SMARTPHONES
HTC to back blockchain fund
HTC Corp (宏達電) is to support a US$50 million venture capital fund for a new blockchain start-up, Proof of Capital, with the aim of introducing cryptographic technology to the wider public. HTC chief crypto officer Phil Chen (陳信生), who is in charge of the company’s Exodus blockchain smartphone, said in a statement that the partnership would focus on defining the standards and interactions for the next generation of the Internet, and introducing mobile and hardware expertise to its portfolio companies. The US$50 million fund is being led by Chen; Edith Yeung (楊珮珊), a partner at 500 Startups; and Chris McCann, who founded and led the community program at Greylock Partners in Silicon Valley.
COMMUNICATIONS
UMT net profit surges 110%
Universal Microwave Technology Inc (UMT, 昇達科技), which supplies electronic parts and materials for broadband wireless communications, yesterday reported net profit of NT$71 million (US$2.3 million) for the first quarter of this year, up 110 percent from a year earlier, the highest for the first quarter in the company’s history. Revenue in the first quarter rose 8 percent annually to NT$449 million, or earnings per share of NT$1.1. The company said that shipments for this year are expected to continue growing due to several countries’ continued 5G-related investments and rising demand for millimeter-wave and satellite communication products.
TELECOMS
CHT executive shuffle likely
Chunghwa Telecom Co (CHT, 中華電信) is likely to see a high-ranking executive shuffle soon, as speculation swirls that chairman David Cheng (鄭優) is to retire at the end of June. The company did not deny media reports about Cheng’s retirement, but said that any changes in its operational executives would be made following related rules. CHT president Sheih Chi-mau (謝繼茂) has been picked by the government to succeed Cheng, local media reported. The Ministry of Transportation and Communications holds a 35.29 percent stake in the company.
CEMENT
Work unaffected by quake
Asia Cement Corp (亞泥) said that an earthquake in Hualien County yesterday had no significant effects on the company’s financial and business operations. A magnitude 6.1 earthquake early in the afternoon caused no harm to equipment or personnel at its Hualien plant and quarry, the firm said. The plant’s No. 2 kiln was shut down due to the earthquake, but resumed normal operations at 1:23pm, it said. In related news, Taiwan Land Development Corp (台灣土地開發) said that there were no injuries at its mixed-use New Paradiso (新天堂樂園) complex in Hualien following the earthquake.
ELECTRICITY
Plants unaffected by quake
The Hualien earthquake did not affect the Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant in New Taipei City’s Shihmen District (石門) nor the Guosheng Nuclear Plant in Wanli District (萬里), Taiwan Power Co (台電) said yesterday, after it completed routine inspections. The Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant in Pingtung County’s Ma-anshan (馬鞍山) also continued to function normally, as did hydroelectric and coal-fired power plants, the firm said. However, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said that four hydropower firms have stopped supplying electricity to Yilan County’s Longte Industrial Park (龍德工業區). Meanwhile, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) reported no accidents at its facilities and instituted preventive measures due to aftershocks.
France cannot afford to ignore the third credit-rating reduction in less than a year, French Minister of Finance Roland Lescure said. “Three agencies have downgraded us and we can’t ignore this cloud,” he told Franceinfo on Saturday, speaking just hours after S&P lowered his country’s credit rating to “A+” from “AA-” in an unscheduled move. “Fundamentally, it’s an additional cloud to a weather forecast that was already pretty gray. It’s a call for lucidity and responsibility,” he said, adding that this is “a call to be serious.” The credit assessor’s move means France has lost its double-A rating at two of the
Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), founder and CEO of US-based artificial intelligence chip designer Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) on Friday celebrated the first Nvidia Blackwell wafer produced on US soil. Huang visited TSMC’s advanced wafer fab in the US state of Arizona and joined the Taiwanese chipmaker’s executives to witness the efforts to “build the infrastructure that powers the world’s AI factories, right here in America,” Nvidia said in a statement. At the event, Huang joined Y.L. Wang (王英郎), vice president of operations at TSMC, in signing their names on the Blackwell wafer to
AI BOOST: Although Taiwan’s reliance on Chinese rare earth elements is limited, it could face indirect impacts from supply issues and price volatility, an economist said DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) has sharply raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 5.6 percent, citing stronger-than-expected exports and investment linked to artificial intelligence (AI), as it said that the current momentum could peak soon. The acceleration of the global AI race has fueled a surge in Taiwan’s AI-related capital spending and exports of information and communications technology (ICT) products, which have been key drivers of growth this year. “We have revised our GDP forecast for Taiwan upward to 5.6 percent from 4 percent, an upgrade that mainly reflects stronger-than-expected AI-related exports and investment in the third
RARE EARTHS: The call between the US Treasury Secretary and his Chinese counterpart came as Washington sought to rally G7 partners in response to China’s export controls China and the US on Saturday agreed to conduct another round of trade negotiations in the coming week, as the world’s two biggest economies seek to avoid another damaging tit-for-tat tariff battle. Beijing last week announced sweeping controls on the critical rare earths industry, prompting US President Donald Trump to threaten 100 percent tariffs on imports from China in retaliation. Trump had also threatened to cancel his expected meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea later this month on the sidelines of the APEC summit. In the latest indication of efforts to resolve their dispute, Chinese state media reported that
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