The US’ biggest online video-on-demand provider Netflix Inc said it is collaborating with Taiwanese chipmakers, including MediaTek Inc (聯發科), to develop smart TV chips.
The partnership with local firms to produce ultra-high-definition videos is part of the “Netflix Recommended TV” program, which was launched in the US last year and is to be extended globally this year to help consumers identify TVs that offer better performance.
“With smart TVs gaining traction, consumers prefer to stream Netflix’s ultra-high-definition 4K and high-dynamic-range videos on larger screens [TVs, over mobile phones and PCs],” Netflix international development officer Greg Peters said in a statement on Tuesday.
As local system-on-a-chip (SoC) suppliers pay more attention to smart TV chips, it would be crucial for Netflix to collaborate with Taiwanese companies such as MediaTek, MStar Semiconductor Inc (晨星半導體) and Novatek Microelectronics Corp (聯詠) to deliver high-level streaming services, Peters said.
Netflix this week launched its Taiwan office in Hsinchu and hired a local engineering team, which is to be in charge of providing certification services for SoC manufacturers, connected TVs, game consoles, set-top boxes and mobile devices.
The company said it plans to develop strategic partnerships with Taiwanese companies and stream more local content to its subscribers around the world.
Netflix also plans to buy 20 Taiwanese “idol dramas,” including The Fierce Wife (犀利人妻), produced by SetTV (三立電視).
The dramas would be available later this year in Taiwan and elsewhere, the company said.
Netflix, which started providing its online streaming services in Taiwan in January, has about 81 million members in more than 190 nations.
Shiina Ito has had fewer Chinese customers at her Tokyo jewelry shop since Beijing issued a travel warning in the wake of a diplomatic spat, but she said she was not concerned. A souring of Tokyo-Beijing relations this month, following remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan, has fueled concerns about the impact on the ritzy boutiques, noodle joints and hotels where holidaymakers spend their cash. However, businesses in Tokyo largely shrugged off any anxiety. “Since there are fewer Chinese customers, it’s become a bit easier for Japanese shoppers to visit, so our sales haven’t really dropped,” Ito
The number of Taiwanese working in the US rose to a record high of 137,000 last year, driven largely by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) rapid overseas expansion, according to government data released yesterday. A total of 666,000 Taiwanese nationals were employed abroad last year, an increase of 45,000 from 2023 and the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. Overseas employment had steadily increased between 2009 and 2019, peaking at 739,000, before plunging to 319,000 in 2021 amid US-China trade tensions, global supply chain shifts, reshoring by Taiwanese companies and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) received about NT$147 billion (US$4.71 billion) in subsidies from the US, Japanese, German and Chinese governments over the past two years for its global expansion. Financial data compiled by the world’s largest contract chipmaker showed the company secured NT$4.77 billion in subsidies from the governments in the third quarter, bringing the total for the first three quarters of the year to about NT$71.9 billion. Along with the NT$75.16 billion in financial aid TSMC received last year, the chipmaker obtained NT$147 billion in subsidies in almost two years, the data showed. The subsidies received by its subsidiaries —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) Chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) and the company’s former chairman, Mark Liu (劉德音), both received the Robert N. Noyce Award -- the semiconductor industry’s highest honor -- in San Jose, California, on Thursday (local time). Speaking at the award event, Liu, who retired last year, expressed gratitude to his wife, his dissertation advisor at the University of California, Berkeley, his supervisors at AT&T Bell Laboratories -- where he worked on optical fiber communication systems before joining TSMC, TSMC partners, and industry colleagues. Liu said that working alongside TSMC
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