Hon Hai seeks clarity on Sharp
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the principal shareholder of Sharp Corp, yesterday said it was looking into the Japanese electronics firm’s announcement of a plan to cut 5,000 jobs.
“Company chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) and other business executives will seek understanding of the actual situation with Sharp’s management and discuss response measures,” Hon Hai spokesman Simon Hsing (邢治平) said.
“We will not comment on any of Sharp’s restructuring plans until we come up with substantial results through negotiations,” he said.
Hon Hai, the main manufacturer of Apple Inc products, announced in late March its acquisition of a roughly 10 percent stake in Sharp for US$800 million, making it the Japanese company’s largest shareholder.
HK yuan deposits not covered
The Financial Supervisory Commission said in a statement yesterday that yuan deposits in Hong Kong banks fall outside the protection of Taiwan’s deposit insurance.
The statement is a warning to Taiwanese depositors of risks linked to yuan-savings services provided by some Hong Kong lenders, the commission said.
Yuan-deposit services will soon be available at domestic banks once Taiwan and China work out a currency settlement mechanism, the commission said.
Manufacturers get Windows 8
Microsoft Taiwan Corp yesterday announced that it had released its Windows 8 operating system to manufacturing, the final stage before it goes to market in fall.
The release to manufacturing stage means that testing and development of the system have been completed and the company has started to hand out the final code to its OEM partners.
Developers can download the final code through Microsoft Developer Network subscriptions and obtain the final version of Visual Studio 2012 on Windows Dev Center on Aug. 15.
Information technology professionals can also access the final version of Windows 8 through TechNet subscriptions.
On Aug. 16, users that have Microsoft Software Assurance can download Windows 8 Enterprise edition through the Volume License Service Center, and the system will also be available to members of Microsoft Partner Network.
Microsoft Action Pack Providers will have access to Windows 8 on Aug. 20.
The product will be launched on Sept. 4, but regular consumers will have to wait until Oct. 26 to purchase the new operating system.
Microalgae use under study
A team from National Cheng Kung University is conducting research on the potential commercial applications of microalgae, including the production of biodiesel and skin care products.
The team, led by chemical engineering professor Chang Chia-hsiu (張嘉修), has established a platform to determine the species and analyze the content of microalgae. It has also developed an outdoors microalgae cultivation system.
Chang said the nation’s rich microalgae resources give it a great advantage in developing a microalgae industry.
He said the industry could be very helpful in reducing carbon levels because algae captures carbon dioxide during photosynthesis. Every gram of microalgae grown by the team, for example, can consume 2g of carbon dioxide, he added.
HSBC, Uni-President ink loan
HSBC Taiwan has signed an agreement with Uni-President China Holding Co (統一中控) to provide the beverage and instant noodle vendor with 1 billion yuan (US$157 million) in a syndicated loan with a three-year tenor and may be extended to five years, the lender said in a statement on Wednesday.
HSBC Taiwan will co-arrange the syndicated loan with Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (大華銀行) to help Uni-President expand in China, the statement said, adding it is the first yuan syndicated loan in the offshore banking market this year.
Taiwanese wins in Powerpoint
Frequent use of computer software for school assignments helped a Taiwanese university student win a category at this year’s Worldwide Competition on Microsoft Office in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
Yeh Chih-chang (葉致璋), who will begin her fourth year at Tamkang University, won the first place in the Microsoft Powerpoint 2007 category at the annual event. It was the fifth first prize won by Taiwan’s team over the past four years.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
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STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
Gasoline and diesel prices this week are to decrease NT$0.5 and NT$1 per liter respectively as international crude prices continued to fall last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to decrease to NT$29.2, NT$30.7 and NT$32.7 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, while premium diesel is to cost NT$27.9 per liter at CPC stations and NT$27.7 at Formosa pumps, the companies said in separate statements. Global crude oil prices dropped last week after the eight OPEC+ members said they would
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