COMPUTERS
Production value to grow
The production value of computers, including tablets and servers, made by local companies is to increase to more than NT$220 billion (US$7.2 billion) this year, thanks to growing adoption of emerging applications such as artificial intelligence and cloud computing, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. That would represent about 1 percent annual growth from NT$217.9 billion, ministry data showed. In the first five months of this year, the production value of the products gained 6.1 percent year-on-year to NT$88.6 billion, the ministry said. Laptops registered the strongest annual growth of 63.6 percent among six segments, while memory sticks was the only segment that suffered a setback, with an annual decline of 15.1 percent, due to a short supply of memory chips.
CHIP DESIGNERS
SOI shares gain 44.55%
Shares of CMOS chip designer Silicon Optronics Inc (SOI, 晶相光) had a strong debut on the Taipei Exchange yesterday, gaining 44.55 percent to close at NT$146 from a listing price of NT$101. The company, which supplies HD and full HD-resolution sensors for security cameras, as well as dashboard cameras for automobiles, reported net income of NT$204.09 million at the end of last year. Earnings per share were NT$3.02. The company’s share of the global security camera sensor market rose from 8.5 percent in 2015 to 16.6 percent at the end of last year, it said. It has also announced plans to expand into biotechnology through partnerships developing DNA sequencing chips and other applications.
FOOTWEAR
Fulgent Sun profit up 1.3%
Outdoor footwear supplier Fulgent Sun Group (鈺齊國際) yesterday reported that its second-quarter net profit rose 1.3 percent to a new high of NT$240.36 million from NT$237.29 million the previous year, thanks to continuing demand from its brand clients. Revenue also gained 2.3 percent year-on-year to a record of NT$2.62 billion last quarter from NT$2.56 billion, but earnings per share decreased to NT$1.65 from NT$1.7 in the same period last year because of its larger share capital, the company said in a statement. Gross margin was 15.5 percent last quarter, down from 20.6 percent the previous year, which the company attributed to an adjustment of its production lines at its plants in China and Southeast Asia.
SHIPBUILDERS
CSBC awarded contract
CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船) yesterday announced that it has been awarded a NT$2.87 billion contract to build 15 100-tonne search-and-rescue vessels for the Coast Guard Administration. Delivery of the vessels would be between 2020 and 2023, the company said, adding that construction is expected to begin within eight months, with each vessel estimated to take about 13 months to build. CSBC said it is also aiming to win the maintenance contract for the vessels to bring in additional revenue.
BANKING
Yuan deposits up 0.31%
Yuan deposits held by local banks gained 0.31 percent to 312.25 billion yuan (US$46.73 billion) at the end of last month, reversing four straight months of decline, even though the currency lost value against the greenback amid trade tension fears, the central bank said yesterday. Yuan deposits at domestic banking units rose 0.14 percent to 281.17 billion yuan last month, while those at offshore units grew 1.92 percent to 31.08 billion yuan, the bank said, adding that the figures include negotiable certificates of deposit.
DECOUPLING? In a sign of deeper US-China technology decoupling, Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its iPhones, the Wall Street Journal said China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said. Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said. They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said. The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor
Nvidia Corp earned its US$2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial intelligence (AI) chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from start-ups to Microsoft Corp, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet Inc. Almost as important to its hardware is the company’s nearly 20 years’ worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than 4 million global developers rely on Nvidia’s CUDA software platform to build AI and other apps. Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm Inc, Google and Intel Corp plans to loosen Nvidia’s chokehold by going
ENERGY IMPACT: The electricity rate hike is expected to add about NT$4 billion to TSMC’s electricity bill a year and cut its annual earnings per share by about NT$0.154 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has left its long-term gross margin target unchanged despite the government deciding on Friday to raise electricity rates. One of the heaviest power consuming manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC said it always respects the government’s energy policy and would continue to operate its fabs by making efforts in energy conservation. The chipmaker said it has left a long-term goal of more than 53 percent in gross margin unchanged. The Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded a power rate evaluation meeting on Friday, announcing electricity tariffs would go up by 11 percent on average to about NT$3.4518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to