■LCD PANELS
AU Optronics wins case
Four LG Display Co patents for flat-panel televisions and computer displays were not infringed by Taiwan-based AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) and are valid, a federal judge ruled on Friday. The decision came as part of a series of claims and counterclaims in which Seoul-based LG contended AU and another Taiwanese electronics firm, Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), infringed its patents. LG failed “to establish infringement by a preponderance of the evidence,” and AU “has not established invalidity,” District Judge Joseph Farnan Jr wrote in a 69-page opinion released in Wilmington, Delaware.
■MANUFACTURING
Chinese activity accelerates
China’s manufacturing activity accelerated last month, as the purchasing managers index rose to 55.7, marking the 14th straight month of expansion, a government survey showed yesterday. Last month’s figure compares with 55.1 in March. A reading above 50 means the sector is expanding, while a reading below 50 indicates an overall decline. The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing warned of increasing inflationary expectations after input prices continued to rise last month.
■TRADE
S Korean surplus grows
South Korea’s trade surplus grew last month as exports continued to benefit from surging overseas demand, the government said yesterday. Exports jumped 31.5 percent from a year earlier to US$39.876 billion last month, while imports came in at US$35.466 billion, up 42.6 percent, the Ministry of Knowledge and Economy said. Last month’s trade surplus stood at US$4.41 billion, up from the March trade surplus of a revised US$1.8 billion.
■AVIATION
US airlines iron out deal
Continental Airlines Inc and UAL Corp’s United Airlines have ironed out the last remaining wrinkle in their merger talks, paving the way for a deal that would create the world’s largest carrier, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. The airlines have agreed to an exchange ratio of 1.05 UAL shares for each Continental share in all-stock deal yet to be approved by the companies’ boards, the sources said.
■INTERNET
Google, Berlin agree deal
Germany said on Friday that Google had agreed to address thorny privacy concerns before launching its Street View navigation service in the country, ending a row between the firm and Berlin. Google “has agreed to start its new ‘Street View’ service only when all the objections raised by citizens have been fully taken into account,” German Consumer Protection Minister Ilse Aigner said in a statement after talks with the Internet firm. Street View, already available for cities in Taiwan, the US, Japan, Australia and some parts of Europe, allows users to view on the Web panoramic still photos at street level.
■INTERNET
Kindle update released
Amazon.com Inc’s Kindle e-reader is getting access to Facebook and Twitter, along with several other enhancements, as part of a software update being sent wirelessly to the devices. In a posting on Amazon’s Web site, the company says the new software would let users share book passages on their Twitter and Facebook accounts. The update would also let people sort books and documents into collections and lock their Kindle with a password. There would also be larger font options and the ability to zoom in on PDF documents.
WEAKER ACTIVITY: The sharpest deterioration was seen in the electronics and optical components sector, with the production index falling 13.2 points to 44.5 Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last month contracted for a second consecutive month, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipping to 48, reflecting ongoing caution over trade uncertainties, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The decline reflects growing caution among companies amid uncertainty surrounding US tariffs, semiconductor duties and automotive import levies, and it is also likely linked to fading front-loading activity, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “Some clients have started shifting orders to Southeast Asian countries where tariff regimes are already clear,” Lien told a news conference. Firms across the supply chain are also lowering stock levels to mitigate
IN THE AIR: While most companies said they were committed to North American operations, some added that production and costs would depend on the outcome of a US trade probe Leading local contract electronics makers Wistron Corp (緯創), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Inventec Corp (英業達) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) are to maintain their North American expansion plans, despite Washington’s 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods. Wistron said it has long maintained a presence in the US, while distributing production across Taiwan, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. The company is in talks with customers to align capacity with their site preferences, a company official told the Taipei Times by telephone on Friday. The company is still in talks with clients over who would bear the tariff costs, with the outcome pending further
Six Taiwanese companies, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest firms by revenue. In a report published by New York-based Fortune magazine on Tuesday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), ranked highest among Taiwanese firms, placing 28th with revenue of US$213.69 billion. Up 60 spots from last year, TSMC rose to No. 126 with US$90.16 billion in revenue, followed by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) at 348th, Pegatron Corp (和碩) at 461st, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) at 494th and Wistron Corp (緯創) at
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
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