TAXES
Revenue rises 9.9 percent
The national treasury last month collected NT$490.8 billion (US$16.04 billion) in tax revenue, an increase of 9.9 percent from a year earlier, attributable mainly to greater tobacco and house levies, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Health and welfare taxes totaled NT$7.4 billion, more than double the level a year earlier, as smokers bought more cigarettes amid fears of price hikes after tax increases to sponsor long-term care services, the ministry said. In the first half of this year, tax revenue totaled NT$1.25 trillion, a 1.5 percent increase from the same period last year that surpassed the target by 6.8 percent, it added.
SOLAR ENERGY
Giga Solar ends buyback
Giga Solar Materials Corp (碩禾), a photovoltaic conductive paste maker, achieved just 50 percent of a planned share buyback scheme that ended yesterday. The company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that between May 16 and Monday it repurchased 750,000 shares on the open market at an average of NT$279.43 per share for a total of about NT$209 million. Giga Solar in May said it would buy back up to 1.5 million shares at between NT$240 to NT$350 per share, which were to be distributed to employees. The company attributed the lower-than-expected result to an unclear industry outlook and considerations on the firm’s fund management.
SMARTPHONES
Asustek mum on Gong rumor
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday declined to comment on rumors that it plans to hire 38-year-old South Korean actor Gong Yoo as its spokesperson for a marketing campaign to be launched later this month. Local media reported that Asustek plans to spend up to NT$60 million to have Gong — who has risen to popularity across Asia through leading roles in the hit film Train to Busan and TV drama Guardian: the Lonely and Great God — become its principal promoter for the ZenFone 4 smartphone. Asustek declined to comment, but said there would be no changes to the planned launch of the new handset later this month.
MANUFACTURING
Largan shares get boost
Largan Precision Co (大立光), the world’s leading camera lens supplier for handsets, yesterday saw its shares hit another record high, as investors expect Apple Inc’s next-generation iPhones to boost its shipments in the second half of the year. Shares gained 3.83 percent to close at NT$5,285 after hitting an intraday high of NT$5,325 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, where the TAIEX ended up 1.22 percent at 10,415.57. The closing price and intraday high were both records for Largan. The company is scheduled to hold its quarterly earnings conference tomorrow to shed light on its outlook for this quarter.
TRADE
Tianjin show nets deals
A trade fair featuring Taiwanese brands has concluded in northern Tianjin, China, with exhibitors in talks for potential licensing deals worth up to 1.8 billion yuan (US$264.68 million), the General Chamber of Commerce said yesterday. More than 800 Taiwanese brands were represented at the four-day fair organized by the chamber and the Tianjin city government. A total of 600 million yuan in sales of products on display were concluded during the show, while more than 250 Taiwanese exhibitors are in negotiations to license their brands or knowledge to Chinese entrepreneurs, the chamber said.
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],”