■ AU Optronics to expand in PRC
AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the world's third-largest flat panel display maker, said yesterday it plans to set up a US$30 million joint venture in Xiamen to produce back-light modules and other components for flat panel display use.
"The joint venture is expected to support AU Optronics' operations on the mainland," an AU Optronics spokeswoman said. AU Optronics is expected to take a 50 percent stake in the joint venture, the spokeswoman said, while Forhouse Corp (輔祥實業) said in a statement it plans to hold another 25 percent stake in the joint venture which will be named Darwin Precisions (Xiamen) Corp (達運精密[廈門]). Forhouse is a manufacturer of electronic dartboard and back-light units in Taiwan. The joint venture investment is pending government approval, the AU Optronics spokeswoman said. Currently, AU Optronics is operating a factory for flat panel display downstream production in Suzhou.
■ E-ton shares reach milestone
Shares of E-ton Solar Tech Co (益通光能) stood above NT$1,000 on the GRETAI Stock Exchange yesterday, the first stock to exceed the mark in 15 years after Cathay Life Insurance Corp (國泰人壽). E-ton shares later declined and closed at NT$988, 1.13 percent higher from the previous trading day. E-ton, a Tainan-based solar cell maker, is currently the highest-priced stock in the local bourse and made its debut to the over-the-counter market last Wednesday. Benefitting from surging worldwide demand for solar energy, shares of E-ton are expected to pass NT$1,000 soon, analysts said.
■ Formosa Plastics hit by strike
Thai workers engaged in constructing Formosa Plastics Group's (台塑) sixth naphtha cracking plant in Yunlin County went on strike yesterday, demanding that CTCI Corp (中鼎), the project contractor, waive a meal charge of NT$2,500 and brokerage fee of NT$1,800 that are deducted from their monthly paychecks. The striking workers said that other Thai workers brokered by South Korean firm Samsung Electronics Co to work on the same project are not charged for meals and therefore those hired by CTCI should be treated the same. Wu Hsin-che (吳欣哲), a manager at the industrial zone in Mailao (麥寮), said CTCI charges the meal fee in accordance with the contract. As workers hired by Samsung and CTCI work on different parts of the project, the salary structures are different, Wu said. As the company has requested officials from Thailand's representative office to mediate the dispute, the strike should be soon over, Wu added.
■ China Motor export success
China Motor Corp (中華汽車), Taiwan's second-largest automaker, exported another 30 Mitsubishi Grunder large-size sedans last week to the Philippines, the company said in a statement yesterday. The new order followed the company's first export batch of 50 units to the Philippines in January, which was a success, China Motor y said. This made the company the first local manufacturer to export large-size sedans overseas, it said. The company also said that its Veryca/Varica cool trucks gained a foothold in Syria this month. The trucks have been the export focus for China Motor since 1994, and have been selling steadily in the Americas, Southeast Asia and Africa, according to the statement.
■ NT dollar rises
The New Taiwan dollar advanced against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, rising NT$0.013 to close at NT$32.500. US$680 million changed hands during the day's trading.
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) suffered its biggest stock decline in more than a month after the company unveiled new artificial intelligence (AI) chips, but did not provide hoped-for information on customers or financial performance. The stock slid 4 percent to US$164.18 on Thursday, the biggest single-day drop since Sept. 3. Shares of the company remain up 11 percent this year. AMD has emerged as the biggest contender to Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market of AI processors. The company’s latest chips would exceed some capabilities of its rival, AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) said at an event hosted by
TECH JUGGERNAUT: TSMC shares have more than doubled since ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022, as demand for cutting-edge artificial intelligence chips remains high Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday posted a better-than-expected 39 percent rise in quarterly revenue, assuaging concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) hardware spending is beginning to taper off. The main chipmaker for Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc reported third-quarter sales of NT$759.69 billion (US$23.6 billion), compared with the average analyst projection of NT$748 billion. For last month alone, TSMC reported revenue jumped 39.6 percent year-on-year to NT$251.87 billion. Taiwan’s largest company is to disclose its full third-quarter earnings on Thursday next week and update its outlook. Hsinchu-based TSMC produces the cutting-edge chips needed to train AI. The company now makes more
NEXT GENERATION: The new 3-nanometer chip has 28 percent more transistors and offers up to 80 percent faster language model performance than its predecessor MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Wednesday launched a new flagship smartphone chip, Dimensity 9400, made with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) enhanced 3-nanometer technology, aiming to bring more artificial intelligence (AI) applications to edge devices like phones. The Dimensity 9400 is the second smartphone chip using TSMC’s second-generation 3-nanometer technology, after Apple Inc’s A18 Pro chip for the new iPhone 16 series. The new mobile chip has 28 percent more transistors, offers up to 80 percent faster large language model performance and is up to 35 percent more power-efficient than its predecessor, Dimensity 9300, MediaTek said. Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi Corp (小米),
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