■ UMC verdict out tomorrow
Kong Jaw-sheng (龔照勝), chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission, told lawmakers yesterday that the commission will decide by tomorrow whether United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) broke the law on information disclosure, regarding a suspect investment in China's He Jian Technol-ogy (Suzhou) Co (和艦). If UMC did break the nation's Securities and Exchange Law (證交法), the company will be subject to a fine of between NT$120,000 and NT$2.4 million, Kong said. The Hsinchu Prosecutors Office is also investigating UMC's alleged illegal investments in He Jian, as that investment practice violates the Act Governing Relations Between Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例).
■ Morgan Stanley lifts Acer
The US investment bank Morgan Stanley yesterday reiterated its overweight rating on Acer Inc and raised their forecasts for the firm's earnings per share (EPS) for this and next year by 3.4 percent and 7.5 percent to NT$3.66 and NT$4.46, respectively. In the wake of better core computer-business profit outlook, Acer's operating profit may exceed NT$6.58 billion for this year, Morgan Stanley's analyst Ellen Tseng (曾雅蘭) said in a report. The figure is up from a previous estimate of NT$5.97 billion for the year. "Acer merits a re-rating because of its fast revenue growth," Tseng (曾雅蘭) said. Contribution from core business earnings is estimated to rise to 70 percent and 81 percent of total earnings for this and next year, up from 40 percent last year, Tseng said. Morgan Stanley in the meantime raised its price target for Acer, the world's fifth-largest computer vendor by shipment, to NT$61.6 from NT$59.5.
■ Flat-screen prices may rise
Taiwan's five flat-panel display makers may raise 17-inch screen prices as early as the end of April, following a move by Samsung Electronics Co, a Chinese-language newspaper reported yesterday, citing company executives. AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), Taiwan's largest maker of flat-panel displays used in computers and televisions, says it may raise the screen prices by the end of April or early May, the Taipei-based newspaper reported today, citing AU executive vice president Hsiung Hui (熊暉). Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管), Taiwan's third-largest flat- screen maker, plans to raise prices of 17-inch panels in May, the newspaper said, citing company vice president Liu Chih-chun (劉治軍).
■ Science parks face outages
The nation's science-based industrial parks may face electricity shortages by 2009, when power supply could lag far behind demand, a Chinese-language business daily reported yesterday, citing Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) officials. Companies in Hsinchu Science Park and Central Taiwan Science Park, which house most of the country's electronics companies, have not been providing details to Taipower about the extra power they will need when they plan expanding, the newspaper said. State-owned Taipower generates about 75 percent of the electricity the nation uses and has a monopoly on transmission.
■ NT dollar unchanged
The New Taiwan dollar erased losses on speculation the nation's exporters converted their overseas earnings into the local currency to take advantage of the greenback's two straight weekly declines. The NT dollar was unchanged at NT$31.699 against its US counterpart, up from a low of NT$31.76, according to Taipei Forex Inc. Turnover was US$732 million, down from US$965 million last Friday.
TECH TITANS: Amazon’s latest chip joins Google in competing for the 90 percent market share held by Nvidia, which claims it is ‘a generation ahead of the industry’ Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Tuesday launched its in-house-built Trainium3 artificial intelligence (AI) chip, marking a significant push to compete with Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market for AI computing power. The move intensifies competition in the AI chip market, where Nvidia dominates with an estimated 80 to 90 percent market share for products used in training large language models that power the likes of ChatGPT. Google last week caused tremors in the industry when it was reported that Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc would employ Google AI chips in data centers, signaling new competition for Nvidia. This followed the release last month of
INSULATED: The company said it is less exposed to global complications, as it has built a strong footprint worldwide, and has multiple sources of rare earths and raw minerals Merck Group yesterday said it would ramp up production next year at its new flagship facility in Kaohsiung’s Lujhu District (路竹) to satisfy growing demand for advanced semiconductor materials and specialty gases, and to address supply resilience issues amid mounting geopolitical risks. Merck made the remarks during a news conference before the inauguration of its 500 million euros (US$582.1 million) facility, which is also to supply other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, it said. Merck executive board deputy chair and electronics CEO Kai Beckmann told reporters the company adopted a “local-for-local” strategy about seven years ago to address the cycle time of
Contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) yesterday said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Polar Semiconductor LLC to collaborate on the production of 8-inch wafers in the US. The collaboration aims to strengthen 8-inch wafer manufacturing in the US amid Washington’s efforts to increase onshore manufacturing of semiconductors, contribute to supply chain resilience against shifting geopolitical dynamics, and ensure a secure domestic supply of power semiconductors critical to automotive, electric grids, robotic manufacturing and data centers, the companies said in a joint statement. Under the MOU, Polar and UMC will identify devices for Polar to manufacture at
Two companies wholly owned by the daughter of the founder of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Monday reported to the Taiwan Stock Exchange that they would dispose of all of the Hon Hai shares they hold. In filings with the exchange, Hong Wei Investment Co (鋐維) said it would sell the 2.771 million Hon Hai shares it holds and Frontier Investment Corp (承鋒投資) said it would sell its 2.409 million Hon Hai shares from tomorrow until Jan. 3 next year. The two companies are wholly owned and chaired by Shirley Gou (郭曉玲), the eldest daughter of Hon Hai founder Terry
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