SEMICONDUCTORS
North America ratio rises
The book-to-bill ratio for North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers rose from 1.03 in August to 1.05 last month, statistics released by Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) showed on Thursday. A ratio of 1.05 means that US$105 worth of orders were received for every US$100 of products billed in the month. It was the 10th consecutive month that the ratio stood at or above 1, indicating strong demand is likely to continue in the short term. “Semiconductor equipment bookings continue to outpace equipment billings,” SEMI president and CEO Denny McGuirk said in a press release.
SHIPPING
NEAX service set for launch
Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運), the largest container shipper in Taiwan, has teamed up with counterparts in the region to upgrade services between Asia and Australia. Starting tomorrow, Evergreen Marine, Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Container Line, Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd, and Taiwan’s Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) are to introduce a new service, called the North East Asia-Australia Express (NEAX). Evergreen Marine said the five partners will assign six 3,500 to 3,700 twenty-foot equivalent unit vessels to the new route.
TELECOMS
Far EasTone to offer VoLTE
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co Ltd (遠傳電信) yesterday said it is planning to offer a voice over long-term evolution (VoLTE) service later this month, allowing users to make high-quality voice calls over the 4G long-term evolution (LTE) networks, replacing traditional circuit-switched networks. The nation’s No. 3 telecom operator said making voice calls over LTE networks will significantly reduce background noise. The company will charge NT$30 a month for the VoLTE service, the same rate as Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大). Asia Pacific Telecom Co (亞太電信) started offering a free VoLTE service in May last year.
ACQUISITIONS
Qualcomm deal expected
Qualcomm Inc is reaching the final stages of negotiations to acquire NXP Semiconductors NV and the two chipmakers might announce a deal as early as next week, according to people familiar with the process. The San Diego-based company is close to wrapping up a review of NXP’s finances and worldwide operations, the people said. The announcement might come as soon as NXP’s quarterly earnings report, which is expected to be released on Wednesday, or might be delayed until Qualcomm reports results on Nov. 2. No agreement has been signed and the deal still might not happen, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private.
PHARMACEUTICALS
IPO raises US$1.8 billion
China Resources Pharmaceutical Group Ltd (華潤醫藥集團) raised US$1.8 billion after pricing its Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) below the midpoint of a marketed range, according to people familiar with the matter. China’s second-largest drugmaker priced its sale of 1.543 billion shares at HK$9.1 apiece, the people said. China Resources Pharmaceutical offered the shares at HK$8.45 to HK$10.15 each, according to terms for the deal obtained by Bloomberg last week. The deal adds to the US$19.5 billion raised from Hong Kong first-time share sales this year, Bloomberg 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