RETAIL
PCSC sales up last month
President Chain Store Corp (PCSC, 統一超商), operator of the nation’s largest convenience store chain 7-Eleven, yesterday reported that sales rose 3.12 percent annually to NT$17.57 billion (US$539.6 million) last month, while aggregate sales during the first nine months of the year inched up 1.5 percent year-on-year to NT$153.06 billion. The company also reported that sales from its Philippines-based operations surged 50 percent year-on-year during the same period. Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家便利商店), the second-largest convenience store operator with 2,970 stores nationwide, last week said its consolidated revenue reached NT$4.89 billion last month, down 0.09 percent from a year earlier. Total sales in the first three quarters rose 2.32 percent year-on-year to NT$43.43 billion.
TOUCHPANELS
Young Fast shutters plant
Touchpanel maker Young Fast Optoelectronics Co (洋華光電) yesterday said it plans to shut down a factory in Huizhou, China, and sell its assets and equipment. To save on manufacturing costs, Young Fast said it is planning to relocate production to a factory in Vietnam, adding that it does not expect the change to have a significant impact on its operations. The company posted a 55 percent decline in revenue to NT$147 million last month from NT$323 million a year ago.
EQUITIES
Apple shares lift TAIEX
The TAIEX closed up 127.76 points, or 1.51 percent, at 8,573.72 — the highest level since Aug. 4 — after moving between 8,478.34 and 8,578.22. Turnover totaled NT$99.86 billion as investors took their cues from Wall Street’s extended gains on Friday last week. Companies in Apple Inc’s supply chain appeared to be the strongest performers. Smartphone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) rose 3.45 percent to NT$2,700, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), a supplier of the A9 processor for the new iPhone 6S, gained 1.84 percent to NT$138.50. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海), which produces iPhones and iPads, finished 1.61 percent higher at NT$88.10.
EQUITIES
NSF extends support
The National Stabilization Fund (NSF) will continue to support local shares until after the presidential election on Jan. 16, amid uncertainty at home and abroad, Deputy Minister of Finance Wu Tang-chieh (吳當傑) said yesterday. The fund reached the decision after a routine meeting where no one raised an objection and some took a neutral stance, Wu said. As of last month, the fund owned NT$5.12 billion in shares with NT$137.4 million in unrealized gains, he said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Tsinghua buys Tongfang
Tsinghua Unigroup Ltd, the state-backed Chinese firm that recently agreed to buy a stake in Western Digital Corp, is close to acquiring Chinese chip company Tongfang Guoxin Electronics Co (同方國芯電子股份), a person familiar with the matter said. Tongfang Guoxin, which has a market value of 19.8 billion yuan (US$3.1 billion) based on its latest close, yesterday saw shares halted from trading pending a major announcement. The firm makes components used in computers and mobile phones.The business arm of Tsinghua University is emerging as one of the most acquisitive firms in the technology hardware industry. If the US$3.8 billion Western Digital deal is completed, it would be China’s biggest tech acquisition.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six