MANUFACTURING
WW Holding to buy Thai firm
WW Holding Inc (威宏控股), which manufactures sports products and accessories, yesterday said it is to fully acquire Thailand-based TWT Manufacturing Co Ltd for about NT$545 million (US$18.16 million) to boost its competitiveness in the luxury luggage sector, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The deal is part of WW’s three-year project to expand its presence in Southeast Asia and reduce its reliance on China, company president Johnny Sheu (許新居) told reporters yesterday. WW, whose production is mainly based in Dongguan in China’s Guangdong Province, is planning to expand its capacity in Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia over the coming years, Sheu said, without elaborating. The company posted cumulative revenue of NT$4.01 billion for the first 10 months of this year, a 3.69 percent annual decline from NT$4.16 billion last year.
CHIPMAKERS
MediaTek raises forecast
MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the nation’s biggest mobile phone chip supplier, yesterday raised its net profit forecast to between NT$5.66 per share and NT$7.01 per share for this quarter, thanks to a disposal gain from the sale of its holding in Shenzhen-based Goodix Technology Inc (匯頂科技). Goodix, listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, is MediaTek’s touch integrated circuit subsidiary. MediaTek had originally expected earnings per share to be between NT$2.18 and NT$2.67 this quarter. Revenue would be unchanged at between NT$59.2 billion and NT$64.29 billion, the company said, adding that gross margin would also be unchanged at about 36 percent.
ELECTRONICS
Delta, Far EasTone cooperate
Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), the nation’s leading thermal and power management solutions provider, yesterday said it is collaborating with Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) to install Delta’s smart LED streetlamps with the telecom’s narrowband Internet-of-Things solutions in four industrial zones in northern Taiwan. The collaboration is expected to help the Linkou Industrial Park, the Youth Industrial Park, the Pingjen Industrial Park and the Jhongli Industrial Park monitor their premises more efficiently, Delta said.
SHIPPING
Yang Ming raises NT$6bn
Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) yesterday announced that it has completed a capital injection plan. The company raised NT$6 billion through the sale of 500 million new shares priced at NT$12 per share, it said. The company, which in February underwent a 53 percent capital reduction, has since raised NT$7.69 billion, while the government has raised its stake in the cargo shipper from 36.27 to 38.23 percent. After posting a loss of NT$14.91 billion last year, the company is upbeat amid a recovery in the global cargo shipping sector.
INVESTMENT
Fubon foresees fluctuation
Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) yesterday forecast that the TAIEX would fluctuate between 9,000 and 11,500 points next year. The company’s economists said that improving turnover on the local bourse would next year sustain further rallies above the 10,000-point mark. The company also forecast that GDP would grow 2.2 percent next year. It predicted that the New Taiwan dollar would trade between NT$29.8 and NT$30.6 against the US dollar in the first half of next year, before slipping to between NT$30 and NT$30.8 in the second half.
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
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],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day