Shares of Nanya Technology Corp (
Analysts said memory-chip shares would continue the trend on solid February sales and improved profitability thanks to higher chip prices.
"The rise of the memory-chip sector is playing a role in the TAIEX's surge, as is the influx of foreign capital," said Kevin Chung (
Winbond led the rise, surging nearly 7 percent, the intraday limit, to NT$19.4. Nanya, the nation's biggest memory chipmaker, and smaller rival ProMOS Technologies Inc (
"The DRAM sector has been one of the most vigorously traded sectors since the beginning of the year, along with flat-panel shares," Chung said.
Improved profitability and lower stock prices, below NT$50, are two important reasons for investors to snatch up those shares to make profits from the bullish stock market, he said.
Boosted by the strong DRAM shares, the TAIEX yesterday breached the 7,000-point resistance level to end at 7,034, on turnover of NT$226.55 billion.
Frank Huang (黃崇仁), chairman of Powerchip Semiconductor Corp (力晶半導體), the nation's No.2 memory chipmaker, said in late January that he expected this year's revenue to double from last year thanks to sharp growth in chip output and cost savings, after its advanced 12-inch fabs started operating in the second half of last year.
Powerchip's revenues for last year amounted to NT$22.9 billion, up from NT$12.7 billion in 2002. The company's sales last monthh were a record high NT$3.31 billion, it reported earlier this week.
ProMOS, which reported a record NT$3.2 billion in sales last month, expects the figure to continue to expand this month.
"In March, ProMOS will hit a new record, helped by rising chip prices and more working days," said ProMOS spokesman Albert Lin (
Spot prices are expected to go up slightly for the first half of this month as demand usually picks up in March after a slow January and February.
The benchmark DDR 256Mbit has risen 1.13 percent to US$4.47 in the past week, according to online chip clearinghouse DRAMeXchange.
Looking forward, DRAMeXchange said DRAM makers intend to hike contract prices between 3 percent and 5 percent for the first half of this month, but the attempt could be stymied by personal computer original equipment manufacturers.
Setting aside the DRAM sub-index, Jones Wang (王源錦), a deputy manager at ABN-AMRO Asset Management Taiwan, said, "Plastics shares overtook steel and transportation shares to drive up the TAIEX."
Wang expected stock prices to continue rising next week ahead of the presidential election.
MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it plans to double investment in data center-related technologies, including advanced packaging and high-speed interconnect technologies, to broaden the new business’ customer and service portfolios. The chip designer is redirecting its resources to data centers, mainly designing application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC) with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities for cloud service providers. The data center business is forecast to lead growth in the next three years and become the company’s second-biggest revenue source, replacing chips used in smart devices, MediaTek president Joe Chen (陳冠州) told a media event in Taipei. “Three or four years
Until US President Donald Trump’s return a year ago, when the EU talked about cutting economic dependency on foreign powers — it was understood to mean China, but now Brussels has US tech in its sights. As Trump ramps up his threats — from strong-arming Europe on trade to pushing to seize Greenland — concern has grown that the unpredictable leader could, should he so wish, plunge the bloc into digital darkness. Since Trump’s Greenland climbdown, top officials have stepped up warnings that the EU is dangerously exposed to geopolitical shocks and must work toward strategic independence — in defense, energy and
Motorists ride past a mural along a street in Varanasi, India, yesterday.
For the second year in a row, a Brazilian movie has wowed international audiences and critics, securing multiple Oscar nominations and drawing fresh interest in the Latin American giant’s film industry. Experts say the success of The Secret Agent, which has won four Oscar nominations, a year after I Am Still Here won Brazil its first Oscar, is no fluke, with a bit of a push from the country’s political climate. “This is neither a coincidence nor a miracle. It is the result of a lot of work, consistent policies, and, of course, talent,” Ilda Santiago, director of the Rio International Film
RSS