TAIWAN
Foreign reserves rise
Foreign-exchange reserves stood at US$436.73 billion at the end of last month, up US$864 million from August, the central bank said yesterday in a statement, attributing the gain to successful investment and management strategies. The latest data also showed that foreign portfolio managers held US$316.2 billion worth of domestic equities and bonds last month, accounting for 72 percent of total foreign-exchange reserves, the central bank said.
MANUFACTURING
Largan revenue improves
Camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) yesterday reported revenue of NT$4.95 billion (US$157.79 million) for last month, its highest monthly figure since November last year. Revenue grew 3 percent from the previous month, but fell 10 percent from a year earlier, the firm said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. By shipment breakdown, 10 megapixel and above lenses accounted for 60 to 70 percent of its total shipments last month, while 8-megapixel products contributed between 20 and 30 percent, the firm said.
? MANUFACTURING
Catcher reports revenue fall
Metal casings supplier Catcher Technology Co (可成科技) yesterday reported revenue of NT$7.72 billion for last month. That was 3.26 percent less than last year’s NT$7.98 billion, but 10.3 percent more than the previous month’s NT$7 billion, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Last month’s revenue marked the company’s highest monthly performance in the past 10 months, company data showed. In the first nine months of this year, Catcher’s revenue contracted 6.5 percent to NT$55.098 billion.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Lextar monthly sales expand
Lextar Corp (隆達), which makes upstream LED chips and provides downstream packaging services, yesterday said its sales last month expanded month-on-month dues to peak season demand for LED backlight units and lighting applications. Sales hit NT$1.24 billion, up 5.15 percent from August, the company said in a statement. However, sales declined 2.82 percent from a year earlier. Accumulated sales in the first nine months of this year fell 1.54 percent annually to NT$10.46 billion, company data showed.
PANELMAKERS
TPK revenue falls 23.6%
Touchpanel maker TPK Holding Co (宸鴻) yesterday reported that third-quarter revenue decreased 23.6 percent to NT$26.17 billion from the previous year, but rose 53.2 percent from the second quarter. That brought revenue in the first three quarters of the year to NT$64.49 billion, down 25.81 percent from the same period last year, due to lower-than-expected demand for tablets and wearable devices.
ELECTRONICS
Chilisin sales improve
Power inductor maker Chilisin Electronics Corp (奇力新) yesterday reported better-than-expected sales for last quarter on the back of rapid growth in electronics products for automobiles and a recovery in China’s smartphone market. Consolidated sales grew 27.1 percent year-on-year and 3.1 percent month-on-month to NT$525 million last month, a record for the company. That helped sales in the third quarter reach NT$1.52 billion, up 21.1 percent from the previous quarter and 25.3 percent from a year earlier, the company said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
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
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last