■ SEMICONDUCTORS
No signs of inventory build
Qualcomm Inc, the world's second-biggest maker of mobile-phone chips, said manufacturers aren't stockpiling its IC chips ahead of a possible embargo by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) this week. "We haven't seen significant inventory build," chief executive officer Paul Jacobs told a Sanford C. Bernstein & Co conference in New York yesterday. The ITC is scheduled to rule on Thursday whether to ban phones with some Qualcomm chips after finding in December that they infringed a Broadcom Corp patent for a battery-saving feature.
■ SEMICONDUCTORS
Micron, IC makers win suit
Micron Technology Inc, the US' biggest memory IC maker chipmaker, and seven other chipmakers won dismissal of some claims they overcharged consumers by fixing prices of memory chips. US District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton in San Francisco threw out claims that would have allowed lawyers for consumers and other indirect purchasers of memory chips in dozens of states to seek triple damages against chipmakers for alleged violations of state and federal antitrust laws. The other defendants are Infineon Technologies AG, Hynix Semiconductor Inc, Elpida Memory Inc, NEC Electronics America Inc, Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), Mosel Vitelic Corp (茂矽) and Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電子). Hamilton said that consumers lacked standing to pursue the antitrust claims because they didn't purchase DRAM chips directly.
■ STEEL
CSC inks iron ore deal
Kaohsiung-based China Steel Corp (CSC, 中鋼) signed a four-year contract on Friday with Samarco to secure its supply of iron ore pellets. Under the contract, the Brazilian mining company will supply 1.9 million tonnes of iron ore pellets from next year to 2011, securing 25 percent of CSC's annual iron ore pellet demand. The two companies have maintained good commercial relations since 1998, when CSC first contracted Samarco to buy iron ore pellets, said the state-run CSC, which produces 11 million tonnes of raw steel per year.
■ SOFTWARE
Oracle expands SAP suit
Business software maker Oracle Corp has added copyright infringement and breach of contract claims to a lawsuit alleging rival SAP AG trespassed on its computers to obtain secret product information so it would have a better chance to reel in new customers. The documents filed on Friday in San Francisco federal court expands on a complaint that Oracle filed against Germany-based SAP in late March. The lawsuit charges SAP with "corporate theft on a grand scale." Redwood Shores, California-based Oracle alleges that SAP trampled on its intellectual property rights by heisting computer code and claiming it as its own.
■ TELECOMS
Aborigines seek damages
Aborigines in western Canada are seeking compensation from a local telephone carrier for every cellphone signal that crosses their lands. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs determined at a recent economic development summit to negotiate revenue sharing with Manitoba Telecom Services for signals that cross their reserves and traditional territories. "[The request is] based on the understanding that we do have some fundamental rights as indigenous people to land, water and airspace," Chief Ovide Mercredi of the Grand Rapids First Nation told public broadcaster CBC.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has approved a capital budget of US$31.28 billion for production expansion to meet long-term development needs during the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. The company’s board meeting yesterday approved the capital appropriation plan for purposes such as the installation of advanced technology capacity and fab construction, the world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement. At an earnings conference last month, TSMC forecast that its capital expenditure for this year would be at the higher end of the US$52 billion to US$56 billion range it forecast in January in response to robust demand for 5G, AI and
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