INVESTMENT
Kunshan’s ranking falls
Kunshan in China’s Jiangsu Province, which had topped a local trade group’s survey for six previous years in the overall investment rankings among Taiwanese firms, fell out of the top spot in this year’s poll, according to an annual report released by the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association (TEEMA, 電電公會) yesterday. The TEEMA report showed that, in terms of investment attractiveness, Suzhou Industrial Park, Xiamen Island, Chengdu in Sichuan Province, Suzhou City and the Xiaoshan District of Hangzhou were the top five locations, in that order. Kunshan’s ranking dropped to No. 6 this year, amid stricter environmental protection measures in the city following the blast at Kunshan Zhongrong Metal Products Co Ltd (昆山中榮金屬) last year, the report said.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Adimmune sees share surge
Vaccine maker Adimmune Corp (國光生技) yesterday saw its shares surge 9.8 percent after the company began buying back its shares to ensure the interest of their shareholders. The company on Tuesday announced to buy back up to 5 million shares, or 2.1 percent of total shares in circulation, at NT$15 to NT$26 each. The buyback scheme, at total costs under NT$1.59 billion (US$48.52 million), began yesterday and would run through Oct. 25. Adimmune shares have tumbled 44.55 percent so far this year, and closed at NT$16.8 yesterday in Taipei trading. The company told investors last week that it is not concerned about growing competition from Medigen Biotechnology Corp (基亞生物科技).
COMPUTERS
Wistron eyes buy back plan
Contract notebook computer maker Wistron Corp (緯創) yesterday said its board approved a plan to buy back 80 million common shares, or 3.13 percent of outstanding shares, at between NT$12 and NT$23 per share on the open market. The company plans to spend up to NT$40.35 billion in the repurchase scheme, which starts today and runs until Oct. 26. Wistron said it will distribute those shares to employees after completing the repurchase as part of an incentive program. Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) yesterday said the valuation of Wistron is approaching attractive levels and investors can bottom fish the stock at a time when the company faces favorable foreign exchange rates and potential orders for Windows 10-powered notebook computers. “We reiterate our view that selected PC/EMS names have seen meaningful corrections and their share prices could have seen the bottom,” Yuanta Securities analyst Vincent Chen (陳豐丰) wrote in a client note.
TELECOMS
Cloud collaboration
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) yesterday said it had reached a strategic alliance agreement with Microsoft Corp, regarding their future collaboration in cloud solution provider (CSP) and cloud OS network (COSN) services. A company statement said the partnership with the US software company is aimed to better serve the cloud-computing needs of government and corporate clients in Taiwan through three approaches: Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and Software as a service (SaaS). The two companies collaboration will take effect on Sept. 1, according to the statement. Yesterday’s agreement was signed in Taipei by Chunghwa and Microsoft representatives.
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