CHIPMAKERS
TSMC names directors
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that its board named joint CEOs Mark Liu (劉德音) and C.C. Wei (魏哲家) as board directors at a special meeting. The changes are the latest development in the company’s multi-year succession plan as chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) plans to yield his post, a TSMC report released earlier this week said. The appointments are subject to shareholders’ approval at a meeting on June 8, the company said.
LENSES
Largan announces dividend
Largan Precision Co (大立光), the nation’s leading camera lens manufacturer, is to distribute NT$8.51 billion (US$282 million) in cash dividends, or NT$63.5 per common share, after reporting earnings of NT$169.47 per share last year, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The planned distribution represents a payout ratio 37.41 percent, higher than last year’s 35.3 percent. Largan’s dividend distribution suggests a yield of 1.27 percent based on the company’s closing price of NT$5,000 in Taipei trading yesterday.
TRADE
TAITRA opens India Center
The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) yesterday opened the India Center in Taipei, marking the council’s latest attempt to help small and medium-sized enterprises enter the Indian market. The opening is part of the government’s “new southbound policy,” TAITRA chairman James Huang (黃志芳) told a news conference. Huang said the center provides consultancy and market research services, including help with Indian regulations.
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],”