■ UMC plans China investment
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) said yesterday it plans to invest up to US$50 million in the printed circuit board business in Jiangsu Province of eastern China. UMC, the second-largest contract microchip maker after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), plans to invest up to US$20 million in Suzhou and US$30 million in Kunshan, a UMC spokesman said. The two plans, if approved by the government, will be UMC's first authorized investments in China, the spokesman said.
■ Ford Lio Ho looks to diesel
Ford Lio Ho Motor Co (福特六和), the nation's fourth-biggest automaker, said that it will introduce more diesel-powered vehicles this year to cater to growing demand. The Focus TDCi is expected to be available in the third quarter, while Mondeo large sedans will come by the end of the year, or early next year, Ford Lio Ho president Jeffery Nemeth said at a media gathering on Tuesday. Another diesel version that might hit local shores is the S-Max multi-purpose vehicle, he said. The company said it has plans to offer a series of diesel cars from mid to large-sized sedans to recreational vehicles as such cars are gaining momentum here. Meanwhile, Ford Lio Ho is also talking to various countries for possibilities to export locally assembled Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute sports utility vehicles, after successfully exporting the first batch to Japan, New Zealand and Australia last May.
■ Citigroup rates HTC a `buy'
High Tech Computer Corp (HTC, 宏達電), the world's largest maker of handsets using Microsoft Corp's Windows operating system, was rated "buy" in new coverage at Citigroup Inc which said the market has already "priced in a worst-case scenario" on the stock. "We believe the market previously was overoptimistic and underestimated the competition. Now the market may be overly negative as HTC shifts to a branded strategy" from a contract manufacturing model, Taipei-based analyst Kent Chan (陳衛斌) wrote in a report dated yesterday. He has a 12-month price target of NT$650 on the stock. Shares of HTC climbed 1.1 percent to close at NT$487 at the close of trade in Taipei yesterday.
■ Chen praises science park
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said on Thursday he was looking forward to seeing the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區) in Taichung County become the world's most competitive industrial hub. Chen made the remarks while attending a name plaque unveiling ceremony for the Central Taiwan Science Park Administration office. The park now accommodates 85 high-tech companies, with more than NT$1.7 trillion (US$514.5 billion) in accumulated capital investment, Chen said, adding that the park has so far created over 17,000 jobs.
■ NT dollar hits four-month low
The New Taiwan dollar dropped to a four-month low as investors sold stocks on speculation that slowing US growth will sap demand for Taiwanese goods. The local currency dropped 0.2 percent this week to NT$33.102 in Taipei, the weakest since last November, according to Taipei Forex Inc. Global funds this week offloaded a net US$1.7 billion of Taiwanese shares as concern increased that issues with US subprime mortgages may slow the world's biggest economy.
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
TECH WINNERS: Taiwan and South Korea reported robust trade, which suggests that they have critical advantages in the rapidly expanding AI supply chain, an official said Exports last month surged to a new high, as booming demand tied to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure fueled shipments of advanced technology components, underscoring the nation’s pivotal role in the global semiconductor supply chain. Outbound shipments climbed to US$80.18 billion, the highest ever for a single month, rising 61.8 percent from a year earlier and marking the 29th consecutive month of growth, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. “The surge was driven primarily by global investment in AI infrastructure,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said. The mass production of next-generation AI computing systems has accelerated procurement across the semiconductor supply
RSS