South Korea would seek to invest 1 trillion won (US$853.8 million) annually in developing home-grown materials and equipment used to produce microchips, a senior lawmaker said yesterday, after Japan tightened curbs on exports of some high-tech materials to the nation.
Japan on Monday said that it would tighten regulations on exports of materials used in smartphone displays and chips to South Korea amid a widening dispute over South Koreans who were forced to work for Japanese firms during World War II.
“We are doing a preliminary feasibility analysis [on the investment],” South Korean Legislator Cho Jeong-sik from the Democratic Party told reporters after meeting with officials from the presidential office and government ministries to discuss a response to Japan’s decision.
The export curbs could hamper production of South Korea’s chip giants Samsung Electronics Co and SK Hynix Inc, as the two chemicals targeted are essential, analysts said.
Data firm IHS Markit said that the Japanese trade restrictions would add to global trade tensions.
Asian exporters are already being strained by a prolonged slowdown in the global electronics sectors.
“A reduction or elimination in the availability of these materials will significantly impede the production of memory and other semiconductor chips, impacting major semiconductor manufacturers, including Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix,” IHS Markit executive director of semiconductor research Len Jelinek said in a note.
The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on Tuesday said that its decision to tighten controls was not a contravention of the WTO, rebuffing South Korea’s earlier claims.
Cho shrugged off criticism in local media that the government is not laying out countermeasures swiftly, but he did not provide further details on the nature of the spending.
Shares in South Korean chip materials makers jumped after the government’s spending plan was made public.
Shares of Ram Technology Inc and Ocean Bridge Co Ltd, local firms producing chemicals used in chip manufacturing process, rose as much as 20 percent and 15 percent respectively.
DEVELOPING TALENT: The electronics contractor is looking to recruit people to work in core tech fields and emerging industries like electric cars and robotics Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the world’s largest contract electronics maker, has launched a recruitment drive, offering a monthly salary of no less than NT$45,000 (US$1,485) to university graduates. For those with a master’s degree, the starting pay would be NT$52,000 per month at the minimum, while doctorate degree holders would receive at least NT$60,000 a month, Hon Hai said a statement issued early this week. The latest recruitment drive is aimed at attracting talent in core technology fields — artificial intelligence, semiconductors and next-generation mobile communications — and emerging industries — electric vehicles, digital healthcare and robotics, the
MRT TRAVEL FALLS: In February, ridership on the Taipei MRT System fell 8.96 percent from an average of 2.01 million per day in January Scooter sales jumped 13 percent last month as more commuters turned to two-wheelers to avoid public transportation amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the latest statistics showed. Sales expanded to 74,493 units last month, compared with 65,913 units in February, statistics released on Wednesday by Kwang Yang Motor Co (光陽工業) and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications showed. In the first quarter, aggregate sales slid 0.51 percent year-over-year to 186,627 units, from 187,580 units, data showed. Kwang Yang, the nation’s biggest scooter manufacturer, continued to lead the market by selling 24,136 vehicles last month, growing 6.12 percent from 20,785 units in the previous month, while
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the nation’s leading PC vendor, yesterday launched its first dual-screen gaming laptop powered by Intel Corp’s latest central processing units (CPUs). The PC manufacturer’s announcement closely followed the US chipmaker’s unveiling of its 10th Generation Core H-series, the fastest commercial mobile processors with speeds of up to 5 gigahertz. Although Asustek’s Zephyrus Duo 15, the highlight of its Republic of Gamers line, is not the company’s first laptop with two screens, it is its first designed specifically for gaming. Nestled between the primary display panel and the keyboard, the secondary display, which Asustek calls the ScreenPad Plus, is angled
NO ILL EFFECT: Last month’s data mainly reflected deals made in February, when the spread of COVID-19 was still relatively mild in Taiwan, housing brokers said Housing transactions in the six special municipalities totaled 19,824 units last month, up 7.8 percent from a year earlier, brokers said, citing government data. Last month’s data mainly reflected deals made in February, when the pinch of the COVID-19 pandemic was not yet evident, they said. Taoyuan posted the largest improvement, with housing transactions soaring 36.6 percent year-on-year to 3,676 units, local government data showed. Taiwan Realty Co (台灣房屋) attributed the pickup to the completion of two presale residential projects in the municipality. Houses in Taoyuan have increasingly gained in popularity in the past few year years due to relatively affordable home prices and
RSS