ENTERTAINMENT
XPEC names first CEO
XPEC Entertainment Inc (樂陞科技) yesterday appointed its chief operating officer Jean-Marc Morel as the company’s first chief executive officer as part of its structural adjustment. Morel has been the company’s chief operating officer since April last year, overseeing product research and development, XPEC said. The troubled game developer’s shares fluctuated in Taipei trading yesterday with its shares falling by the daily maximum limit to NT$15.60 on opening, but rose to NT$15.95 in a bid for more than 412,000 shares 30 minutes later. The shares closed at NT$15.65, falling 9.54 percent from the previous closing. A total of 401 million shares changed hands.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Wafer shipments to rise 2%
Global shipments of polished silicon and epitaxial silicon wafers are expected to rise 2 percent in the next two years, with shipments expected to surpass last year’s results, the Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International trade association said in a report released yesterday. Shipments would reach 10,444 million square inches (MSI) this year, 10,642 MSI next year, and 10,897 MSI in 2018, the report said. Following a gradual recovery in the past few months, the semiconductor industry is expected to post year-on-year improvements in shipments until 2018, the association said.
APPAREL
WW seeks Taipei listing
WW Holding Inc (威宏), a Taiwanese sportswear contract manufacturer, yesterday announced that the company is seeking to have its shares listed on the Taipei Exchange next month. The company, which operates plants producing sports and casual bags and accessories in China, said its major clients include Nike, Under Armor and Kipling. The company also branched out into retail distribution for Prince, a sportswear brand, it said. Last year, the company reported annual sales of NT$5.21 billion (US$164 million), generating earnings of NT$5.46 per share.
BEVERAGES
Starbucks unveils new drink
President Starbucks Coffee Corp (統一星巴克), a joint venture between President Chain Store Corp (PCSC, 統一超商) and the Seattle-based Starbucks, is to unveil a new Frappuccino, featuring peanuts and mesona jelly (仙草), which are commonly used in Taiwanese desserts. The beverage, exclusive to Taiwan, is to be available at the company’s 393 outlets in the nation today, the company said.
TELECOMS
Taiwan Star to meet target
Taiwan Star Telecom Corp (台灣之星) is optimistic that the company can meet its goal of 1 million 4G subscribers before the end of this year, despite concerns over severe price competition in the sector. Sales are expected to grow 12 percent this year, compared with 11 percent last year, Taiwan Star president Cliff Lai (賴弦五) told reporters yesterday. However, Lai said that the company would face increased competition as rivals Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Taiwan Mobile Corp (台灣大哥大) and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co Ltd (遠傳電信) launch unlimited 4G subscription plans for less than NT$700 per month. Taiwan Star also urged people to be aware of potential eyesight damage, citing findings from a survey it conducted, as more than 60 percent of smartphone users spend more than five hours per day using their mobile devices, the survey found.
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
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],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained