CHIPMAKERS
MediaTek to sell stake
Handset chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said it plans to sell 91.38 million shares of fingerprint sensor supplier Goodix Technology Inc (匯頂科技) to boost profits. The sale might boost net profit by NT$2.7 billion (US$88.38 million), MediaTek said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. The sale might fetch MediaTek NT$3.27 billion, based on Goodix’s closing price of NT$79.59 on Thursday, the filing said. MediaTek has about a 16 percent stake in Goodix.
INVESTMENT
CLSA co-leads ACT venture
CLSA Capital Partners, an asset management arm of CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, has co-led an investment of an undisclosed amount in ACT Genomics Co Ltd (行動基因生技), Deal Street Asia reported on Wednesday. CLSA Capital Partners typically invests US$10 million to US$50 million per deal, with possible co-investment of up to US$100 million, the report said. ACT Genomics applies genomic information-based treatment for cancer patients. The company has offices in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan, according to its Web site.
MACROECONOMICS
Domestic trade rises
Domestic trade — including the retail, wholesale and restaurant sectors — continued to grow in August, with the restaurant sector registering the biggest annual increase of 5.2 percent, followed by the wholesale sector at 4 percent and the retail sector at 0.6 percent, Ministry of Economic Affairs data showed. Overall, domestic trade totaled NT$1.3 trillion in August, the highest for the month since the ministry started keeping records in 1953, it said on its Web site on Tuesday.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI