■ Semiconductor
Chipmakers boost output
Samsung Electronics Co and Hynix Semiconductor Inc have boosted production of faster computer memory chips, the Maeil Business Newspaper reported, citing unidentified officials at the South Korean companies. Production of 256-megabit double-data-rate dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips operating at a speed of 400 megahertz accounted for more than 80 percent of their DRAM production, replacing those operating at 266 megahertz and 333 megahertz as the benchmark, the newspaper said. The upgrade may pave the way for mass production of the so- called DDR2 chip, which is faster than the 400 megahertz chip, next year, the newspaper said.
■ Consumer Debt
S Korean economy `mired'
Uncertainties caused by a mountain of household debt and the ailing credit card industry are seriously impeding South Korea's economic recovery despite robust exports, data showed Monday. Industrial output growth in November slowed to 4.7 percent compared with a year earlier from the 7.4 percent rate recorded in October, with the figures hit by serious falls in domestic consumption and investment. Month-on-month, seasonally-adjusted industrial output suffered a 0.3 percent contraction in November, reversing a 2.4 percent gain a month earlier, the National Statistical Office (NSO) said Monday. "Consumption and investment are still mired in a slump due to weak consumer and corporate sentiment," the NSO said. "Still, exports continued their solid growth, offsetting lackluster domestic consumption."
■ Electronics
Sharp makes more LCD-TVs
Japanese high-tech firm Sharp Corp will invest ?90 billion (US$841 million) to boost production of large liquid crystal displays (LCDs) in a bid to take on its South Korean rivals, a report said yesterday. The investment will enable Sharp to triple production capacity at a new domestic plant, scheduled to go on line in January, to 360,000 units of 30-inch LCD-TVs each month, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. A company spokesman could not be reached for confirmation due to the New Year holidays. According to a US research firm, Sharp had a 13.4 percent share of the global LCD market last year, tying for second place with South Korea's LG Philips LCD Co. With the latest investment, the Japanese firm aims to take on South Korea's Samsung Electronics, the top player in the global LCD market with a 15.1 percent share.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary