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.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San