ELECTRONICS
Wistron buys Unity shares
Contract electronics manufacturer Wistron Corp (緯創) on Wednesday last week said that it has acquired a 1.26 percent stake in LED packaging service provider Unity Opto Technology Co (東貝光電) for NT$50 million (US$1.6 million). Wistron said it participated in Unity Opto’s private placement through its business software subsidiary ArFlex Corp (鼎創科技), acquiring 5.26 million Unity Opto shares at NT$9.5 each. It said it hopes to enhance its business in LED backlighting of displays with Unity Opto through the strategic investment.
CHIPMAKERS
UMC, Allegro ink deal
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the nation’s second-largest contract chipmaker, on Tuesday last week said it had signed a foundry supply agreement with Allegro Microsystems LLC, giving UMC a stronger foothold in the automotive chips segment. The agreement covers technical collaboration and establishes capacity at UMC for Allegro’s proprietary automotive-grade technologies, the companies said in a statement.
SOCIETY
CDIB boss falls to his death
Liu Tsung-hsiung (劉宗雄), president of CDIB Capital Management Corp (中華開發資產管理) under China Development Financial Holding Corp (中華開發金控), fell to his death from the seventh floor of the company’s headquarters on Friday last week. Police said they were not looking for anyone in connection to the incident and no note was found in Liu’s office, but his shoes were found by the window. Liu, 56, had high blood pressure and diabetes for many years. He was named president of CDIB Capital in May 2012 and worked in asset management for many years. He left behind a wife and two children.
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