RETAIL
24-hour Eslite to stay put
Eslite (誠品) bookstore chain said on Saturday that the lease of its landmark 24-hour store in downtown Taipei is secure for at least another six years, even though the building’s ownership has changed hands. The 12-story Dunnan Financial Building where the store is located has been sold to Grand Industrial Limited Company of Baofeng (寶豐隆興業), according to the building’s previous owner, Cathay Life Insurance Co (國泰人壽). Grand Industrial Ltd is owned by Tsai Chen-yu (蔡鎮宇), a former vice chairman of Cathay Financial Holdings Co (國泰金控) and a brother of Cathay Financial chairman Tsai Hong-tu (蔡宏圖). The deal drew concerns over whether the popular bookstore would still be able to operate there. Eslite Bookstore said the transaction would not affect the store’s lease.
CHINA
Group seeks investment
A delegation organized by the Taipei-based Chinese National Federation of Industries is to depart for China today to seek investment, the federation said. The group of more than 10 business executives, accountants and lawyers from Taipei is to stop in Shanghai, Suzhou and Kunshan during the five-day visit, the federation said. Besides holding investment conferences in Shanghai and Suzhou, the delegates are to visit local businesses from the wholesale, retail, logistics, biotechnology, and information and communications technology sectors. With outward foreign direct investment totaling US$87.8 billion, China is the world’s third-largest investor, the federation said. However, new Chinese investments in Taiwan have declined. During the first seven months of this year, Taiwanese authorities approved 76 investment plans — worth US$173 million — by Chinese companies, which was a decrease from last year, the federation 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
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