PANEL MAKERS
AUO shares rise
AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) shares yesterday gained 5.65 percent to reach NT$9.53 amid speculation that Apple Inc plans to help finance the construction of an LCD production line with the nation’s No. 2 LCD-panel maker. AUO declined to comment on the reports, which said AUO had a good chance to become the third active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) screen supplier to the US-based consumer electronics giant after South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co and LG Display Co.
STOCKS
TWSE unveils new rule
The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) announced that a new mechanism to suspend transactions of an individual stock is to be launched on Friday. The TWSE said that listed or over-the-counter enterprises can apply to suspend trading if they take action or are put in a situation that could greatly affect shareholders’ interests. Those actions include seriously cutting production or halting operations, filing for bankruptcy or restructuring, engaging in a merger, spinoff, acquisition or share swap, or developing a new product or technology. Companies can also apply to suspend trading of shares if they cannot fully explain media reports that affect their share price, TWSE said. If a company needs to suspend trading, but does not apply to do so, the TWSE can take the initiative to suspend the trading of that stock, it added. The TWSE said that due to the short stock trading hours per day in Taiwan, suspensions would be based on one trading session, with no mid-session actions allowed.
EMPLOYMENT
Digital Domain to seek staff
Digital Domain, a US visual effects and digital production company, on Monday announced that it is to launch a recruitment drive in Taiwan. Because of a growing need for talent spurred by Digital Domain’s increased emphasis on virtual reality (VR), the company is to hire 20 to 50 people in the first phase of the plan, with a focus on creative personnel, company CEO Daniel Seah (謝安) said. Currently, the company’s branch office in Taiwan has 15 people, he said. Besides introducing a VR version of Here comes Kangsi, a popular talk show, in cooperation with CtiTV, there is to be further cooperation with the TV station, he said.
CRIME
Ko Wen-chang starts term
WK Technology Fund (普訊創業投資) chairman Ko Wen-chang (柯文昌) yesterday began a nine-year prison sentence for insider trading. He was taken to Taipei Prison in Taoyuan after reporting to the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. In a statement issued yesterday, Ko said he never engaged in insider trading and he expressed gratitude for the support of the business sector and his friends. He said he still has faith in the judicial system and believes his name could be cleared. Before his departure for the prison, he called on his staff “get down to good work” and “stay until I get out.” The Supreme Court on Dec. 18 rejected an appeal by Ko, known as the godfather of venture capital in Taiwan, and upheld a nine-year sentence and a NT$100 million (US$2.97 million) fine against him for insider trading. The nine-year sentence was the heaviest ever meted out in Taiwan for an insider trading conviction. In 2006, Ko — then a director of Green Point Enterprise Co (綠點科技) — learned that Jabil Circuit of the US had issued a non-binding letter of intent to buy Green Point and he invested heavily in the company’s shares over several sessions, according to the court’s ruling.
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
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],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained