TECHNOLOGY
Foxconn’s Brazil plan ‘intact’
A massive investment plan in Brazil initiated by Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) to produce gadgets for US consumer electronics giant Apple Inc remains intact, Brazilian Science and Technology Minister Aloizio Mercadante said on Friday. Mercadante said Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團), the world’s largest contract electronics maker, would start to produce iPads and iPhones at its new Brazilian plant by the end of this year as scheduled. The comments came after a Reuters report that last week said Foxconn’s planned US$12 billon (NT$366 billion) investment was “in doubt.” The report said Foxconn had faced problems, including a breakdown in negotiations with Brazilian authorities over tax breaks and a lack of skilled workers for the facility in Jundiai, Sao Paolo state. The ministry said Foxconn has started a training course for its 1,000 new Brazilian employees.
EUROZONE
Slovakia pledges support
Slovak Prime Minister Iveta Radicova on Friday said her country’s parliament should approve new powers for the eurozone’s bailout fund by Oct. 14, which would clear a major obstacle to a key part of the bloc’s strategy for handling its debt crisis. Objections by a junior governing party in a country of only 5 million people have cast uncertainty over activating plans to strengthen the fund — showing once again the eurozone’s slow and unwieldy decisionmaking in times of crisis. The new powers for the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) were agreed by eurozone leaders in July to forestall a messy Greek default and a wider meltdown in other debt-laden members, such as Italy and Spain. So far, 14 of the currency bloc’s 17 members have approved a wider mandate for the 440 billion euro (US$589 billion) EFSF so it can make emergency loans, rescue banks and help sovereigns under attack from markets. Following a one-on-one meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Radicova said the Slovak parliament would ratify the EFSF’s expansion before a summit of EU leaders scheduled for Oct. 17 and 18.
INTERNET
Microsoft fixes program
Microsoft raced on Friday to fix an anti-virus program that targeted Google’s Chrome browsing software as a malicious threat and kicked it off computers. Microsoft said the case of mistaken coding identity lasted about three hours and affected about 3,000 users. “An incorrect detection for PWS:Win32/Zbot was identified and as a result, Google Chrome was inadvertently blocked and in some cases removed from customers’ PCs” Microsoft said at a malware protection Facebook page. An update to free Microsoft Security Essentials anti-virus software had mistakenly targeted Chrome as a troublesome computer virus tailored to steal online banking information.
TECHNOLOGY
TPK plans to sell shares
TPK Holding Co (宸鴻) plans to sell between 16 million and 20 million new shares through global depositary receipts (GDRs) to fund its unit’s expansion and to buy equipment, the company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Friday. Its shareholder Balda Investments Singapore Pte plans to sell between 7.6 million and 9.5 million TPK common shares in the form of GDRs, the company said in a separate statement. Meanwhile, TPK Universal Solutions Ltd acquired 80 percent of CIM Corp for NT$14.3 million, parent TPK Holding said in a statement on Friday.
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
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
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
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