EXPORT ORDERS
Rate of decline eases
Minister of Finance Chang Sheng-ford (張盛和) yesterday said export orders in the first half of this month were lower than the same period last year, but the rate of decline has eased from previous months. Chang made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions before meeting a group of Control Yuan members who were visiting the finance ministry. He did not provide exact figures for export orders in the first two weeks of the month. Last month, export orders declined 4.5 percent to US$41.35 billion from the previous year, the sixth consecutive monthly fall.
CHIPMAKERS
Uncertainty dents capex
The book-to-bill ratio for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers rebounded to a six-month high last month, but bookings and billings fell on uncertainty about semiconductor demand, industry association SEMI said yesterday. The three-month average of worldwide bookings shrank 4.1 percent to US$1.6 billion from August, while the three-month average of worldwide billings dropped 4.6 percent to US$1.5 billion, bringing the book-to-bill ratio to 1.07 last month, which is the highest since March. SEMI president and chief executive Denny McGuirk said that “uncertainty with semiconductor demand has dampened expectations with capex [capital expenditure] plans in the near-term.”
DISK DRIVES
Quanta to appeal EU fine
Optical disk drive maker Quanta Storage Inc (廣明光電) yesterday said it would file an appeal with EU regulators over a decision to fine the company 7.14 million euros (US$7.92 million) for price fixing, adding that the ruling would not have a significant impact on its operations. The company said there is still uncertainty about the court’s final ruling. The firm is one of eight that were fined a combined 116 million euros by EU regulators this week for fixing the prices of CD and DVD drives. Lite-On Technology Inc (光寶) and its affiliate Philip & Lite-On Digital Solutions Corp (飛利浦建興) were exempted from the punishment as they had delivered leniency notices to EU regulators, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.
ECONOMY
‘Death cross’ finally ends
The annual growth rates of M1B and M2 increased to 6.62 percent and 6.5 percent last month respectively, mainly because of faster growth in bank loans and investments, the central bank said yesterday. The data ended eight consecutive months of the so-called “death cross” — the broad money supply measure outpacing the narrow money gauge — the central bank said in a statement. The situation might be sustained this month as foreign funds appear to be showing revived interest in local shares, the bank said. M2 includes savings deposits, time-savings deposits, foreign currency deposits, mutual funds and the narrower M1B, which refers to cash and cash equivalents.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Antibody alliance formed
The government-funded Development Center for Biotechnology has gathered together the nation’s top pharmaceutical companies in a next-generation antibody drugs alliance with their international peers, such as Britain’s Abzena, in a bid to tap the market for bi-specific antibody and antibody drug conjugates. The center said on Wednesday that the alliance would allow participants to conduct pre-competitive collaborations to share findings and minimize development costs.
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