SEMICONDUCTORS
Phison profit surges
Local NAND flash memory controller supplier Phison Electronics Corp (群聯電子) posted a pretax profit of NT$640 million (US$20.03 million) for last month, up 43 percent from NT$447 million in September. In the first 10 months, Phison posted a record-high pretax profit of NT$4.42 billion, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Monday. Phison said that robust demand for memorychips used in mobile phones and servers boosted prices over the past quarter and it expects the uptrend to extend into next quarter. The company said it could meet about 20 percent of orders placed by its clients.
SERVICES
Da Lue to launch Web site
Da Lue International Holding Co Ltd (大略), a Cayman Islands-registered wedding services provider, yesterday said that its e-commerce platform is to start operations in China next month. With a capital investment of US$6.5 million, the platform is to provide wines, cosmetics and wedding-related products for newlyweds, the company said in a statement. Revenue from its e-commerce sector is expected to reach NT$500 million per year, it said.
ECONOMY
GDP to grow 1.6%: Taishin
Taishin Securities Investment Advisory Co (台新投顧) expects the nation’s GDP to grow 1.6 percent next year, from an estimated 1 percent this year, as external demand improves mildly. Corporate profits could rise 5.9 percent next year, compared with a projected annual decline of 1.1 percent this year, Taishin economist Mason Li (李鎮宇) said. Technology firms would outperform other sectors, Lee said, adding that the TAIEX would fluctuate between 8,300 and 9,800 points.
SMARTPHONES
HTC unveils three models
HTC Corp (宏達電) has launched three new smartphone models, including the 10 Evo, which uses a USB type-C socket for its headphones instead of a headphone jack, in an effort to boost its local sales, the company announced yesterday. The phone has a 5.5-inch touchscreen and comes with 3GB of RAM and 32GB or 64GB of storage space. The dust and water-resistant phone is available in three different colors — gray, gold and silver. The 32GB model is priced at NT$17,900 and the 64GB model at NT$19,900, HTC said. Another new model is the HTC Desire 10 Pro, which features high-resolution cameras on the front and back, an integrated fingerprint sensor and 64GB of internal storage space, the company said. The 5.5-inch, dual SIM phone comes in four colors — stone black, polar white, royal blue and valentine lux — and retails at NT$12,900, HTC said. Preorders for the two new models can be made until Wednesday next week, it added.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Yuan fixing rate raised
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) yesterday raised its yuan fixing for the first time in 13 days as the US dollar’s ascent eased, reinforcing speculation that policymakers are prepared to step up measures to slow the currency’s decline. The bank hiked its daily reference rate by 0.3 percent to 6.8779 per US dollar, ending a 12-day decline that took the rate to its weakest level since June 2008. The PBOC’s fixings for the past four days were higher than Mizuho Bank Ltd and Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd had forecast. Investors should consider trimming bearish bets on the yuan as authorities are countering depreciation pressures more forcefully, BNP Paribas SA strategists wrote in a note on Monday.
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves fell below the US$600 billion mark at the end of last month, with the central bank reporting a total of US$596.89 billion — a decline of US$8.6 billion from February — ending a three-month streak of increases. The central bank attributed the drop to a combination of factors such as outflows by foreign institutional investors, currency fluctuations and its own market interventions. “The large-scale outflows disrupted the balance of supply and demand in the foreign exchange market, prompting the central bank to intervene repeatedly by selling US dollars to stabilize the local currency,” Department of Foreign
Intel Corp is joining Elon Musk’s long-shot effort to develop semiconductors for Tesla Inc, Space Exploration Technologies Corp and xAI, marking a surprising twist in the chipmaker’s comeback bid. Intel would help the Terafab project “refactor” the technology in a chip factory, the company said on Tuesday in a post on X, Musk’s social media platform. That is a stage in the development process that typically helps make chips more powerful or reliable. The chipmaker’s shares jumped 4.2 percent to US$52.91 in New York trading on Tuesday. The Terafab project is a grand plan by Musk to eventually manufacture his own chips for
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday said it plans to resume operations at two coal-fired power generators for three months to boost security of electricity supply as liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply risks are running high due to the Middle East conflict. The two coal-fired power generators are at Mailiao Power Plant in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮). The plant, operated by Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), supplied electricity to Taipower’s power grid until the end of last year. Taipower’s decision came about one month after Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) on March 10 said that the nation had no imminent
Some robotaxi passengers were left stranded in the middle of fast-moving traffic in a major Chinese city after their driverless vehicles stopped running, according to police and media reports on Wednesday. A preliminary investigation indicates more than 100 robotaxis came to a halt because of a “system malfunction,” police in the city of Wuhan said in a statement, without elaborating. No injuries were reported. One passenger told Chinese media that their robotaxi stopped after turning a corner. An instruction on a screen read: “Driving system malfunction. Staff are expected to arrive in 5 minutes.” After no one showed up, the passenger pushed
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