Taiwan-based contract electronics maker Qisda Corp (佳世達) yesterday announced that it has settled legal proceedings pertaining to the insolvency of its mobile device arm.
The announcement followed a settlement of international arbitration proceedings with Siemens AG last year.
It has now resolved all legal proceedings with the insolvency administrator of BenQ Mobile Holding GmbH & Co and other related entities, according to a company statement.
“All parties agreed to withdraw existing lawsuits and waived all claims it had or might have against other parties respectively. All material litigations arising out of Qisda’s purchase of the Siemens mobile device business in 2005 have now been resolved,” the statement said.
Qisda emphasized the decision was made for the best interests of shareholders, and that the move would not adversely impact on Qisda’s normal operations and financial conditions, and instead would allow the company’s management to focus on core business operations.
BenQ Corp (明基) acquired Siemens’ handset unit in October 2005, but the handset unit failed to take off in the face of intense competition from major players including Nokia, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.
The handset unit dragged BenQ into six straight quarters of losses and BenQ eventually liquidated the German unit and retreated from the cellphone market.
After the setback, BenQ in September 2007 spun off its manufacturing arm into Qisda while retaining its brand name business within BenQ.
BenQ has since turned its attention to other branded products such as projectors, LCD TVs and e-readers for differentiation over local consumer electronics rivals, including Acer Inc (宏碁) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), which rank in the world’s top five in the computer business.
“After three years of endeavoring to adjust respective business operations and financial structures, both companies have gone past the acquisition phase. With the resolution of such litigations, Qisda’s contract manufacturing business and BenQ’s branded business will be ready for a full sprint,” the statement said.
Qisda reported that consolidated revenue rose 1.5 percent quarter-on-quarter to NT$22.9 billion (US$751 million) in the third quarter, on net profit of NT$440 million, or earnings per share of NT$0.23.
LCD monitors, imaging scanners and printers, e-readers, mobile Internet devices and communications products demonstrated growth in the third quarter, it said.
It said LCD monitors and projectors will enter the low season in the fourth quarter, while e--readers, mobile Internet devices and communications products would grow with high volumes.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
SECTOR LEADER: TSMC can increase capacity by as much as 20 percent or more in the advanced node part of the foundry market by 2030, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to lead its peers in the advanced 2-nanometer process technology, despite competition from Samsung Electronics Co and Intel Corp, TrendForce Corp analyst Joanne Chiao (喬安) said. TSMC’s sophisticated products and its large production scale are expected to allow the company to continue dominating the global 2-nanometer process market this year, Chiao said. The world’s largest contract chipmaker is scheduled to begin mass production of chips made on the 2-nanometer process in its Hsinchu fab in the second half of this year. It would also hold a ceremony on Monday next week to
TECH CLUSTER: The US company’s new office is in the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City, a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan US chip designer Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) yesterday launched an office in Tainan’s Gueiren District (歸仁), marking a significant milestone in the development of southern Taiwan’s artificial intelligence (AI) industry, the Tainan City Government said in a statement. AMD Taiwan general manager Vincent Chern (陳民皓) presided over the opening ceremony for the company’s new office at the Shalun Smart Green Energy Science City (沙崙智慧綠能科學城), a new AI industry base and cybersecurity hub in southern Taiwan. Facilities in the new office include an information processing center, and a research and development (R&D) center, the Tainan Economic Development Bureau said. The Ministry
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
RSS