BANKING
FSC fines SinoPac, Hua Nan
The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday imposed fines of NT$10 million and NT$8 million (US$317,389 and US$253,912) on Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行) and Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) respectively for irregularities in loans extended to Taipei-based Tingsing Trading Co (鼎興貿易), a dentistry supplier. The commission said that the two banks failed to account for default risk. Bank SinoPac had extended loans of about NT$400 million to Tingsing, and failed to list conflicts of interest, as the debtor is operated by a relative of Ho Shou-chuan (何壽川), chairman of Bank SinoPac’s parent, SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控), the commission said. Hua Nan Commercial Bank was fined because it loaned NT$900 million to Tingsing based on a cursory approval process, the commission added.
MOBILE
Samsung eyes local market
Samsung Pay, a mobile payment and digital wallet service provided by South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co, has set its sights on grasping the largest share of Taiwan’s nascent market for mobile payments. Lynn Chiu (邱淑鈴), Samsung Taiwan’s director of Samsung Pay, told reporters that Taiwan’s mobile payment market has a lot of room for growth. Citing statistics compiled by the FSC, the company said that mobile payments accounted for only 26 percent of total electronic payments in all nations, much lower than 77 percent in South Korea, 65 percent in Hong Kong and 56 percent in China. Taiwan has been targeted as the 12th market for the mobile payment service, with a launch planned for early next year. The company said that it would collaborate with seven local banks.
SEMICONDUCTORS
TSMC approves upgrades
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s No. 1 contract chipmaker, yesterday said its board of directors have approved capital appropriations of US$4.91 billion for the installation and expansion of advanced technology capacity and upgrading advanced packaging capacity. The spending is to include capital investment for research and development and to sustain capital expenditures for next year’s first quarter. The board also approved the appointment of Kevin Chang (張曉強) as vice president of design and technology platforms, TSMC said. Chang is to be responsible for memory and mix signal and radio frequency solutions.
AIRLINES
Tigerair to keep its name
Tigerair Taiwan (台灣虎航), a budget airline established jointly by Tiger Airways Singapore Pte Ltd and China Airlines (CAL, 華航), yesterday said that it can continue operating using its original brand in the near term, despite financial problems. According to a merger plan by parent Singapore Airlines Ltd, Tiger Airways might become redundant alongside the Singaporean company’s other low-cost carrier, Scoot Pte Ltd. In addition, Tigerair Taiwan faces difficulties from a contract that allows Singapore Airlines to wield near-absolute power at board meetings, backed by its 10 percent stake in the joint venture, CAL said. A task force has been set up to review the contract with Tiger Airways, and Tigerair Taiwan is optimistic that Singapore Airline’s 10 percent stake can be purchased back before the end of this year, chairman Ho-jo Chang (張鴻鐘) said yesterday. Chang said he believes that it would be best for Tigerair Taiwan to operate under its existing brand for at least another year.
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],”