AIRLINES
Delta departs for last time
The last Delta Air Lines flight yesterday took off from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, signaling its exit from the local market. The pilot and copilot opened the cockpit window to wave goodbye before disconnecting the plane from the air bridge. Delta ground crew presented each passenger with a souvenir. Several passengers hugged ground crew in a warm atmosphere tinged with a sadness. One passenger who traveled with her family said that Delta has many destinations in Europe and the US, and it is a pity that the airline is leaving Taiwan, because it will be more inconvenient for them to transfer to other carriers.
TECHNOLOGY
E-paper makes breakthrough
E-paper display supplier E Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技) yesterday said it has made a major breakthrough in boosting the resolution of e-paper displays for e-readers, smartphones, tablets and Internet of Things (IoT) applications in collaboration with Japan Display Inc (JDI). The new e-paper displays, combining JDI’s LTPS technology with E Ink’s energy-saving e-paper technology, deliver high resolution 400 pixels per inch, or 600ppi, which is likely to broaden the use of e-paper displays to applications beyond LCD, the companies said in a joint statement. The new high-resolution display module is on show at the annual SID Display Week in Los Angeles, which concludes today, the statement said.
TELECOMS
APT to show 5G technology
Asia Pacific Telecom Co (APT, 亞太電信), a subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), yesterday said it plans to demonstrate high-speed 5G technology by the end of this year as its technological cooperation with Intel Corp bears fruit. That is the latest development a year after Hon Hai inked a memorandum of understanding with Intel in June last year to develop 5G telecom equipment and infrastructure. Supported by APT’s 5G network, consumers will have access to 3D floor introduction and real-time sales promotion via a mobile app when visiting Syntrend Creative Park (三創園區), an electronics retailing venue operated by Hon Hai.
OPTOMETRY
Ginko shutdown order lifted
Ginko International Co (金可國際), which makes contact lenses and lens-care solution, yesterday said that Chinese regulators have lifted a shutdown order against a plant operated by its subsidiary, Jiangsu Horien Contact Lens Co Ltd (江蘇海倫隱形眼鏡), that began on April 26. The company on Tuesday passed a follow-up inspection by the Chinese Food and Drug Administration, remedying shortcomings in record keeping that resulted in breaches of medical device manufacturing rules. Ginko shares yesterday gained 3.52 percent to close at NT$235.
REAL ESTATE
New home loans slow
New home loans at five major state-run banks totaled NT$29.3 billion (US$970.75 million) last month, a retreat of NT$7.5 billion from March and a drop of NT$6.5 billion from a year earlier, the central bank said, as housing transactions slowed. The monthly tally on new home loans at Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行), Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行), First Commercial Bank (第一銀行), Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) and Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫) is considered a gauge on the local property market, as they account for 40 percent of the market. Property transactions in the six special municipalities declined 13 percent sequentially last month, data from the six governments showed.
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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six