REAL ESTATE
Brokers out of work
As the slump in the local housing market continues, more than 1,000 real-estate brokers have lost their jobs in the past three years, Chinese Association of Real Estate Brokers chairman Lin Cheng-hsiung (林正雄) said yesterday. The Taipei-based association said the number of real-estate brokerages nationwide had dropped from 6,500 in 2014 to 5,400 last month, and the number could decline further given unfriendly government policies. The association is to continue discussing house and land sales tax cuts with the government to boost market transactions, Lin said. The regulations subject property transaction gains to income taxes of 45 percent if the houses are resold within one year of purchase, and 35 percent for houses sold within two years of purchase.
RETAIL
Mercy Wu to head Eslite
The Eslite Corp (誠品生活) board yesterday unanimously approved company vice chairwoman and president Mercy Wu (吳旻潔) as its new chairwoman with immediate effect, the bookstore chain operator said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The decision came one day after Wu’s father, Robert Wu (吳清友), the founder and chairman of Eslite, died of heart failure on Tuesday night. Mercy Wu started working as Robert Wu’s special assistant in 2005. She was promoted to executive vice president in 2007 and became vice chairwoman in 2010. Eslite shares dropped 0.67 percent to NT$148.5 on the Taipei Exchange yesterday.
TECHNOLOGY
Chipbond mum on rumors
Chipbond Technology Corp (頎邦), a driver integrated circuit packaging and testing-service provider, yesterday declined to comment on rumors that it plans to sell its Chinese unit to Chinese flat-panel manufacturer BOE Technology Group Co (京東方). The Chinese-language United Evening News reported that Chipbond might complete the sale of about 50 percent of its shares in Chipmore Technology Co Ltd (頎中科技) to BOE by the end of September. Chipbond has close business ties with BOE in China, where it runs Chipmore in Suzhou and International Semiconductor Technology Ltd (飛信) in Kunshan.
AVIATION
Fleet upgrade approved
Mandarin Airlines (華信航空), a subsidiary of China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), yesterday said its board approved a plan to introduce nine ATR72-600 aircraft to upgrade its fleet for domestic routes, beginning in November. The board has entrusted chairman Hsieh Shih-chien (謝世謙) to sign leasing agreements with British Aviation PLC for three ATR72-600 and letters of intent with Toulouse, France-based turboprop aircraft manufacturer ATR for another six 70-seat aircraft, Mandarin Airlines said.
TECHNOLOGY
Bixby to understand English
Samsung Electronics Co said its Bixby voice assistant for smartphones would start speaking English, but only in two countries: South Korea and the US. The firm said that starting yesterday, users of Galaxy S8 smartphones can ask their smartphones to turn on the flashlight, take a selfie or search for photographs in English. Samsung did not say why Bixby in English was not made available to users outside South Korea or the US, or when it might be available in other languages in other countries.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
RSS