AIRLINES
Cebu launch delayed
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) yesterday announced that it is postponing the launch of its Taoyuan-Cebu route until July 1 due to Manila’s announcement on Monday that it was temporarily banning Taiwanese visitors to the Philippines amid efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19. It had been set to launch flights on April 6. Those who have booked tickets to Cebu from April 6 to June 30 would receive a refund or be able to change their tickets to other destinations, Starlux said.
COMPUTERS
Advantech restarts Kunshan
Industrial PC supplier Advantech Co Ltd (研華) yesterday said that it plans to restart its Kunshan manufacturing center on Monday next week, which is estimated to initially recover about 15 percent of production capacity. While authorities in Beijing, Shanghai and Guanzhou have given Advantech permission to reopen its regional offices, it has asked its nearly 3,400 direct and sub-contracted employees across China to work from home this week. Approval to reopen its offices in Shenzhen, Chengdu and Xian is still pending, Advantech said.
COMPUTERS
Asustek revenue off 11.32%
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday posted an 11.32 percent year-on-year decline in revenue to NT$23.2 billion (US$772.5 million) for last month. The decrease was mainly due to the Lunar New Year holiday, which led to fewer working days, the company said. It also expressed uncertainty over first-quarter business operations due to COVID-19. It is working closely with its supply chain and sales partners to handle any potential changes in the industry, Asustek said.
LIGHTING
Longer leave dims Radiant
Radiant Opto-Electronics Corp (瑞儀光電), a leading supplier of LCD backlight modules, yesterday said that a decreased number of working days due to an extended Lunar New Year holiday amid the virus outbreak in China would affect its revenue. The company did not elaborate and has yet to release sales data for last month. Its Suzhou and Guangzhou subsidiaries restarted operations on Monday, while its Nanjing unit resumed work on Tuesday, Radiant Opto-Electronics said in a regulatory filing.
PANEL MAKERS
HannStar revenue slides 6%
LCD panel maker HannStar Display Corp (瀚宇彩晶) yesterday reported that revenue last month decreased 6.04 percent from a year earlier and 29.34 percent from the previous month to NT$1.1 billion. The company’s subsidiary in Nanjing, China, remains shut and is still waiting for the local government’s permission to restart operations. The delayed resumption of work at Hannstar Display (Nanjing) Corp (南京瀚宇彩欣) would affect its revenue, HannStar said.
ELECTRONICS
Ichia revenue plunges
Handset keypad maker Ichia Technologies Inc (毅嘉科技) yesterday reported revenue of NT$392.48 million for last month, down 27.36 percent from a year earlier and 20.78 percent from the previous month, due to fewer working days because of the Lunar New Year holiday. Last month’s revenue included about NT$277 million in sales from flexible printed circuit integrated components and about NT$117 million from mechanical integrated components, it said. Revenue for this month would depend on the COVID-19 outbreak and the resumption of business operations in China, it added.
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],”