HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday declined to comment on a report that the Taiwanese smartphone maker is hoping to work with an Israel-based startup to provide virtual-reality technology.
Local magazine Business Next on Saturday reported that HTC chairwoman and CEO Cher Wang (王雪紅) had planned to visit Replay Technologies Inc early last month, but was forced to cancel the visit because she needed to address HTC’s tumbling share price.
The report said Wang canceled the visit in an e-mail to the Israeli company, citing Replay cofounder and CEO Oren Haimovitch-Yogev.
Wang’s secret visit was aimed at teaming up with Replay for new technologies used in the HTC Vive — a virtual-reality headset developed jointly with US video game developer Valve Corp, which is expected to hit the consumer market in the second half of this year, the report said.
In response to the report, HTC said that it does not comment on rumors or speculation.
Replay has developed a new video format called “freeD,” which works by capturing reality as a true 3D scene, comprised of 3D pixels that faithfully represent reality, rather than as a flat 2D image. The technology has been used in instant replays at the 2012 Olympic Games, NBA All-Star Games, MLB games and the Super Bowl.
Sweeping policy changes under US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr are having a chilling effect on vaccine makers as anti-vaccine rhetoric has turned into concrete changes in inoculation schedules and recommendations, investors and executives said. The administration of US President Donald Trump has in the past year upended vaccine recommendations, with the country last month ending its longstanding guidance that all children receive inoculations against flu, hepatitis A and other diseases. The unprecedented changes have led to diminished vaccine usage, hurt the investment case for some biotechs, and created a drag that would likely dent revenues and
Macronix International Co (旺宏), the world’s biggest NOR flash memory supplier, yesterday said it would spend NT$22 billion (US$699.1 million) on capacity expansion this year to increase its production of mid-to-low-density memory chips as the world’s major memorychip suppliers are phasing out the market. The company said its planned capital expenditures are about 11 times higher than the NT$1.8 billion it spent on new facilities and equipment last year. A majority of this year’s outlay would be allocated to step up capacity of multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory chips, which are used in embedded multimedia cards (eMMC), a managed
CULPRITS: Factors that affected the slip included falling global crude oil prices, wait-and-see consumer attitudes due to US tariffs and a different Lunar New Year holiday schedule Taiwan’s retail sales ended a nine-year growth streak last year, slipping 0.2 percent from a year earlier as uncertainty over US tariff policies affected demand for durable goods, data released on Friday by the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed. Last year’s retail sales totaled NT$4.84 trillion (US$153.27 billion), down about NT$9.5 billion, or 0.2 percent, from 2024. Despite the decline, the figure was still the second-highest annual sales total on record. Ministry statistics department deputy head Chen Yu-fang (陳玉芳) said sales of cars, motorcycles and related products, which accounted for 17.4 percent of total retail rales last year, fell NT$68.1 billion, or
In the wake of strong global demand for AI applications, Taiwan’s export-oriented economy accelerated with the composite index of economic indicators flashing the first “red” light in December for one year, indicating the economy is in booming mode, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Moreover, the index of leading indicators, which gauges the potential state of the economy over the next six months, also moved higher in December amid growing optimism over the outlook, the NDC said. In December, the index of economic indicators rose one point from a month earlier to 38, at the lower end of the “red” light.
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