Power demand soars
Electricity consumption climbed to a record high yesterday for the second time this year as rising temperatures increased the use of air conditioners.
Power demand hit 32,830 megawatts at 1:41pm, the state-run Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) said in an e-mailed statement.
That surpassed the previous record of 32,660 megawatts set on July 9. Temperatures in Taipei reached 36.4oC yesterday, compared with the average high of 34.1oC for July, the Central Weather Bureau said.
Reserve margin, or spare capacity over peak demand, fell to 6.9 percent yesterday, according to Clint Chou (周義岳), a public relations officer at Taipower.
That was less than half of the government's target of 16 percent.
FTC okays Dopod purchase
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday approved High Tech Computer Corp's (HTC, 宏達電) application to buy mobile phone brand Dopod International Corp (多普達).
HTC, the world's biggest maker of handsets running on Microsoft Corp's operating system, said it would Dopod's Asia operations -- excluding China -- in a deal worth US$14.5 million in May.
The commission said in a statement that the mobile phone market has seen fierce competition from numerous domestic and foreign brands.
Nokia and Motorola were the two best-selling brands in the country last year.
"As the two parties in the merger deal do not command high market shares, the commission believes the deal will not create a monopoly effect or impair competition," the FTC statement said and so the merger application was approved in line with Article 12-1 of the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法).
Ho Tung seeks Sinopec fab
Taipei-based Ho Tung Chemical Corp (和桐化學) said yesterday that it was in talks with Chinese partner Sinopec Group (中國石化) to buy a factory of China's second-biggest oil producer before its wholly owned holding company goes public in Hong Kong.
The holding company is headquartered in British Virgin Islands (BVI).
"We plan to buy a fabrication from Sinopec. But we are not in a rush as we can wait for a better price," Ho Tung chairman Preston Chen (陳武雄) said yesterday.
The chemical maker plans to have its BVI-based holding firm subsidiary, Bao Tze, make its initial public offering in Hong Kong after the factory deal is reached, Chen said.
He did not give further details of capitalization or a timeframe.
The firm has to raise money overseas to bypass the government's restriction on China-bound investment that caps companies investments at 40 percent of their net worth, Chen said.
Ho Tung invested 60 percent of a petrochemical joint venture with Sinopec seven to eight years ago in China.
The venture generated sales of NT$4.8 billion last year.
Business in China contributed US$570 million to Ho Tung, whose consolidated sales amounting to NT$38.9 billion (US$1.2 billion) last year.
"Our business in China grows very fast," Chen said.
CMC to set up solar cell firm
The board of CMC Magnetics Corp (中環), the world's second-largest maker of recordable compact discs (CD-Rs), yesterday approved a proposal to set up a solar cell affiliate, Sunwell Technology Corp (富陽光電), and tap into the fast-growing green energy industry.
The new solar cell maker will have NT$700 million in capital and was scheduled to start mass production some time next year, CMC said.
Sunwell's plant will be located in Taoyuan County, it said.
INVESTOR RESILIENCE? An analyst said that despite near-term pressures, foreign investors tend to view NT dollar strength as a positive signal for valuation multiples Morgan Stanley has flagged a potential 10 percent revenue decline for Taiwan’s tech hardware sector this year, as a sharp appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar begins to dent the earnings power of major exporters. In what appears to be the first such warning from a major foreign brokerage, the US investment bank said the currency’s strength — fueled by foreign capital inflows and expectations of US interest rate cuts — is compressing profit margins for manufacturers with heavy exposure to US dollar-denominated revenues. The local currency has surged about 10 percent against the greenback over the past quarter and yesterday breached
MARKET FACTORS: Navitas Semiconductor Inc said that Powerchip is to take over from TSMC as its supplier of high-voltage gallium nitride chips Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday in a statement said that it would phase out its compound semiconductor gallium nitride (GaN) business over the next two years, citing market dynamics. The decision would not affect its financial targets announced previously, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker said. “We are working closely with our customers to ensure a smooth transition and remain committed to meeting their needs during this period,” it said. “Our focus continues to be on delivering sustained value to our partners and the market.” TSMC’s latest move came unexpectedly, as the chipmaker had said in its annual report that it has
Rick Cassidy, the chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's (TSMC, 台積電) US subsidiary, TSMC Arizona Corp, plans to retire, but the company has yet to name a successor. After Cassidy made his intention to retire known, TSMC Arizona held a special general meeting and approved a resolution that Cassidy would not continue as chairman and would not remain as a director, TSMC said in a statement filed with the Taiwan Stock Exchange last night. The meeting also approved a plan to appoint TSMC Arizona president Rose Castanares as a director, the company said, adding that Cassidy has been named as an advisor
SECURITY WARNING: The company possesses key 3-nanometer technology, and Taiwan should prevent it from being transferred to China, a lawmaker said The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said it would conduct a “strict review” of any proposed acquisition of Taiwanese tech company Source Photonics Co (索爾思光電), following media reports that a Chinese firm was planning to buy the company in the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區). Local media reported that Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing Co (東山精密), China’s largest printed circuit board manufacturer, had announced plans to acquire Source Photonics for 5.9 billion yuan (US$823.1 million). The ministry said it has not received an application from Source Photonics and has formally notified the company that any buyout would constitute a change in its ownership structure. The
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