UTILITIES
Hwang not forced to resign
Minister of Economic Affairs Lee Chih-kung (李世光) yesterday dismissed speculation surrounding the replacement of former Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) chairman Hwang Jung-chiou (黃重球), saying that Hwang resigned of his own free will because of personal health issues. Hwang decided to leave as his workload was too heavy, Lee told reporters on the sidelines of a ministry media event in Taipei. Lee said given Hwang’s expertise and decades of experience in government, the ministry plans to invite him to serve in a position that has a less heavy workload. The ministry unexpectedly announced Hwang’s resignation on Friday and said Taipower president Chu Wen-chen (朱文成) would takeover Hwang’s position.
SHIPBUILDING
CSBC to pursue military subs
CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船), the nation’s only listed shipbuilder, yesterday expanded a development center in a bid to pursue military contracts as the government moves forward with plans to build an indigenous submarine fleet. The company said it has assigned 23 technicians and engineers to collaborate with international experts and to coordinate resources with manufacturing partners and suppliers. CSBC’s Submarine Development Center is the culmination of the company’s efforts toward building an indigenous submarine fleet that began in 2001. The company reported that sales in the first half of the year dipped 16 percent to NT$91 billion (US$2.88 billion).
COMPUTING
Advantech report net rise
PC maker Advantech Co (研華科技) yesterday reported net income of NT$2.78 billion for the first half of this year, increasing 9 percent from NT$2.58 billion made in the same period last year. Earnings per share were NT$4.39 in the first six months of this year, compared with last year’s NT$4.07 per share, according to the company’s filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Gross margin was 40.6 percent in the first half of this year, improving by 0.1 percentage points from last year.
STEEL
China Steel profits rise
China Steel Corp (中鋼), the nation’s leading steelmaker, yesterday reported a pre-tax net profit of NT$2.76 billion for last month, an increase of 1.9 percent from the previous month. Last month’s revenue was NT$24.97 billion, up 2 percent on a monthly basis, the company said in a filing with the stock exchange. That brought its combined pre-tax income in the first half of this year to NT$7.85 billion, or NT$0.5 per share, the filing said. However, compared with the same period last year, the net profit decreased 26 percent in the first six months this year, the filing said.
MANUFACTURING
Repon makes market debut
Repon Industrial Corp (南俊國際), a ball bearing drawer slides manufacturer for international furniture brands, yesterday made its market debut on the Emerging Stock Market, with a closing share price of NT$120. Based in New Taipei City, the furniture parts maker made a net profit of NT$234 million last year, with revenue reaching NT$1.84 billion, company data showed. In the first half this year, the company reported a net profit of NT$111 million, or NT$2.14 per share. Revenue in the same period last year came to NT$917 million. The company estimates its revenue this year to be about NT$2.4 billion and net profit to be about NT$320 million.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”