AUTOMAKERS
Model X debuts in Taiwan
US electric automaker Tesla Motors Inc yesterday launched its first Model X sports utility vehicle in Taiwan. The Model X, which can accelerate from zero to 100kph in 3.1 seconds, has a starting price of NT$4.043 million (US$131,053). The company said it plans to open its first after-sales center in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖) and install more than 200 charging stations at 50 sites across the nation in the first half of this year to improve charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. However, Tesla declined to give details about delivery dates. It only said cars that have been ordered will be delivered by the end of this year.
CHIPMAKERS
MediaTek revenue falls
MediaTek Inc (聯發科), which designs handset chips that power a lot of Chinese mobile phone brands, including Xiaomi Corp (小米), yesterday posted a monthly revenue contraction of 7.44 percent for last month to NT$16.95 billion, the lowest in a year. The chipmaker made NT$18.31 billion in January. The company has said that weak demand in the first quarter would cause revenue decline of between 14 percent and 22 percent quarter-on-quarter to between NT$53.6 billion and NT$59.1 billion in the current quarter. In a separate statement, memorychip maker Macronix International Co (旺宏電子) said revenue fell 7.8 percent last month to NT$2.014 billion, from NT$2.19 billion in January. On an annual basis, revenue surged 23.7 percent from NT$1.63 billion in February last year. Accumulated consolidated net sales for January to last month were NT$4.199 billion, up 26.8 percent from NT$3.312 billion in the same period last year.
TELECOMS
Chunghwa approves dividend
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s biggest telecom operator, yesterday said that its board had approved a plan to distribute a cash dividend of NT$4.94 per common share based on its net profit last year of NT$40.03 billion, or earnings per share of NT$5.16. The dividend represents a 4.82 percent premium on the company’s closing share price yesterday of NT$102.5. Meanwhile, Far EasTone Telecommunications Co Ltd (遠傳電信) said that its board approved the distribution of a cash dividend of NT$3.75 per common share.
STOCK MARKETS
TWSE unveils Web site
The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) has launched a newly designed Web site for investors to focus on the merits of Taiwan’s equity market, in particular its relatively high dividend yields. The TWSE said the high yields make shares in Taiwan a good option for retail investors interested in taking advantage of a “small investment plan,” similar to a regular savings plan for investors who put their money into mutual funds. The average cash dividend yield for companies listed on the main exchange was 3.96 percent last year, trailing only 3.99 percent in the UK among the world’s major equity markets, the TWSE said, citing data compiled by Bloomberg. Taiwan’s average cash dividend yield was higher than in Singapore (3.76 percent), Hong Kong (3.7 percent) and the US (2.42 percent) as of the end of last year. The cash dividend yield represents the ratio of the annual cash dividend a company pays to its share price. A higher dividend yield means investors receive a higher return on their investment.
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
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
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