ENTERTAINMENT
FTC working on KTV merger
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday told lawmakers that it would work toward giving its approval for merger plans between the nation’s two largest karaoke parlor (KTV) chains, Holiday Entertainment Co (好樂迪) and Cash Box KTV (錢櫃), as long as the companies safeguard the interests of consumers. The regulator said that it would begin the approval process, such as gathering the opinion of stakeholders and holding public hearings. The two karaoke chains have had numerous failed attempts to merge in the past 16 years. Separately yesterday, the regulator said that it would ask Tesla Inc to explain its erratic pricing decisions, after the US electric vehicle maker reversed price cuts and a decision to shutter dealerships, adding that such behavior might be anti-competitive.
PATENTS
Acer pays Microsoft directly
Acer Inc (宏碁) chairman and CEO Jason Chen (陳俊聖) on Tuesday said that the PC maker’s royalty payments to Microsoft Inc are governed by contracts with the US software giant and are not paid by partner original design manufacturers and electronics manufacturing services providers. Chen’s comments came amid a patent dispute between Microsoft and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) that prompted personal rebukes by Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) earlier that day. Acer pays Microsoft directly to fulfill the conditions of the licensing contracts, Chen said.
ELECTRONICS
FIT launches flagship store
Foxconn Interconnect Technology Ltd (FIT, 鴻騰科技), a Hong Kong-listed affiliate of Hon Hai, yesterday opened its flagship store at Taipei’s Syntrend Creative Park, a shopping complex focused on consumer electronics and tech gadgets. The store showcases new products by FIT’s newly acquired brands, Belkin and Linksys, which Hon Hai in March last year purchased for US$866 million as part of its plans to diversify beyond its core contract manufacturing business and into managing brands for smart home appliances and Internet of Things products for consumers.
E-COMMERCE
PChome Thai gains licenses
PChome Online Inc (網路家庭) on Monday announced that subsidiary PChome Thai has been granted licenses to operate two electronic payment services by Thai regulators. The approvals would allow the company’s customers to make credit and debit card payments, as well as electronic payments and fund transfers, via automated teller machines and mobile phones. PChome Thai said that it is also working on launching before the end of this quarter a payment service that is compatible with popular social media platforms in Thailand, including Instagram and Facebook.
EQUITIES
Electronics sector lifts TAIEX
Local shares yesterday closed slightly higher on thin turnover as gains were capped ahead of strong technical resistance at about 10,400 points, dealers said. The bellwether electronics sector remained a driver of the latest upturn as investors took cues from gains posted by tech stocks in the US overnight, while non-high-tech stocks appeared mixed throughout the session, the dealers said. The TAIEX ended up 29.99 points, or 0.29 percent, at 10,373.32, after moving between 10,331.27 and 10,373.32, on turnover of NT$94.36 billion, dropping from turnover of NT$111.14 billion in the previous session.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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