FOREX
Reserves rise to US$474bn
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves totaled US$474.05 billion as of the end of last month, an increase of US$1.58 billion from the figure recorded at the end of the prior month, the central bank said in a statement yesterday. The main factor responsible for the increase was returns from foreign exchange reserves management, the bank said. The market value of securities investment and New Taiwan dollar-denominated deposits held by foreign portfolio investors reached US$423.9 billion, accounting for 89 percent of foreign exchange reserves, it said.
OPTOELECTRONICS
Largan revenue hits record
Handset camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co (大立光) yesterday posted record-high revenue of NT$6.66 billion (US$218.36 million) for last month, surging 66 percent year-on-year. On a monthly basis, revenue rose from NT$6.62 billion, despite CEO Adam Lin’s (林恩平) previous prediction of a slight decline. The Taichung-based company said that 50 to 60 percent of its shipments last month were comprised of 10-megapixel lenses, while 20 to 30 percent of shipments were 20-megapixel lenses. Another 10 to 20 percent of shipments were comprised of 8-megapixel lenses, it added. From January to last month, the company posted a 19 percent year-on-year increase in revenue to NT$55.67 billion.
AUTOMOTIVE
Global PMX shares jump
Shares of Global PMX Co (智伸科), which makes auto parts and medical components, yesterday jumped 3.7 percent in Taipei, outperforming the broader market’s 0.75 percent rise, after the company reported record-high sales for last month. Consolidated revenue increased 13.72 percent year-on-year to NT$460.3 million, the company said on Wednesday, adding that revenue had risen by double-digit percentages for eight months in a row due to steady demand from major clients for its gasoline direct injection and transmission products. In the first 11 months of this year, revenue totaled NT$4.57 billion, up 12.8 percent from a year earlier, the company said, adding that it remains cautiously optimistic about its business for this quarter based on order visibility.
PNEUMATICS
Airtac revenue rises 19%
Pneumatic components supplier Airtac International Group (亞德客) yesterday reported that consolidated revenue last month totaled NT$1.41 billion, up 19 percent month-on-month and 11 percent year-on-year. “Market demand does not seem to have worsened, but has also not found any obvious recovery. Airtac will continue to try to get more market share to support revenue growth by launching new products and approaching new customers,” the company said in a statement. In the first 11 months of the year, cumulative revenue was NT$14.398 billion, flat from the same period last year, Airtac said.
WIRING
BizLink overall revenue falls
Wire harness maker BizLink Holding Inc (貿聯) yesterday reported consolidated revenue of US$62.06 million for last month, a decrease of 1.53 percent from a year earlier. The company said that seasonal factors weighed on its shipment momentum last month, when it saw an increase in industrial wire harness shipments, but slowing shipments of information technology wire harnesses. In the first 11 months, cumulative revenue totaled US$686.6 million, up 6.15 percent from the same period last year, BizLink said in a regulatory filing.
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
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],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day