SOLAR ENERGY
Solartech lays off 80 workers
Solar cell maker Solartech Energy Corp (昇陽光電) yesterday said it had laid off 80 employees after a production line was suspended due to damage from a fire last month. As the production line is expected to resume operations within the next six months, Solartech said it allocated workers affected by the suspension to its solar module factory. However, some employees refused to accept the reassignment, company spokesman Alex Wu (吳幸元) said, adding that those workers were dismissed. Solartech reported losses of NT$770 million (US$25.62 million) in the first three quarters of this year, widening from losses of NT$37.36 million in the same period last year. Gross losses totaled NT$385 million in the first three quarters, compared with gross profit of NT$195 million the previous year, company data showed.
BRANDS
Asustek tops ministry list
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) was named the top Taiwanese global brand for the fifth consecutive year in a brand value estimation report released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday. The ministry cited Asustek’s aggressive expansion in the smartphone and gaming PC sectors, as well as persistent efforts to improve user experience, in ranking it top of 19 other Taiwanese brands. Asustek’s brand value totaled US$1.67 billion this year, while Internet security firm Trend Micro Inc (趨勢科技) ranked second with US$1.4 billion, the report showed. Want Want Group (旺旺集團) secured third place with a brand value of US$929 million, the report showed.
AUTOMAKERS
Tesla opens Hsinchu station
Tesla Inc yesterday launched the nation’s fifth supercharger station at Hsinchu Science Park as part of its efforts to improve its charging infrastructure in the nation. The Hsinchu station, which allows users to replenish their car’s batteries in minutes, would help Tesla further expand its charging network in northern Taiwan, the firm said in a statement. Tesla — which has 130 charging stations nationwide with more than 300 connectors — plans to install more charging stations in eastern Taiwan, it said earlier this year, without elaborating.
STEELMAKERS
China Steel profit rises 5%
China Steel Corp (中鋼), the nation’s only integrated steelmaker, yesterday posted pretax profit of NT$2.39 billion for last month, a 5 percent increase from NT$2.28 billion in September, mainly due to higher product prices. Sales last month fell 1 percent month-on-month from NT$29.81 billion to NT$29.6 billion, the company said in a statement, but added that operating profit grew 13 percent month-on-month from NT$2.01 billion to NT$2.26 billion. Cumulative revenue in the first 10 months was NT$286.37 billion, a 21 percent increase from NT$236.92 billion in the same period last year.
STOCK MARKET
TAIEX firms’ revenue up 5%
Companies included in the TAIEX last quarter saw their combined revenue rise 5.16 percent year-on-year to NT$19.65 trillion, with combined pretax earnings in that period gaining 15.03 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.52 trillion, Financial Supervisory Commission data released yesterday showed. The gains were led by the optoelectronics, plastics, memory and semiconductor sectors. Companies listed on the Taipei Exchange last quarter saw their aggregate sales rise 5.77 percent year-on-year to NT$1.46 trillion, with total pretax earnings gaining 18.15 percent from a year earlier to NT$10.35 billion.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last