STOCKS
TAIEX falls on Wall Street
The TAIEX yesterday closed lower in response to a volatile Wall Street overnight, but losses were limited as bargain hunters emerged to pick up select large-cap stocks after the main board fell below the 11,000-point mark, dealers said. Turnover remained moderate, with investors wary over a possible global trade war triggered by Washington’s plan to impose heavy tariffs on Chinese-made goods by Friday. Investors were also cautious ahead of a two-day meeting of the US Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee, which began yesterday, they said. The index shed 36.06 points, or 0.33 percent, to close at 11,010.84, after moving between 10,981.04 and 11,020.78, on turnover of NT$109.69 billion (US$3.76 billion).
TECHNOLOGY
Vive Pro to ship next month
HTC Corp (宏達電) said it would begin global shipments of its upgraded Vive VR headset — the Vive Pro — on April 5. The Vive Pro, which was unveiled in early January at CES in Las Vegas, carries a price tag of NT$24,988 and US$799 in the US. The Vive Pro offers specifications that improve on the Vive and will enhance the immersive experience for VR players, the New Taipei City-based company said. It is equipped with dual OLED displays, providing 78 percent better resolution than that found on the existing Vive’s head-mounted display. Once the Vive Pro goes on sale, Vive headset prices will be reduced by US$100 to US$499 in the US market and to NT$16,800 in Taiwan, the company said.
INVESTMENT
FDI applications rise 300%
The value of approved foreign direct investment (FDI) in Taiwan last month soared more than 300 percent from February last year after Japan-based Itochu Corp agreed to buy a stake in Taipei 101, the Investment Commission said yesterday. The commission said it approved 208 foreign investment applications (excluding those from China) worth US$905 million, up 342 percent from a year earlier. The jump resulted largely from Itochu’s US$665 million commitment to buy a 37.17 percent stake in the skyscraper from Ting Hsin International Group (頂新集團). The deal, which was announced in December last year, will make Itochu the building’s first foreign shareholder and its second-largest shareholder. The largest shareholder in Taipei 101, which is operated by Taipei Financial Center Corp, is the Ministry of Finance, which controls a 44.35 percent stake through three financial groups.
ENVIRONMENT
Leofoo joining Earth Hour
Leofoo Tourism Group (六福旅遊集團) yesterday said it would participate in the “Earth Hour” Movement on Saturday by turning off lights at its two lodging facilities in Taipei between 8:30pm and 9:30pm, Westine Taipei (台北威斯汀六福皇宮) and the Courtyard Taipei (台北威斯汀六福皇宮). More than 187 countries and 7,000 cities support the annual lights out event.
BANKING
Taiwan Financial sets goals
Taiwan Financial Holding Co (臺灣金控) yesterday said it is to strengthen legal compliance and risk management this year. The state-owned firm told a media briefing in Taipei that its main subsidiary, Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行), last year generated an income of more than NT$10 billion despite an increase in provision costs. The bank aims to maintain its leadership position in the syndicated loan business, after commanding a 43.56 percent market share last year, officials 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],”