ELECTRONICS
Consumption hits record
The nation recorded its highest electricity consumption yesterday afternoon as the mercury soared with the approach of Typhoon Nepartak, state-owned Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) said. The peak electricity consumption was recorded at 35.56 million kilowatts at 1:45pm, which was 175,000 kilowatts higher than the previous record of 35.385 million kilowatts set on July 2 last year, Taipower said. The percentage of operating reserves fell to 3.07 percent.
ELECTRONICS
Elan revenue rises 10.68%
Touchpanel controller chipmaker Elan Microelectronics Corp (義隆電子) yesterday said its revenue increased 10.68 percent year-on-year and 4.75 percent month-on-month to NT$541 million (US$16.69 million) last month, the highest in seven months. Elan attributed the monthly increase to higher contributions from its touchscreen chips and touch-pad applications for notebook computers. From January to last month, revenue totaled NT$2.95 billion, down 7.86 percent from the same period last year, Elan said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
ELECTRONICS
FIT Hon Teng plans IPO
FIT Hon Teng (鴻騰精密), a connector unit of the world’s biggest contract electronics manufacturer, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), has submitted an application to the Hong Kong stock exchange, aiming to raise between US$1 billion and US$1.5 billion in an initial public offering later this year, the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported yesterday. FIT Hon Teng reported net profit of US$177 million last year, down 5.35 percent year-on-year. The company’s sales totaled US$2.33 billion last year, with 35.7 percent coming from Hon Hai.
FOOD AND BEVERAGE
Tai Tong revenue up 10.28%
The Tai Tong Food & Beverage Group (TTFB, 瓦城泰統集團), a large Taiwanese restaurant operator, yesterday reported its revenue grew 10.28 percent year-on-year to NT$2 billion last month. The annual growth rate for last month marked the sixth consecutive month of double-digit growth. Looking forward Tai Tong said sales for this quarter would reach a new quarterly high this year.
E-COMMERCE
Yahoo-Kimo opens store
Yahoo-Kimo (雅虎奇摩), the leading Taiwanese e-commerce platform company, yesterday launched its first brick-and-mortar store in cooperation with Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家便利商店) to develop omni-channel retailing. Omni-channel retailing means that the traditional boundaries between physical and online stores disappear. Yahoo-Kimo said customers can make orders on products displayed in the experience store via QR code scanning. The company said it hopes to launch more physical stores in the future. Like normal FamilyMart convenience stores, the experience store is also open 24 hours, Yahoo-Kimo said.
INSURANCE
Deposit coverage No. 3: CDIC
The nation’s deposit insurance coverage is the third-highest in the world, indicating that the nation is keen to protect local consumers and their assets, the government-run Central Deposit Insurance Corp (CDIC, 中央存保) said on Tuesday. The nation’s deposit insurance coverage of NT$3 million (US$92,820) per depositor comes only behind the US, which provides up to US$250,000 in deposit insurance coverage, and the eurozone, where the insurance coverage limit stands at 100,000 euros (US$111,000).
Staff writer, with CNA
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Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
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Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI