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.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”