COMPUTERS
UBS tempers Asustek view
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday said it has sold more than 500 million motherboard units since 1989, when the company was established, but its shares ended down 4.8 percent amid market concerns about its product transition and weaker emerging market demand. UBS Securities Ltd yesterday downgraded Asustek shares to “neutral” from “buy,” and lowered its price target to NT$330 from NT$360. Asustek closed yesterday at NT$317 in Taipei trading. “We believe the depreciation of the Russian ruble and the euro, and rising sales in the low-margin smartphone business could dilute Asustek’s operating margin. We also believe Asustek could be hurt by potential foreign-exchange losses, due to the depreciation of emerging-market currencies,” UBS said in a note.
PLASTICS
China General sales to rise
As the decline in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) prices began to decelerate this month, while the fall in ethylene prices expanded further due to the plunge in global crude oil prices, China General Plastic Corp (華夏) is likely to increase PVC sales volume and therefore see improving cost competitiveness this quarter, Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said on Tuesday. As PVC prices might rise next month in the US, reflecting stronger demand due to low inventory levels, product spread is predicted to expand this quarter, which will help improve China General’s gross margin and profitability, Yuanta said.
PHARMACEUTICALS
ScinoPharm faces pressure
ScinoPharm Taiwan (台灣神隆), which makes active pharmaceutical ingredients, might face heavier pricing pressure on its core oncology products this year, while its key custom manufacturing projects might continue to see inventory adjustments, Deutsche Bank said. The firm’s sales for this year might grow by 2.84 percent to NT$4.56 billion (US$143.44 million) from NT$4.43 billion last year, the bank forecast in a client note on Tuesday. ScinoPharm will also face challenges in controlling its research and development spending this year, as it transits toward vertical integration, meaning potential rising margin pressure going forward, the bank said.
BICYCLES
Giant posts record sales
Taiwan’s largest bicycle maker, Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械), saw a recovery in its own-brand business in Europe last year, while its marketing strategy in China also proved effective, allowing Giant to report stronger-than-expected sales for last year. Consolidated sales rose 19.4 percent year-on-year to NT$14.5 billion in the last quarter, pushing the full-year figure to increase 10.86 percent to NT$60.22 billion, the highest in the company’s history. Capital Securities Corp (群益證券) on Tuesday forecast Giant’s revenue for this year would grow 5.54 percent to NT$63.614 billion from last year, with net profit of NT$4.58 billion, up 15.12 percent year-on-year.
ELECTRONICS
Delta opens Singapore lab
Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), the nation’s biggest power system supplier, yesterday said it opened the Delta-IBN Life Science and Diagnostics Lab at Singapore’s Biopolis biomedical science park, which aims to develop next-generation infectious disease detection kits through collaboration with the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology and local universities.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
CHEMICAL FIRE: 10 Indian employees were injured by smoke inhalation at a Tata Electronics plant in Tamil Nadu state that produces components for Apple Inc At least 10 people received medical treatment, with two hospitalized after a major fire on Saturday disrupted production at a key Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd plant in southern India that makes Apple Inc’s iPhone components. The fire occurred at the plant in the city of Hosur in Tamil Nadu state that makes some iPhone components. It broke out near another building inside the Tata complex, which was to begin producing complete iPhones in the coming months. The fire was contained to one building and has been extinguished fully, top district administrative official K.M. Sarayu said. No decision has been made on when
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