TELECOMS
Far EasTone inks deal
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co Ltd (遠傳電信), the nation’s third-largest telecom, yesterday said it has signed a contract with wireless equipment supplier Ericsson AB for NT$4.55 billion (US$142.77 million). The company had said it planned to spend NT$9.9 billion on new equipment this year, mostly on its 4G network, accounting for 10 percent of its annual revenue.
BANKING
Yuan deposits decline
Yuan deposits declined 1.06 percent to 308.53 billion yuan (US$44.99 billion) last month, ending two consecutive months of increases, as investors’ interest in the Chinese currency softened, the central bank said yesterday in Taipei. The retreat came after the yuan weakened against the greenback, even though local banks were offering relatively high interest rates to encourage investors. Yuan deposits at domestic banking units dropped 1.3 percent to 271.97 billion yuan last month because some local companies cut their yuan positions, the central bank said.
ELECTRONICS
Note 7 recall deadline set
Samsung Electronics Co’s branch in Taiwan yesterday said that the recall of the problematic Galaxy Note 7 could continue until the end of this year. A total of 42,000 units were sold in Taiwan before multiple reports of the flagship smartphone catching fire or exploding due to an overheated battery appeared around the world. As of Saturday, 77 percent of the Galaxy Note 7s sold in Taiwan had been recalled and the company expected that to rise to 80 percent by the end of yesterday. If distribution network inventory is included the percentage is expected to reach 82 percent, the firm said. The company set a deadline of Dec. 31 for the recall following negotiations with the National Communications Commission.
OPTOELECTRONICS
Largan boosts exports
The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said that the nation’s optoelectronic exports recorded an average annual growth rate of 36.5 percent between 2009 and last year, outpacing the 0.7 percent and 6 percent growth achieved by Japan and South Korea respectively during the same period. The performance was primarily driven by Largan Precision Co (大立光), a leading supplier of camera lenses for mobile devices. Largan’s products have helped grow the nation’s optoelectronic exports from US$300 million in 2009 to US$1.97 billion last year, the ministry said. However, slowing global economic growth has dragged on demand for mobile devices, leading to a 20.7 percent annual decline in exports in the first half of this year, the ministry said.
VIDEO GAMES
XPEC to be suspended
The Taipei Exchange yesterday announced that the trading of XPEC Entertainment Inc (樂陞科技) shares would be suspended tomorrow, as the video game developer has failed to produce a financial statement for the third quarter of this year. In addition, trading in three tranches of convertible bonds issued by XPEC would also be suspended, the exchange said. Despite the ruling, XPEC shares gained 5.51 percent to close at NT$12.45 in Taipei trading yesterday.
FINANCE
TWCA launches new center
Taiwan Certificate Authority Inc (TWCA, 台灣網路認證) yesterday launched a center which aims to develop personal identification verification solutions for financial technology. The center is to provide secured verification services for financial services.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure