ELECTRONICS
ChipMOS granted loan
ChipMOS Technologies Inc (南茂), a packaging and testing service provider for memory chips and LCD driver integrated circuits, yesterday said it has secured a NT$12 billion (US$402 million) syndicated loan to repay debts and replenish its operating capital. The company said the loan would help it significantly improve its short-term cash position from NT$3.2 billion as of March 31. ChipMOS must also repay NT$2.2 billion in debt within a year. Eleven local lenders led by state-run Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行) signed the loan agreement.
ELECTRONICS
Ennoconn eyes chips
Ennoconn Corp (樺漢) yesterday said it has purchased a 47.15 percent stake in semiconductor equipment supplier Marketech International Corp (帆宣) for about NT$4.92 billion in a bid to expand its scope and enhance its technological capabilities. Ennoconn, an industrial computer manufacturing arm of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), last month announced a tender offer to acquire a controlling stake in Marketech during a one-month period through Tuesday last week. The acquisition of 86.47 million shares is the latest step in Ennoconn’s move to expand its product portfolio beyond contract manufacturing of industrial computers.
HOSPITALITY
Inhouse expands in Taichung
Inhouse Hotel Group (薆悅酒店) is to open a second property in Taichung, citing optimism about the tourism industry in central Taiwan. The flagship hotel on Taichung’s Wucyuan Road is to feature 116 luxury guestrooms priced between NT$2,000 and NT$3,000 per night and a cafe on the ground floor. The grand opening is set for late next month or early July, after a soft opening was held last week. The group owns four other smaller facilities near Taichung Railway Station and Taipei’s Ximen MRT Station.
HOSPITALITY
Caesar offers holiday boxes
Caesar Park Banciao (板橋凱薩飯店), the flagship property of Caesar Park Hotels and Resorts (凱撒飯店連鎖), is seeking to boost its food and beverage sales with special sticky rice dumpling gift boxes to be sold ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival. The boxes cost NT$980 each and contain six flavors of sticky rice dumplings to capitalize on the holiday that falls on June 18 this year. Caesar Park Banciao has since its opening last year aimed to become the top dining brand in New Taipei City. Its Chinese restaurant, Jia Yan (家宴), is to launch a special menu featuring bamboo dishes to attract diners who are looking for low-fat cuisine over the summer.
ASSET MANAGEMENT
FSITC plugs AI funds
First Securities Investment Trust Co (FSITC, 第一金投信), the asset management arm of state-run First Financial Holding Co (第一金控), is betting on artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology funds, as the industry gains popularity at home and abroad. AI-related funds led the 75 percent boon in themed funds last year to US$414.4 billion, as investors are upbeat that new technologies are to play an increasingly important role in people’s lives, FSITC said. The firm cited IBM Corp’s Watson as an example, saying that the technology has assisted the healthcare system in analyzing images to improve diagnoses and treatment. The system is also used to track patients’ genetic traits and recommend personalized therapies to add value to the healthcare industry, FSITC said, suggesting that investors take advantage of the trend.
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],”