BANKING
Investors cut yuan holdings
The nation’s yuan deposits fell to the lowest level in 14 months as investors cut yuan holdings for fear of a slowdown in China’s economy and potential debt defaults in Chinese corporations, according to the latest central bank data. Yuan deposits declined for a second consecutive month to 314.32 billion yuan (US$48.56 billion) last month, a reduction of 2.5 billion yuan, or 0.79 percent from February, the central bank said in a statement yesterday. Yuan deposits at lenders’ domestic banking units (DBU) totaled 272.86 billion yuan last month, falling by 1.17 billion yuan from February, the central bank said. Yuan deposits at lenders’ offshore banking units (OBU) reached 41.46 billion yuan, down 1.34 billion yuan from the previous month, the central bank said. However, remittances hit 132.09 billion yuan last month, up 25.33 percent from February, when yuan activity tends to be lower, as the Lunar New Year holiday reduced the number of working days, the central bank said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Materials markets is biggest
The nation is expected to retain the world’s largest semiconductor material market this year, although sales in Taiwan contracted by 2 percent last year, a global industry association said yesterday. Last year, sales of semiconductor materials in Taiwan amounted to US$9.41 billion, down from US$9.6 billion in the previous year, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) said in a statement. However, sales in South Korea rose 2 percent to US$7.16 billion and those in China also increased 2 percent to US$6.12 billion, SEMI said. The total sales of the global semiconductor material market declined 1.5 percent last year from the previous year to US$43.4 billion, it said.
SCOOTERS
Gogoro has 92% share
Electric scooter vendor Gogoro Inc (睿能創意) on Thursday said its market share for electric scooters in the greater Taipei area reached 92 percent last month, and that it is planning on tapping into another city in Taiwan in the middle of this year. The company declined to say which city, as it is still under discussion. However, Gogoro said its existing partners, such as 7-Eleven and Hi-Life convenience stores would continue providing spaces for its battery-swapping stations in the new city. At present, Gogoro operates 12 brick-and-mortar stores and 175 battery-swapping stations in Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan and Hsinchu. The company sold 1,884 scooters in the first quarter, compared with 765 units of China Motor Corp’s (中華汽車) E-moving 100 electric scooters.
FOOTWEAR
Pou Chen revenue up 7.7%
Footwear manufacturer Pou Chen Corp (寶成工業) this week said its revenue rose 7.7 percent annually to NT$22.69 billion last month, boosting the company’s cumulative revenue for the first quarter to increase 8.3 percent to NT$67.44 billion from NT$62.27 billion in the same quarter a year ago. The company attributed the strong quarterly increase mainly to higher contribution from its subsidiary — Hong-Kong-listed Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings Ltd (裕元工業). Yue Yuen, in which Pou Chen owns a 49.98 percent stake, reported revenue last quarter rose 3.1 percent annually to US$2.03 billion from US$1.97 billion on the back of sales growth in its shoe manufacturing and distribution business, Pou Chen said in a statement issued on Monday.
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent
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