■ Exports hit new high
Exports rose faster than expected last month to a record high on strong demand for electronics goods from Hong Kong, China, the US and South Korea, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement yesterday. Exports grew 15 percent to US$18.8 billion last month, higher than the average forecast of 8.9 percent in a Dow Jones Newswires survey of economists. The growth rate was also higher than March's growth rate of 7.1 percent. Export value surpassed the previous record of US$18.792 billion hit in October. Imports rose 5 percent from the same month last year to US$16.42 billion, the ministry said. That was in line with expectations and reversing March's 0.5 percent decline. The figures resulted in a trade surplus of US$2.4 billion.
■ Asustek HQ moves offshore
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) has chosen Singapore as the location for its new international headquarters, officials said in a newspaper report yesterday. The company, one of the world's largest manufacturers of PC motherboards, graphics cards and notebook computers, would centralize business functions in the city-state, the firm's first international base outside Taiwan, Benson Lin (林宗樑), president of Asustek Asia-Pacific, told the Business Times. Singapore will be a nerve centre for a large part of Asustek' global operations, serving countries in North and South-East Asia, Europe, the US and Africa. The company is also planning to set up its first overseas research and development center in the city-state in the near future, Lin said. Asustek plans to increase its Singapore headcount from 20 to 80 by the end of the year.
■ High Tech unveils new phone
High Tech Computer Corp (宏達電), the world's biggest maker of mobile phones operating on Microsoft Corp's system, yesterday unveiled its first clamshell phone in London. The latest smartphone is slated to hit the stores of European channel distributors next month, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Later this year, the company said it would also offer the model for its operator customers. Mobile carriers Vodafone and T-Mobile are two of High Tech's major clients in Europe.
■ Li Shin shares slide
Shares of Li Shin International Enterprise Corp (力信興業), a switch power supply maker, dropped by 2.86 percent to close at NT$32.25 yesterday, after Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) said it has worked with Chinese custom officials to inspect and detain products shipped by Lin Shin's subsidiary Logah Technology Corp (力銘科技) to China last Friday. Hon Hai made the announcement in a filing to Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday. Hon Hai sued Logah for infringing its LCD-inverter related patents in Feburary and requested Hsinchu District Court enforce a provisional seizure of up to NT$180 million (US$5,7 million) worth of Logah's assets.
■ NT dollar gains ground
The NT dollar gained ground against the US dollar on the Taipei Foreign Exchange yesterday, increasing NT$0.266 to close at NT$31.380. A total of US$1.24 billion changed hands. The NT dollar may climb further to NT$31.1 within the next month, said Sean Callow, a currency strategist at Westpac Banking Corp in Singapore. The local currency will be boosted on speculation that overseas funds will add to their holdings of the local bourse as growth in the economy gathers pace.
NEW IDENTITY: Known for its software, India has expanded into hardware, with its semiconductor industry growing from US$38bn in 2023 to US$45bn to US$50bn India on Saturday inaugurated its first semiconductor assembly and test facility, a milestone in the government’s push to reduce dependence on foreign chipmakers and stake a claim in a sector dominated by China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened US firm Micron Technology Inc’s semiconductor assembly, test and packaging unit in his home state of Gujarat, hailing the “dawn of a new era” for India’s technology ambitions. “When young Indians look back in the future, they will see this decade as the turning point in our tech future,” Modi told the event, which was broadcast on his YouTube channel. The plant would convert
‘SEISMIC SHIFT’: The researcher forecast there would be about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior year and erasing years of gains The global smartphone market is expected to contract 12.9 percent this year due to the unprecedented memorychip shortage, marking “a crisis like no other,” researcher International Data Corp (IDC) said. The new forecast, a dramatic revision down from earlier estimates, gives the latest accounting of the ongoing memory crunch that is affecting every corner of the electronics industry. The demand for advanced memory to power artificial intelligence (AI) tasks has drained global supply until well into next year and jeopardizes the business model of many smartphone makers. IDC forecast about 1.1 billion mobile shipments this year, down from 1.26 billion the prior
People stand in a Pokemon store in Tokyo on Thursday. One of the world highest-grossing franchises is celebrated its 30th anniversary yesterday.
Zimbabwe’s ban on raw lithium exports is forcing Chinese miners to rethink their strategy, speeding up plans to process the metal locally instead of shipping it to China’s vast rechargeable battery industry. The country is Africa’s largest lithium producer and has one of the world’s largest reserves, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Zimbabwe already banned the export of lithium ore in 2022 and last year announced it would halt exports of lithium concentrates from January next year. However, on Wednesday it imposed the ban with immediate effect, leaving unclear what the lithium mining sector would do in the
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