ELECTRONICS
Lite-On revenue grows 4%
Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) yesterday reported a 4 percent annual expansion and 1.2 percent monthly growth in revenue to NT$17.44 billion (US$539.29 million) last month. The contract electronics component maker’s consolidated revenue totaled NT$84.48 billion in the first five months of this year, down 1.7 percent from last year’s NT$85.48 billion, the firm said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Lite-On said sales at its optoelectronics business, which contributed 25 percent of the firm’s total revenue last month, enjoyed growth from a year ago, driven by increasing demand for Lite-On’s LED vehicle lighting and components. The information technology business segment accounted for 49 percent of sales, with revenue growth of 4 percent annually, of which cloud-computing application products posted continuous revenue growth year-on-year, the company said.
CHIPMAKERS
Winbond sees revenue rise
Memorychip maker Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子) yesterday said revenue totaled NT$3.45 billion last month, an increase of 12.22 percent year-on-year, but a drop of 1.88 percent on a monthly basis. Consolidated revenue reached NT$17.06 billion between January and last month, representing an annual increase of 6.89 percent, the company said in a statement.
INTERNET
Netflix sets up Hsinchu office
Netflix Inc yesterday established an office in Hsinchu and announced a partnership with SetTV (三立電視) in a bid to strengthen its foothold in the market. The US company has offices in eight nations, including in Taiwan, Japan and Singapore, according to the company. Netflix has seven employees in Taiwan, it said in a statement. The team in Taiwan is to focus on engineering development and seeking local partners, such as MediaTek Inc (聯發科), MStar Semiconductor Inc (晨星) and Realtek Semiconductor Corp (瑞昱), it said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
ASMedia bullish on outlook
IC designer ASMedia Technology Inc (祥碩科技), a subsidiary of PC vendor Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), expects performance in the second half of this year to outpace the first half, on the back of new product launches by Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc, an ASMedia executive said yesterday. ASMedia also foresees stable business performance in the next two years due to the company’s strong relationships with its main clients, chairman Jerry Shen (沈振來) told shareholders at the firm’s annual general meeting in New Taipei City. The company has not yet released last month’s revenue. Consolidated sales in the first four months of this year jumped 11.1 percent annually from last year’s NT$487.33 billion to NT$541.43 billion, according to a filing.
SEMICONDUCTORS
ASE, SPIL see revenue rise
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said revenue rose 1.9 percent to NT$20.62 billion last month, compared with NT$20.23 billion in April. ASE expects a gradual recovery this quarter from an inventory-driven slowdown in the previous quarter. Siliconware Precision Industries Co Ltd (SPIL, 矽品精密) on Monday said that revenue jumped 9.3 percent to NT$7.46 billion last month, compared with NT$6.83 billion in April. SPIL last week agreed to ASE’s NT$113 billion takeover bid to become part of an industrial holding company created by ASE.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last