The combined revenue of the nation’s three major science parks from January through April declined 1.2 percent from a year earlier, as increases in semiconductor and precision equipment sales were offset by declines in the optoelectronics sector and drops in revenue for the computer and peripherals industries.
Sales from the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區), the Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區) and the Central Taiwan Science Park (中部科學園區) totaled NT$677 billion (US$22.53 billion) in the first four months of the year, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said in a statement on Tuesday.
While the Central Taiwan Science Park in Greater Taichung saw cumulative sales expand by an annual rate of 10.5 percent in the period due to semiconductor companies’ capacity expansion, the other two science parks in Hsinchu and Greater Tainan reported declining revenues, as they were affected by weaknesses in the optoelectronics and PC sectors.
The DGBAS said cumulative semiconductor sales increased 3.7 percent year-on-year to NT$389.1 billion in the three science parks and those of precision equipment grew 3 percent to NT$22.2 billion.
However, total sales of optoelectronics dropped 8 percent to NT$227.4 billion from a year earlier, and those of computers and peripherals plunged by 18.4 percent to NT$20 billion, the DGBAS said.
The semiconductor industry was the largest revenue source for the science parks in the first four months, accounting for 57.5 percent, followed by the optoelectronics industry, which contributed 33.6 percent, the data showed.
Overall, the number of companies in the three science parks reached 766 last month, which employ a total of 257,000 people, an increase of nearly 10,000 from a year earlier, according to the DGBAS.
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
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
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
NEXT GENERATION: The new 3-nanometer chip has 28 percent more transistors and offers up to 80 percent faster language model performance than its predecessor MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Wednesday launched a new flagship smartphone chip, Dimensity 9400, made with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) enhanced 3-nanometer technology, aiming to bring more artificial intelligence (AI) applications to edge devices like phones. The Dimensity 9400 is the second smartphone chip using TSMC’s second-generation 3-nanometer technology, after Apple Inc’s A18 Pro chip for the new iPhone 16 series. The new mobile chip has 28 percent more transistors, offers up to 80 percent faster large language model performance and is up to 35 percent more power-efficient than its predecessor, Dimensity 9300, MediaTek said. Chinese smartphone makers Xiaomi Corp (小米),
RSS