TAX
Revenue beats target
The nation’s tax revenue last month rose NT$8.7 billion, or 7.4 percent, to NT$126.6 billion (US$4.02 billion) from the previous year, reaching a new high for the month of August, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Aggregate tax revenue in the first eight months of the year increased NT$52.2 billion, or 3.7 percent, to NT$1.47 trillion from the same period last year. The eight-month figure was 3.8 percent higher than the ministry’s target. The ministry attributed the growth to a NT$24.5 billion increase in business income tax, a NT$21.6 billion increase in consolidated personal income tax, a NT$11.5 billion expansion in the sales tax, as well as gains of NT$4.8 billion and NT$4.4 billion in inheritance and gift taxes respectively. However, land value incremental tax revenue fell 19.5 percent year-on-year last month due to fewer transactions, while the securities transaction tax revenue also dropped 11 percent year-on-year, the ministry’s data showed.
ENERGY
Cabinet approves solar plan
The government is aiming to install 1.52 gigawatts of solar photovoltaic capacity by 2018, according to a two-year renewable energy development plan devised by the Bureau of Energy and approved by the Executive Yuan on Thursday. The targeted 1.52 gigawatts of installed capacity is to include 910 megawatts mounted on rooftops and 610 megawatts of ground solar installations, Bureau of Energy Director-General Lin Chuan-neng (林全能) said. Lin said the rooftop systems would be installed on buildings used by state-owned enterprises, public organizations and schools, as well as factories, agricultural facilities and residential units. He said that 803 hectares of land that was allocated for use by the salt industry would be set aside for the ground systems. The two-year plan is expected to attract NT$91.2 billion in investment and create 9,000 jobs, he added.
SEMICONDUCTORS
TSMC posts higher revenue
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday posted revenue of NT$94.31 billion for last month, a 40.7 percent increase annually and a 23.5 percent monthly. In the first eight months of the year, revenue increased 3.6 percent from NT$575.47 billion in the same period last year to NT$596.01 billion, TSMC said in a statement. Rival United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) posted revenue of NT$12.93 billion for last month, up 6.09 percent year-on-year and 3.44 percent month-on-month. From January to last month, total revenue declined 3.71 percent from NT$100.56 billion the previous year to NT$96.83 billion, UMC said in a separate statement.
PANEL MAKERS
Innolux shipments surge
Innolux Corp (群創), the nation’s largest LCD panel supplier, yesterday said its revenue last month reached its highest level in eight months — NT$25.06 billion — on rising shipments of PC and TV panels. However, last month’s revenue fell 9.9 percent from NT$27.81 billion the previous year. Shipments of PC and TV panels grew 11 percent month-on-month to 10.51 million units last month, while those of small and medium-sized panels edged up 0.6 percent to 21.07 million units, Innolux said. In the first eight months of the year, revenue plunged 31.93 percent to NT$171.11 billion from NT$251.37 billion the previous year, the company 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
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],”