EQUITIES
TAIEX sheds 70.95 points
Local shares yesterday closed lower as investors cut their holdings in heavyweights in the bellwether electronics sector in the wake of losses suffered by US technology stocks overnight. The TAIEX closed down 70.95 points, or 0.68 percent, at 10,429.12, while turnover declined to NT$88.717 billion (US$2.82 billion), from NT$97.42 billion the previous session. Foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$5.85 billion of shares on the main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
CHIPMAKERS
TSMC sells SMIC shares
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it has sold about 9.44 million shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯) for about HK$876 million (US$112 million). That would generate about HK$31 million in asset gains, according to a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Monday. After the sale, TSMC owns 11.67 million SMIC shares, or a 0.2 percent stake in China’s largest chipmaker, the filing said. TSMC was offered 1.79 billion SMIC shares, or an 8 percent stake, in 2009 from the Shanghai-based chipmaker to settle a patent infringement lawsuit.
ELECTRONICS
Machvision sales increase
Machvision Inc (牧德科技), a supplier of printed circuit board inspection equipment, yesterday said that last month’s sales grew 3.13 percent year-on-year and 2.48 percent month-on-month to NT$5260 million as the company continued to receive orders related to new semiconductor applications. The company said it retains a positive outlook for the rest of this year as its South Korean unit has started operations and preparations for a joint venture in China are underway. Cumulative revenue in the first five months totaled NT$1.19 billion, up 15.22 percent year-on-year.
CHIP TESTERS
Ardentec breaks ground
Ardentec Corp (欣銓科技), a wafer testing solutions provider, yesterday broke ground on the construction of a plant at an industrial park in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口). The company said it would spend NT$1 billion on the project, which is expected to be completed by the end of next year. The company said the project includes a plant and an office building. Ardentec plans to install production equipment in 2021 and the project is expected to create 500 job opportunities, it said.
SOLAR WAFERS
SAS to buy Crystalwise stake
Solar wafer and module maker Sino-American Silicon Products Inc (SAS, 中美晶) yesterday said it is to spend NT$204 million on shares in sapphire substrate maker Crystalwise Technology Inc (兆遠電子). Crystalwise’s private placement plans to raise NT$419 million to strengthen its working capital and to expand its business. The government-owned National Development Fund also plans to spend NT$204 million to acquire 21 million Crystalwise shares and become a strategic investor.
ENERGY
CPC dismantling oil depot
State-run oil refiner CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) yesterday said that it started to dismantle its oil depot in Hsinchu two weeks ago and aims to dismantle all 11 oil tanks by September. Four oil tanks have been dismantled, it said. The company said that it aims to complete soil replenishment and water pollution assessment by the end of December. The Hsinchu City Government plans to develop the site into an innovation park.
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Nvidia Corp yesterday announced that CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) would attend an employee meeting in Taipei tomorrow to celebrate the launch of the company’s Taiwan headquarters project. Huang would attend a gathering at the site of Nvidia’s planned headquarters in Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區), the company said in a statement. After arriving in Taiwan on Saturday last week, Huang told reporters that he plans to meet with Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), and would attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Nvidia’s Taiwan headquarters tomorrow. Nvidia has not yet applied
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