E-ton inks deal
E-ton Solar Tech Co (益通光能), the nation's second-largest solar cell maker, has signed a letter of intent to sell at least 4 megawatts of solar cells to Romag Holdings Plc, the company said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
Romag Holdings is a UK manufacturer of specialist transparent composites, and sells into the security, renewable energy, architectural and specialist transportation markets.
The letter states that E-ton would supply the solar cells to Romag Holdings from Oct. 1 this year to Sept. 30 next year. But the company did not reveal the dollar value of the sale.
Handsets turn into EasyCards
The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday passed a project to integrate Mass Rapid Transit cards into mobile phone handsets. The plan was first proposed by the nation's largest phone company Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) and Taipei Smart Card Corp (台北智慧卡票證公司), the official distributor of the Taipei MRT's EasyCards.
The project aims to develop Combi-SIM cards, which allow consumers to make payments with their cellphones by swiping their handset in the MRT, buses and parking lots, and places that accept EasyCards, the ministry said in a statement.
The Combi-SIM cards can be used in GSM, GPRS and new third-generation telecommunication net-works, the statement said.
Cabinet to freeze loan scheme
The Cabinet has decided to freeze the housing loan scheme after the remaining funds of the current pool are used up, the nation's central bank said yesterday.
The project will retire once the unused NT$13 billion (US$395.1 million) of the government loans -- worth NT$300 billion and introduced in May last year -- are consumed, the central bank said in a statement.
The Cabinet's decision came even though the General Chamber of Commerce (商業總會) voiced its opposition last week.
The association's chairman Gary Wang (王令麟) called on the government to continue its preferential scheme to bolster the property market, that has underpined the nation's economy for several years now.
The government started to subsidize home buyers in 1998 by providing loans charging lower interest rates through selective lenders to stimulate the nation's lackluster real estate sector.
The authority then extended the offer several times, bringing the total balance of the preferential loans to NT$1.8 trillion.
Consortium wins bid
A team comprised of four leading transportation companies has won a bid to build and operate a logistics center in the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區) in Taichung County, officials said yesterday.
The Central Taiwan Science Park Logistics Co was formed by Chien Shing Harbor Service Co (建新), T Join Transportation Co (大榮汽車貨運), Taiwan Express Group (台灣航空貨運) and Da Tsun Transportation (大村交通事業).
The company will invest NT$1 billion (US$30.4 million) to build a logistics center covering an area of 66,000m2 in the park and have the right to operate the center for 20 years, according Yang Wen-ko (楊文科), director of the science park.
Beginning on Oct. 2, the company will expand its services to cover customs declaration, ware-housing and transportation, and expects sales to reach NT$500 million in the coming year, he said.
NT dollar loses ground
The New Taiwan dollar lost ground against its US counterpart yesterday, declining NT$0.003 to close at NT$32.909 on the Taipei foreign exchange market. Turnover was US$694 million.
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
AVIATION: Despite production issues in the US, the Taoyuan-based airline expects to receive 24 passenger planes on schedule, while one freight plane is delayed The ongoing strike at Boeing Co has had only a minor impact on China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空), although the delivery of a new cargo jet might be postponed, CAL chairman Hsieh Su-chien (謝世謙) said on Saturday. The 24 Boeing 787-9 passenger aircraft on order would be delivered on schedule from next year to 2028, while one 777F freight aircraft would be delayed, Hsieh told reporters at a company event. Boeing, which announced a decision on Friday to cut 17,000 jobs — about one-tenth of its workforce — is facing a strike by 33,000 US west coast workers that has halted production
AI AIM: The chipmaker wants joint research and development programs with the Czech Republic, and the government is considering supporting investments in a Czech location Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is planning to build more plants in Europe with a focus on the market for artificial intelligence (AI) chips as the chipmaker expands its global footprint, a senior Taiwanese official said. “They have started construction of the first fab in Dresden; they are already planning the next few fabs in the future for different market sectors as well,” National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) told Bloomberg TV in an interview that aired yesterday. Wu did not specify a timeline for TSMC’s further expansion in Europe. TSMC in an e-mailed statement said it
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
RSS