CHIPMAKERS
MediaTek plans data center
MediaTek Inc (聯發科), which designs handset chips, yesterday said it plans to begin operating a new facility with a chip design and data center in the middle of next year. The center would help develop artificial intelligence chips and chips supporting high-performance computing and cloud-computing technologies, and would have about 600 installed server cabinets. MediaTek declined to disclose the investment amount, but said the expense was part of the company’s annual research and development budget totaling NT$50 billion (US$1.72 billion). The 10-floor building would provide office space for 1,000 employees, it said.
AUTOMOTIVE
Hota net profit hits NT$1.2bn
Hota Industrial Manufacturing Co (和大工業) yesterday reported a net profit of NT$1.2 billion last year, up 7.2 percent year-on-year, with earnings per share of NT$4.81. The company, which makes gears and shafts for automobiles, attributed the results to a 16.22 percent increase in overall sales to NT$6.72 billion, despite foreign-exchange losses and rising raw material costs. The company’s board has decided to offer shareholders a cash dividend of NT$3.75 per common share, with a payout ratio of 77.9 percent and a yield of 2.78 percent based on yesterday’s closing price of NT$134.5 in Taipei trading.
COMMUNICATIONS
Hitron to cut capital 10%
Hitron Technology Inc (仲琦科技), a supplier of network communications equipment, yesterday announced a 10 percent cut in capital through the cancelation of 24.15 million shares to strengthen its financial structure and enhance shareholder value. The reduction plan would see the company’s capitalization drop by NT$241.49 million to NT$2.17 billion, the company said. If the plan obtains a green light at the annual shareholders’ meeting on June 14 and approval from regulators, the company said it would set a time frame for the program and return NT$1 per share in cash to shareholders. The company said its board also approved the distribution of a NT$1.2 cash dividend per share, based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$1.42.
NETWORKING
Accton revenue rises 24.1%
Accton Technology Corp (智邦科技), a local maker of computer networking equipment such as routers, on Wednesday said earnings per share reached NT$4.68 last year, higher than the previous year’s NT$3.51, with annual revenue of NT$36.45 billion, up 24.1 percent year-on-year and hitting a record level. The company attributed the results to better demand for its 100 gigabit Ethernet switch products and said revenue this year would grow further, driven by open network switch products and software-defined networking devices. Accton said its board has decided to pay a record-high cash dividend of NT$4.1354 per share, representing a payout ratio of 88.36 percent.
COMPUTERS
Gigabyte’s Q4 dips 23.86%
Gigabyte Technology Co (技嘉科技), a maker of motherboards, graphics cards and notebook computers, on Wednesday reported that net profit decreased 23.86 percent to NT$842 million in the fourth quarter of last year from the previous quarter, reflecting slowing graphics card business due to a decline in bitcoin mining. Despite the quarterly decline, net profit for the whole year still rose 21.5 percent to NT$2.79 billion, the highest since 2007, with earnings per share of NT$4.41, the company said.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure