MULTILEVEL MARKETING
FTC releases survey
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) on Thursday released the results of an annual survey of multilevel marketing enterprises, which showed that total sales by the 339 enterprises increased 0.57 percent to NT$88.619 billion (US$2.88 billion) last year from NT$88.121 billion in 2016. Nutrition supplements remained the mainstay of the products last year, with sales of NT$53.441 billion, or 60.3 percent of overall sales, followed by cosmetic and personal care products, with sales of NT$16.112 billion, or 18.18 percent of the total.
MANUFACTURING
SSFC net profit jumps 243%
Polyester fiber and plastics maker Shinkong Synthetic Fibers Corp (SSFC, 新光合成纖維) on Wednesday said it is optimistic about revenue and earnings for this year, citing its involvement in high-value products such as 3D printing materials and automotive engineering plastics, and a stable price outlook for polyester fiber products. It posted net profit of NT$1.11 billion in the first half of the year, up 243 percent year-on-year, with earnings per share rising from NT$0.2 to NT$0.69. First-half sales increased 17.8 percent to NT$20.52 million.
IT SERVICES
WITSC net profit rises
Wistron Information Technology & Services Corp (WITSC, 緯創軟體) reported net profit of NT$114.01 million in the first half of this year, up 191.73 percent from a year earlier, with earnings per share of NT$2.39. Sales in the second half are expected be higher than NT$1.77 billion in the first half, an annual increase of 34 percent, chief executive officer Ching Hsiao (蕭清志) said. The company, which provides consulting and information technology outsourcing services, plans to issue 12 million new shares to raise up to NT$700 million for future expansion needs.
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],”