ENERGY
Taipower reiterates plan
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) on Tuesday last week reiterated its plan to reduce the emission of pollutants by half by 2030. The state-run utility has sought to achieve the goal gradually, by reducing emissions by 30 percent by 2021, by 40 percent by 2025, and by half by 2050. It also plans to reduce net emissions from its fossil fuel power plants by 7 percent by 2021, establish at least three “green fusion” power plants by 2025 and create a complete system of circular economy by 2030, it said.
PANELMAKERS
CPT to be delisted
Loss-incurring flat-panel maker Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (CPT, 中華映管) is to be delisted from the main board on May 13 after its book value plunged into negative territory, the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) said on Monday last week. The last trading day for Chunghwa Picture Tubes is May 10, the TWSE said. Chunghwa Picture Tubes is to become the second subsidiary of Tatung Co (大同) to be removed from the main board after Green Energy Technology Inc (綠能科技), which is expected to be delisted after April 30.
ELECTRONICS
King Yuan benefits from 5G
King Yuan Electronics Co (京元電) on Friday said revenue in the first quarter of this year rose 14.83 percent annually to NT$5.26 billion (US$170.7 million) on the back of increased demand for chips used in 5G-related applications and devices, as well as contribution from Dawning Leading Technology Inc (東琳), which it acquired in November last year. Analysts have forecast the IC testing service provider’s revenue this year to grow by a double-digit percentage from NT$20.82 billion last year.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in