SOLAR WAFERS
Green Energy stays in red
Solar wafer maker Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能) yesterday said it saw great improvement in gross margin in the past quarter, but it remained in the red in the quarter due to sizeable foreign-exchange losses. The company reported minus-1 percent gross margin last quarter, compared with minus-12 percent in the second quarter. Net loss per share was NT$1.37 last quarter, affected by foreign-exchange losses of NT$265 million (US$8.07 million). In the first three quarters, net loss per share was NT$3.69, while consolidated sales in the first 10 months edged up 0.55 percent from a year earlier to NT$12.57 billion.
BATTERY MAKERS
Simplo posts profit
Simplo Technology Co (新普), which supplies batteries for Apple Inc’s iPhones and MacBooks, yesterday posted net profit of NT$797 million, with earnings per share (EPS) of NT$2.51. The company provided guidance for this quarter, with sales likely to be driven by iPhone 6S demand to reach between NT$17.4 billion and NT$18 billion, compared with last quarter’s NT$16.14 billion, while gross margin is forecast to reach 10.26 percent, up from 10.22 percent last quarter. Net profit this quarter might be between NT$860 million and NT$910 million, or EPS of NT$2.79 to NT$2.94, Simplo said.
FREIGHT
Dimerco profit declines
Dimerco Express Group (中菲行), which offers global freight-forwarding and logistics services, yesterday said net profit for the first three quarters reached NT$122 million, an annual decline of 34.6 percent. Earnings per share were NT$0.96. The company attributed the decline to higher operating expenses and lower sales compared with a year earlier. In the first 10 months, the company’s cumulative sales dropped 5.9 percent from a year earlier to NT$11.21 billion, affected by lower freight rates.
CHIPMAKERS
Weak demand hits Elan
Touch-panel controller chipmaker Elan Microelectronics Corp (義隆電) yesterday reported third-quarter profit of NT$216 million, or NT$0.57 per share, down 40 percent from a year earlier as weak end-market demand hit the company’s revenue and gross margin. For this quarter, the company said revenue would drop by 2 percent to 4 percent from last quarter to between NT$1.62 billion and NT$1.65 billion due to seasonal factors, but gross margin would improve to 41 to 43 percent, while operating margin would be 9 percent to 11 percent due to a better product mix.
HEALTHCARE
Delta to fund Optovue
Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), the nation’s top power supply unit maker, yesterday said it is to invest US$30 million in Optovue Inc via its subsidiary Deltronics Netherlands BV. Delta said the new fund will enable the US company to expand its research and development for imaging platforms for eye care equipment. It will also help Delta to extend its reach to the healthcare industry, the company said in a press release.
ELECTRONICS
Acer announces reshuffle
Acer Inc (宏碁) yesterday said chief executive officer Jason Chen (陳俊聖) is to lead the firm’s pan-Asia operations, as Oliver Ahrens, senior corporate vice president and president of pan-Asia operations, has decided to leave the company after 24 years working in various regional operations with Acer. The change takes effect immediately, the company said.
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
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”