■ Semiconductors
Chip sales rise 12.5%
Global semiconductor sales rose 12.5 percent last month on higher demand for chips used in personal computers and consumer electronics, a trade group said. The growth marked the sixth consecutive monthly gain. Sales increased to US$13.42 billion from US$11.93 billion in August of last year, the San Jose, California-based Semiconductor Industry Association, or SIA, said in a statement. Sales gained 4 percent from July. Demand for semiconductors used in PCs, mobile phones and DVD players is starting to recover after chip sales fell or stagnated for the past two years. The benchmark Philadelphia Semiconductor Index has gained 47 percent this year. "August sales confirm the broad-based strength of the semicon-ductor market, led by demand in the consumer, computer and wireless sectors," SIA president George Scalise said.
■ Electronics
Samsung will be NAND king
South Korean microchip giant Samsung Electronics yesterday unveiled an array of new memory technologies designed to leverage its industry leadership globally. Samsung's new technologies include the world's first 70-nanometer, four-gigabit NAND flash memory and an 80-nanometer dynamic random access memory (DRAM) device. The world's largest DRAM maker said it has developed a single chip memory solution, called fusion memory, which takes the multi-chip package and system-in-package concepts a step further to deliver a single design combining memory and logic. Samsung hopes to keep a 65-percent share in the NAND flash market, which will jump from US$3 billion this year to US$16 billion by 2007.
■ Medicine
Singapore MDs can use ads
Medical practitioners in Singapore could soon get the green light to advertise their services, allowing them to compete better with their regional rivals, the Straits Times reported yesterday. The medical fraternity, whose attempts to capture a slice of the lucrative regional health care services sector have been handicapped by the ban on advertising, has pushed for the policy change, the newspaper said. The changes could take effect from January next year. Singapore is aiming to build itself as a regional health care service provider and a government-appointed panel has set the target of bringing in one million foreign patients each year by 2012. The target, if achieved, could pump US$3 billion into the economy and create 13,000 jobs. In 2000, the city-state earned US$345 million from foreign patients.
■ Banking
Deutsche Bank sells land
Deutsche Bank, the biggest bank in Germany, is close to reaching an agreement to sell 1 billion euros (US$1.14 billion) worth of real estate in Europe to the private equity firm Blackstone with a view to strengthening its own funds, the Financial Times reported yesterday. Two thirds of the properties in question were situated in Germany, in Munich, Duesseldorf and Frankfurt. The remainder was in Barcelona, Brussels, Milan, Lisbon and Zurich, the newspaper said, without revealing its sources. The transaction would be effected in such a way that the bank would continue to occupy most of the property, FT added. A Deutsche Bank spokesman refused to comment on the information. Separately, the bank said it was considering farming out its information technology services activities, particu-larly software programming and writing.
Beijing’s continued provocations in the Taiwan Strait reveal its intention to unilaterally change the “status quo” in the area, the US Department of State said on Saturday, calling for a peaceful resolution to cross-strait issues. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) reported that four China Coast Guard patrol vessels entered restricted and prohibited waters near Kinmen County on Friday and again on Saturday. A State Department spokesperson said that Washington was aware of the incidents, and urged all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from unilaterally changing the “status quo.” “Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is in line with our [the
EXTENDED RANGE: Hsiung Sheng missiles, 100 of which might be deployed by the end of the year, could reach Chinese command posts and airport runways, a source said A NT$16.9 billion (US$534.93 million) project to upgrade the military’s missile defense systems would be completed this year, allowing the deployment of at least 100 long-range Hsiung Sheng missiles and providing more deterrence against China, military sources said on Saturday. Hsiung Sheng missiles are an extended-range version of the Hsiung Feng IIE (HF-2E) surface-to-surface cruise missile, and are believed to have a range of up to 1,200km, which would allow them to hit targets well inside China. They went into mass production in 2022, the sources said. The project is part of a special budget for the Ministry of National Defense aimed at
READY TO WORK: Taiwan is eager to cooperate and is hopeful that like-minded states will continue to advocate for its inclusion in regional organizations, Lai said Maintaining the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, and peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region must be a top priority, president-elect William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday after meeting with a delegation of US academics. Leaders of the G7, US President Joe Biden and other international heads of state have voiced concerns about the situation in the Strait, as stability in the region is necessary for a safe, peaceful and prosperous world, Lai said. The vice president, who is to be inaugurated in May, welcomed the delegation and thanked them for their support for Taiwan and issues concerning the Strait. The international community
COOPERATION: Two crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank off Kinmen were rescued, two were found dead and another two were still missing at press time The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) was yesterday working with Chinese rescuers to find two missing crewmembers from a Chinese fishing boat that sank southwest of Kinmen County yesterday, killing two crew. The joint operation managed to rescue two of the boat’s six crewmembers, but two were already dead when they were pulled from the water, the agency said in a statement. Rescuers are still searching for two others from the Min Long Yu 61222, a boat registered in China’s Fujian Province that capsized and sank 1.03 nautical miles (1.9km) southwest of Dongding Island (東碇), it added. CGA Director-General Chou Mei-wu (周美伍) told a