SEMICONDUCTORS
CHPT shares rise
Chunghwa Precision Test Technology Co (CHPT, 中華精測), which focuses on providing testing services for 14 nanometer and 16 nanometer wafers, yesterday saw its shares rise 8.45 percent to NT$988, as investors were positive about the company’s third-quarter sales outlook. The company’s sales for last month surged 56.23 percent annually to NT$243 million (US$7.78 million), leading accumulated sales to increase 56.17 percent from January to NT$1.395 billion last month, the company said. Net profit grew 68 percent year-on-year to NT$263 million in the first half, or NT$8.91 per share.
CHIPMAKERS
TSMC reports sales decline
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported a sales decline of 5.6 percent last month to NT$76.39 billion from a year earlier. The figure dropped 6.1 percent from June, with analysts blaming the fall on the appreciation of New Taiwan dollar against the greenback. For the first seven months of the year, cumulative sales totaled NT$501.7 billion, down 1.3 percent from the same period last year, it said.
ELECTRONICS
Hon Hai sales fall 6.15%
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported sales of NT$293 billion for last month, falling 6.15 percent from a year earlier and 3.94 percent from a month earlier. The company said revenue from its consumer electronics products grew from June, while sales of its communication goods were flattish monthly. Performance among its computing products was the weakest, declining from the previous month, it said. Accumulated sales totaled NT$2.17 trillion in the first seven months of the year, down 5.46 percent from NT$2.29 trillion a year earlier, Hon Hai said.
ELECTRONICS
Pegatron revenue increases
Pegatron Corp (和碩), one of the main assemblers of Apple Inc’s iPhones, yesterday reported a 22.59 percent annual growth in revenue to NT$82.42 billion last month. Pegatron attributed the growth to increased demand for consumer electronics products, such as game consoles and tablets. Combined revenue reached NT$563.92 billion in the first seven months of the year, up 0.8 percent from last year’s NT$559.42 billion.
AUTO PARTS
Tong Yang posts NT$1.95bn
Automobile parts maker Tong Yang Industry Co (東陽實業) yesterday reported consolidated sales of NT$1.95 billion last month, up 7 percent year-on-year. The firm said in a statement that mild growth in North American market and launches of new products, as well as rising demand in Taiwan and China, boosted its sales in the aftermarket and original equipment manufacturing segments. In the first seven months of the year, total sales rose 6.48 percent year-on-year to NT$13.75 billion.
TAX
Revenue rises 10.6%
The nation’s tax revenue last month totaled NT$115.9 billion, up 10.6 percent from a year earlier, thanks to increases in income and business taxes, the Ministry of Finance said on Tuesday. Securities transactions and land value increment taxes remained a drag, declining 12.5 percent and 6.7 percent respectively from a year earlier to NT$41.3 billion and NT$8.3 billion respectively, it said. Overall tax revenue for the first seven months of the year was NT$1.34 trillion, up 3.4 percent from a year earlier and 3.8 percent higher than the budget target, it said.
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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six