■ UBS hires Felice Chen
UBS AG hired the deputy chief executive of Taiwan's Development Fund (開發基金), Felice Chen (陳嫦芬), as co-head of Taiwanese investment banking to help it win more business from companies operating here and in China. Chen, who is trained as a lawyer and has worked at HSBC Holdings Plc, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc and ING Groep NV, will start on Friday, reporting to Peter Burnett and Robert Rankin, the bank's co-heads of investment banking in Asia. Chen was also an adviser to the Cabinet on finance, banking and investment and a committee member of the national corporate governance policy task force, UBS said in a statement. Chen will also become a vice chairwoman in UBS's Asia investment bank, the statement said. UBS helped the government sell a 12 percent stake in Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) for US$1.6 billion last July.
■ Gigabyte Tech cuts costs
Gigabyte Technology Co (技嘉科技), the nation's fourth-largest motherboard maker, will contract out part of its production to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the country's second-largest motherboard maker, in order to cut costs, Chinese-language newspapers reported yesterday, citing Gigabyte spokesman Tony Liao (廖期立). The partnership between Gigabyte and Hon Hai Precision is expected to lift their competitiveness in this field of business and extend extra pressure to bigger rival Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), the reports said. Asustek, the world's largest motherboard maker, produced nearly 30 million boards last year and is targeting 45 million boards this year. Hon Hai manufactured some 26 million boards last year and is expecting at least 30 percent increase in output for this year, the reports said. Taiwan plays an important role in motherboard manufacturing in the world, shipping 103.5 million mainboards last year, almost 20 percent more than in the previous year, according to figures from the technology researcher Market Intelligence Center (市場情報中心).
■ Direct flight to Angkor
Far East Air Transport Corp (遠東航空) yesterday launched its first direct flight to Angkor, Cambodia, with the plane filled to capacity with 145 passengers. Far East Air is cooperating with President Airline of Cambodia to operate flights on the route, using President's flight numbers but its own planes and crew. The direct flights are being offered twice a week, on Tuesdays and Saturdays. There will also be flights to Angkor via Da Nang, Vietnam, every Wednesday and Sunday.
■ Acer forecasts profit
Acer Inc forecast profit of NT$7.34 billion (US$221 million), or NT$3.48 a share, for this year, according to a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. That's little changed from the NT$7.31 billion profit reported for last year. Acer on March 22 said it plans to buy back and cancel 50 million shares, paying anywhere from NT$34.20 to NT$79 for the stock from March 23 to May 22.
■ Metalworking seminar
A Metalworking seminar will be held in Taichung today. Steve Kosloff, regional vice president of US-based Gardner Publications and an international marketing specialist, will speak during the seminar, a press statement said. Local metalworking professionals interested in attending the seminar can call 04-23017318 to make a reservation.
■ NT dollar higher
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday maintained strength against its US counterpart, edging up NT$0.034 to close at NT$33.160 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$622 million.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登精密), the sole extreme ultraviolet pod supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), yesterday said it has trimmed its revenue growth target for this year as US tariffs are likely to depress customer demand and weigh on the whole supply chain. Gudeng’s remarks came after the US on Monday notified 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea, of new tariff rates that are set to take effect on Aug. 1. Taiwan is still negotiating for a rate lower than the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariffs announced by the US in April, which it later postponed to today. The
MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR: Revenue from AI servers made up more than 50 percent of Wistron’s total server revenue in the second quarter, the company said Wistron Corp (緯創) on Tuesday reported a 135.6 percent year-on-year surge in revenue for last month, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, with the momentum expected to extend into the third quarter. Revenue last month reached NT$209.18 billion (US$7.2 billion), a record high for June, bringing second-quarter revenue to NT$551.29 billion, a 129.47 percent annual increase, the company said. Revenue in the first half of the year totaled NT$897.77 billion, up 87.36 percent from a year earlier and also a record high for the period, it said. The company remains cautiously optimistic about AI server shipments in the third quarter,
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
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