut its annual earnings per share by about NT$0.154 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has left its long-term gross margin target unchanged despite the government deciding on Friday to raise electricity rates. One of the heaviest power consuming manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC said it always respects the government’s energy policy and would continue to operate its fabs by making efforts in energy conservation. The chipmaker said it has left a long-term goal of more than 53 percent in gross margin unchanged. The Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded a power rate evaluation meeting on Friday, announcing electricity tariffs would go up by 11 percent on average to about NT$3.4518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to