HTC to fight Apple litigation
HTC Corp (宏達電) said it would “fully defend itself” against the latest patent complaint filed by Apple Inc.
“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions,” the Taiwanese company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday. “This latest litigation raised by Apple is predictable and believed to be a usual litigation strategic move.”
Apple filed a new suit against HTC at a district court in Delaware on Monday, more than three months after the filing of an initial case against the Taiwanese company, the maker of Google Inc’s Nexus One smartphone.
Formosa Plastics profits up
Formosa Plastics Corp (台塑), the nation’s largest maker of polyvinyl chloride, said first-half profits would top expectations after delays in the startup of chemical plants in the Middle East helped the company boost sales to China.
“First-half profit is far better than expected,” chairman Lee Chih-tsuen (李志村) told shareholders yesterday, without giving figures for net income and estimates.
Formosa Plastics plans to increase investment in China’s eastern city of Ningbo by more than US$600 million, Lee said after the meeting.
While the company has benefited from delays in the construction of petrochemical plants in the Middle East, expansion by rivals in the region and in China could affect future earning at Formosa, Lee said.
State-run bank heads appointed
The Ministry of Finance on Thursday announced the appointment of chairmen to three state-run banks.
Taiwan Futures Exchange Corp (台灣期交所) chairman Joseph Tsai (蔡慶年) will be appointed to serve as chairman of Taiwan First Holding Co (第一金控); Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) chairman Wang Rong-jou (王榮周) will take up chairmanship of Hua Nan Financial Holdings Co (華南金控); and SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) president Mckinney Tsai (蔡友才) will assume Mega Financial Holding Co chairmanship.
The personnel reshuffle, which will take effect on Thursday, came after Chen Yuh-chang (陳裕璋), former Taiwan First Holding Co chairman, was appointed to head the Financial Supervisory Commission early last month.
Pending regulatory approval, Stan Siao (蕭子昂) will replace Mckinney Tsai to take up the presidency of SinoPac Financial, the company said in a press statement yesterday.
Taipei rents highest since 2008
Taipei’s residential rents rose to their highest level in one-and-a-half years as an economic recovery bolsters demand for housing in the capital, a report from broker Evertrust Rehouse Group (永慶房仲集團) showed.
Monthly rental rates in the city averaged NT$870 per ping (3.3m²) in the second quarter, 12 percent more than the NT$776 in the previous three months and the highest since the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a survey by the Taipei-based company.
The number of residential units offered for lease in the Taipei metropolitan area fell 8 percent this month from last month, Evertrust said.
NCD and CD rates raised
The central bank raised the rates on its daily offerings of negotiable certificates of deposit (NCDs) and certificates of deposit (CDs) by six basis points yesterday, following its surprise 12.5-basis point increase in key interest rates on Thursday.
The central bank increased the rate on 30-day NCDs and CDs to 0.63 percent from 0.57 percent, the rate on 91-day NCDs and CDs to 0.67 percent from 0.61 percent and the rate on 182-day NCDs and CDs to 0.77 percent from 0.71 percent.
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) suffered its biggest stock decline in more than a month after the company unveiled new artificial intelligence (AI) chips, but did not provide hoped-for information on customers or financial performance. The stock slid 4 percent to US$164.18 on Thursday, the biggest single-day drop since Sept. 3. Shares of the company remain up 11 percent this year. AMD has emerged as the biggest contender to Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market of AI processors. The company’s latest chips would exceed some capabilities of its rival, AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) said at an event hosted by
AVIATION: Despite production issues in the US, the Taoyuan-based airline expects to receive 24 passenger planes on schedule, while one freight plane is delayed The ongoing strike at Boeing Co has had only a minor impact on China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空), although the delivery of a new cargo jet might be postponed, CAL chairman Hsieh Su-chien (謝世謙) said on Saturday. The 24 Boeing 787-9 passenger aircraft on order would be delivered on schedule from next year to 2028, while one 777F freight aircraft would be delayed, Hsieh told reporters at a company event. Boeing, which announced a decision on Friday to cut 17,000 jobs — about one-tenth of its workforce — is facing a strike by 33,000 US west coast workers that has halted production
AI AIM: The chipmaker wants joint research and development programs with the Czech Republic, and the government is considering supporting investments in a Czech location Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is planning to build more plants in Europe with a focus on the market for artificial intelligence (AI) chips as the chipmaker expands its global footprint, a senior Taiwanese official said. “They have started construction of the first fab in Dresden; they are already planning the next few fabs in the future for different market sectors as well,” National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Minister Wu Cheng-wen (吳誠文) told Bloomberg TV in an interview that aired yesterday. Wu did not specify a timeline for TSMC’s further expansion in Europe. TSMC in an e-mailed statement said it
TECH JUGGERNAUT: TSMC shares have more than doubled since ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022, as demand for cutting-edge artificial intelligence chips remains high Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday posted a better-than-expected 39 percent rise in quarterly revenue, assuaging concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) hardware spending is beginning to taper off. The main chipmaker for Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc reported third-quarter sales of NT$759.69 billion (US$23.6 billion), compared with the average analyst projection of NT$748 billion. For last month alone, TSMC reported revenue jumped 39.6 percent year-on-year to NT$251.87 billion. Taiwan’s largest company is to disclose its full third-quarter earnings on Thursday next week and update its outlook. Hsinchu-based TSMC produces the cutting-edge chips needed to train AI. The company now makes more
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