TRANSPORTATION
Zipcar launches in Taipei
Zipcar Inc, the world’s largest car-sharing service network, launched its business in the Asia-Pacific region on Friday when it started operations in Taipei. Boston-based Zipcar’s major competitor in Taiwan is to be iRent, operated by Hotai Leasing Co (和運租車). Unlike iRent, Zipcar requires drivers to first sign up as members, after which they can rent a car by the hour or by the day, or pay a monthly or yearly reservation fee.
SEMICONDUCTORS
TSMC sales up 28 percent
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) on Friday said sales rose about 28 percent last month from the previous month to NT$72.80 billion (US$2.42 billion), but were down 1.1 percent from a year earlier. In the first five months, TSMC, which is believed to be supplying the A11 processor for Apple Inc’s next-generation iPhones, posted consolidated sales of NT$363.58 billion, up 5.7 percent from a year earlier. The company last month benefited from clients rebuilding their inventories to reverse a downturn in April, analysts said.
ELECTRONICS
Hon Hai sales plummet
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) on Friday said sales last month dipped to their lowest in 33 months at NT$279.85 billion, with analysts saying that the decline reflected a slow season as well as a reduced number of working days last month. Shipments of Hon Hai’s computing devices last month increased from a month earlier, while shipments of communications and consumer electronics gadgets declined month-on-month, the company said. In the first five months, Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose 0.23 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.58 trillion.
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