TAIEX rises on rebound
The TAIEX closed up 0.20 percent yesterday on a technical rebound from the previous session, but the gains were compromised by selling in large-cap electronics stocks amid renewed concerns over the earnings outlook, dealers said.
The TAIEX rose 16.44 points to 8,106.66, after moving between 8,067.87 and 8,143.19, on turnover of NT$104.80 billion (US$3.38 billion).
A total of 1,680 stocks closed up and 1,975 were down, with 400 remaining unchanged.
TSMC to boost R&D 25 percent
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) will raise its spending on research and development (R&D) by 25 percent next year, company chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) said yesterday in Taipei. Spending will rise to US$1 billion next year, from US$800 million this year, he said. TSMC is the world’s largest contract chipmaker in terms of revenue.
Chimei facing US investigation
Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子), the nation’s largest LCD panel maker, will be investigated by a US International Trade Commission to determine if it violates patents owned by Technicolor’s Thomson Licensing SA. The commission said on Tuesday that it would look into the patent-infringement claims made in August by Thomson. A violation could result in a ban on imports of Chimei’s LCD panels, including ones with controllers made by Hsinchu-based chip designer MStar Semiconductor Inc (晨星半導體).
Shipping rates could drop
Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp (陽明海運) said seasonal factors are likely to drive shipping rates for the industry worldwide in the current quarter slightly lower.
“Deliveries to meet demand for Christmas holidays had been made in the second and third quarter, and the industry is likely to experience a traditionally slower -season in the fourth quarter,” Yang Ming president Robert Ho (何樹生) said yesterday.
Science parks’ trade rises
The Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區) on Tuesday reported an increase of more than 50 percent in the value of its foreign trade in the third quarter of this year, as the economy continues to show signs of recovery.
The park recorded a combined trade value of more than NT$101.2 billion, a 52.7 percent increase from the same period last year, its administration said.
The park’s third-quarter export value reached more than NT$65.7 billion, while the value of its imports was NT$35.5 billion.
The optronics industry outperformed all the other industries in both exports and imports, followed by the semiconductor and precision machinery industries, the parks said.
New BOFT officials start Monday
Bill Cho (卓士昭) will start his new job as director-general of the Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) on Monday, the bureau said yesterday. Cho, who has been serving as the nation’s representative to Kuwait, will return to Taipei on Sunday.
Chen Ming-shy (陳銘師), head of the economic and trade division of the representative office in Spain, will take over as the bureau’s deputy director-general on Monday as well.
NT dollar gains ground
The New Taiwan dollar rose the most in a week after US Federal Reserve minutes showed policy makers were prepared to ease monetary policy “before long,” boosting appetite for riskier assets in Asia.
The NT dollar closed 0.4 percent higher at NT$30.96 against its US counterpart, according to Taipei Forex Inc. It was trading 0.8 percent stronger at NT$30.82 one minute before the central bank intervened to curb appreciation, traders said.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS