STOCK MARKETS
Stabilization activity to end
The National Stabilization Fund is to exit the local stock market after helping prop up the TAIEX by 15.13 percent since Aug. 25 last year, its longest streak of intervention, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. “The fund has fulfilled its mission of stabilizing the local bourse and should end intervention immediately,” the ministry said in a statement. As of the end of last month, the fund owned NT$18.7 billion (US$577.5 million) in local shares with unrealized gains standing at NT$1.48 billion, the ministry said, adding that the fund has booked gains valued at NT$96.28 million. The government can reactivate the fund in the future if necessary, the statement said.
SOLAR PRODUCTS
Giga reports rise in sales
Giga Solar Materials Corp (碩禾), a photovoltaic conductive paste maker, yesterday reported that sales last quarter rose 61.35 percent annually to NT$4.55 billion. The company said that despite anticipated foreign-exchange losses, earnings per share performance during the period could reach about NT$10. For this quarter, the company is expecting foreign exchange to remain a risk factor, as well as changes in demand among battery makers. Citing a market study, the company said that 67 gigawatts of solar power equipment is to be installed worldwide this year, up 13 percent annually.
STEELMAKERS
Feng Hsin income rises
Feng Hsin Iron and Steel Co (豐興) yesterday reported that pretax net income last quarter gained 0.17 percent annually to NT$564 million, despite a 35 percent annual drop in sales to NT$564 million during the period. The Taichung-based company said that earnings last quarter were propped up by stable prices for steel bars and beams. In light of a recent surge in material prices, clients further down the supply chain have been more willing to restock inventories, the company said. However, the company said that as clients finish restocking, continued demand would be required to stabilize prices.
COMPUTERS
Softex opens tomorrow
The Taipei Spring Computer Show (Softex Taipei) is to run from tomorrow through Monday next week at the World Trade Center, event organizer the Taipei Computer Association said. The five-day show — with the theme “Brand-new life experiences” — is to be divided into four main sections featuring different types of consumer electronics, the association said. Highlights include “living-technology products” related to skincare and food processors, such as a capsule breadmaker, in addition to virtual reality (VR) devices. Visitors will not only be able to experience a new mode of entertainment by wearing VR headsets, but will also be able to make their own VR glasses in a section called the “VR Amusement Park,” it said.
LEDS
New technology to be shown
The LED Taiwan exhibition, which is to open today, is to focus on the growing market for new applications such as non-visible infrared (IR) and ultraviolet light (UV), amid a trend of declining prices in the sector. Although the global market for LEDs is expected to continue growing to a scale of about US$22 billion by 2019, prices for conventional lighting LEDs have been declining consistently, organizers said, citing a study by research institute Strategies Unlimited. As a result, it is vital for Taiwanese companies to tap into the market for new applications for non-visible light in medical wearable devices and automotive electronics, organizers said.
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