ENTERTAINMENT
E-United mulls E-Da sale
E-United Group (義聯集團) yesterday said it is in talks with Hong Kong-based Carnival Group International Holdings Ltd (嘉年華國際控股) to sell 81 percent of the shares of its E-Da Development Corp (義大開發), the firm that operates the E-Da World (義大世界) theme park in Kaohsiung, for NT$4.737 billion (US$150.4 million). E-United Group chairman Lin Yi-shou (林義守) said the investment from Hong Kong could draw more foreign investment to Kaohsiung. The investment project has to gain the Investment Commission’s approval. The commission yesterday said it has not received any application from E-United.
ELECTRONICS
Phison profit down 22%
Phison Electronics Corp (群聯) yesterday posted NT$817 million in pre-tax profit for last quarter, down more than 22 percent from NT$1.06 billion, due to a price decline. That brought the flash memory controller maker’s pre-tax profit for the whole of last year to NT$3.74 billion, slightly down from NT$3.76 billion in 2013. However, earnings per share climbed to NT$20.42 for last year, compared with NT$17.57 a share in 2013, according to the company’s filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday. Phison shares rose 0.67 percent to NT$226 yesterday, outperforming the TAIEX, which lost 0.69 percent.
TELECOMS
Global industry grows 6.2%
The worldwide communications industry’s shipment value — comprising the mobile, wireless and cable communications subsectors — grew 6.2 percent year-on-year last year to US$463.2 billion, according to a report released by the Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute (MIC, 產業情報研究所) on Thursday. The industry looks set to continue growth momentum this year, growing at an annual rate of 7.9 percent to break US$500 billion, the Taipei-based institute said. Taiwan’s communications industry is projected to grow 9.9 percent year-on-year to about NT$2.8 trillion this year, with contribution coming mainly from mobile phones and broadband customer-premises equipment, the institute said. Shipment value of mobile phones is expected to grow 10.8 percent to NT$18.38 billion next year from NT$16.6 billion last year, benefited by outsourcing orders from Apple Inc and Chinese handset brand Xiaomi Corp (小米), the MIC said.
ENERGY
Kinmen mulls microgrid
Kinmen County officials on Thursday discussed plans with Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CIST, 國家中山科學研究院) officials to develop microgrid and power storage systems to deliver green energy and minimize carbon emissions across the county. CIST official Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) met with Kinmen Deputy Commissioner Lin De-gong (林德恭) and Kinmen Environmental Protection Bureau head Vincent Fu (傅豫東). Lin announced plans to establish Lieyu Township as a carbon-free island modeled after Gulangyu Island off the coast of Xiamen in China’s Fujian Province. Lin said that carbon emission reduction measures will be implemented at Lieyu Township — better known as Little Kinmen — with the aim of expanding the guidelines throughout the archipelago. Jen said state-run Taiwan Power Co (台電) had previously expressed support for Kinmen to develop alternative energy production other than costly fossil fuel energy production, and that the company supports the bid toward a carbon-free archipelago.
Napoleon Osorio is proud of being the first taxi driver to have accepted payment in bitcoin in the first country in the world to make the cryptocurrency legal tender: El Salvador. He credits Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s decision to bank on bitcoin three years ago with changing his life. “Before I was unemployed... And now I have my own business,” said the 39-year-old businessman, who uses an app to charge for rides in bitcoin and now runs his own car rental company. Three years ago the leader of the Central American nation took a huge gamble when he put bitcoin
Demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips should spur growth for the semiconductor industry over the next few years, the CEO of a major supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) said, dismissing concerns that investors had misjudged the pace and extent of spending on AI. While the global chip market has grown about 8 percent annually over the past 20 years, AI semiconductors should grow at a much higher rate going forward, Scientech Corp (辛耘) chief executive officer Hsu Ming-chi (許明琪) told Bloomberg Television. “This booming of the AI industry has just begun,” Hsu said. “For the most prominent
PARTNERSHIPS: TSMC said it has been working with multiple memorychip makers for more than two years to provide a full spectrum of solutions to address AI demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it has been collaborating with multiple memorychip makers in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications for more than two years, refuting South Korean media report's about an unprecedented partnership with Samsung Electronics Co. As Samsung is competing with TSMC for a bigger foundry business, any cooperation between the two technology heavyweights would catch the eyes of investors and experts in the semiconductor industry. “We have been working with memory partners, including Micron, Samsung Memory and SK Hynix, on HBM solutions for more than two years, aiming to advance 3D integrated circuit
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
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