■CHINA
Economy to grow 8 percent
The Chinese economy will grow 8 percent this year and achieve more than 9 percent annual growth in 2011, Cheng Siwei (成思危), former vice chairman of the standing committee of the National People’s Congress, said yesterday. The government’s 4 trillion yuan (US$585 billion) stimulus package is having an effect and will aid a full recovery by 2011, Cheng told a financial forum in Ningbo, Zhejiang. “Only when China’s growth rebounds to 9 percent can we say the economy has recovered,” he said. “The economy will certainly be able to regain a growth rate of more than 9 percent in 2011.”
■BANKING
First Financial raises capital
First Financial Holding Co (第一金控 ), Taiwan’s sixth-largest listed financial services company, plans to raise as much as NT$3 billion (US$91 million) in a private placement of 120 million shares at an issue price of NT$25 each, to boost its capital structure, it said in an exchange filing on Friday. Taishin Financial Holding Co (台新金控), meanwhile, is in contact with four major Chinese banks on possible cooperation opportunities, the Economic Daily News reported yesterday, citing chairman Thomas Wu (吳東亮). The four banks are Bank of China Ltd (中國銀行), Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd (中國工商銀行), China Construction Bank Corp (中國建設銀行) and Bank of Communications Co (交通銀行).
■BANKING
Five US banks seized
Five US banks with total assets of about US$1.04 billion were seized by regulators, pushing this year’s tally of failures to 45 as a recession drives up unemployment and home foreclosures. Community Bank of West Georgia, in Villa Rica, Georgia; Neighborhood Community Bank of Newnan, Georgia; Horizon Bank of Pine City, Minnesota; MetroPacific Bank of Irvine, California; and Mirae Bank of Los Angeles were closed on Friday by state regulators, the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said.
■ELECTRONICS
Sony to open R&D centers
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc intends to set up research and development centers in Taiwan to work with Taiwanese companies to develop game products for its gaming consoles, the Chinese-language Commercial Times reported yesterday, citing unnamed sources. The paper said Sony would hold a press conference with the Ministry of Economic Affairs tomorrow to make the formal announcement.
■TOURISM
Longwaytour calls it quits
Longwaytour Travel Service Ltd (明泰旅行社), a Taipei-based travel agency that focused on Southeast Asia and Russia formally shut down earlier this month because of financial difficulties, the Central News Agency reported on Friday, citing unnamed employees. The report said the 20-year-old travel agency has incurred debt of more than NT$10 million, including NT$8 million in late payments to airline companies and NT$1 million for employee salaries.
■COMPUTERS
Court rules against IBM
IBM Corp won’t be able to block its former mergers and acquisitions chief from working at rival Dell Inc while a lawsuit against the executive works its way through the courts. A US federal judge on Friday rejected IBM’s request for a preliminary injunction against David Johnson. IBM is suing Johnson, claiming he violated a noncompete agreement by taking the job at Dell. IBM argues that Johnson has trade secrets of IBM’s that he could use to help Dell.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
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