BIOTECHNOLOGY
Drugmaker seeks listing
General Biologicals Corp (GNC, 普生) yesterday announced that it has filed a second application to be listed on the nation’s bourse. Its first attempt last year was delayed following an organizational restructuring of its new drug development business, the company said. GNC, which develops in vitro diagnostic systems, said that it is the only Taiwanese company in the segment to have a vertically integrated supply chain. The company reported that sales last month were NT$17.19 million (US$547,975), increasing 36.85 percent from a year earlier. Aggregate sales in the first seven months also increased 20.56 percent year-on-year to NT$104 million.
SMARTPHONES
Memory shipments to rise
Global shipments of smartphone memory modules are likely to continue rising to surpass the 17.2 percent quarterly growth during the March-to-June period, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said. Last quarter’s growth was primarily driven by rising shipments from Chinese brands such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp. In addition, late-generation smartphone models have been equipped with larger-capacity memories, which also increased demand, TrendForce analyst Avril Wu (吳雅婷) said in a note yesterday. She said that inventory orders are expected to peak this quarter, as notable manufacturers such as Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co prepare to launch their new products.
AVIATION
Carrier’s delisting approved
Far Eastern Air Transport Corp (遠東航空), which focuses on domestic airline routes, yesterday announced that it has obtained the Financial Supervisory Commission’s approval to have the company’s shares delisted from the Emerging Stock Board on the Taipei Exchange. The troubled carrier ceased operations in 2008 as its financial condition deteriorated. It resumed operations in 2011 after receiving financial backing from real-estate developer Huafu Enterprise Co Ltd (樺福).
BANKING
Yuan deposits slip
Yuan-denominated deposits held by local banks last month declined by 0.11 percent to 305.61 billion yuan (US$46.08 billion), the lowest level since January last year, as corporate investors cut holdings, the central bank said yesterday. Continued yuan depreciation and interest-rate cuts accounted for the portfolio adjustments. Yuan deposits at offshore banking units last month fell by 1.54 billion yuan to 3.44 billion yuan, but increased by 1.19 billion yuan to 271.01 billion yuan at domestic banking units. Companies needed more New Taiwan dollars to fund dividend payouts, it said. Investors in Taiwan might cut yuan positions further if they remain downbeat about the Chinese currency’s outlook, it said.
SPORTSWEAR
Production output up
The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said that the nation’s production output of sports-related equipment and products rose by an estimated 1.9 percent annually to about NT$16.3 billion in the first five months. The figure is expected to surpass NT$40 billion by the end of this year, for the third consecutive year, the ministry said, adding that about 90 percent of the output was exported. The output was NT$41.8 billion last year, compared with NT$41.7 billion in 2014 and NT$36.5 billion in 2010, ministry data showed.
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