SEMICONDUCTORS
King Yuan to increase capex
King Yuan Electronics Co Ltd (京元電) yesterday said its board approved a proposal to increase capital expenditures this year by about 15 percent to NT$5.8 billion (US$186.3 million) from a previously planned NT$5 billion. The chip testing and packaging services provider said it would use the funds to buy equipment and expand capacity to meet fast-growing customer demand. While demand seems to have softened a bit since March, King Yuan chairman Lee Chin-kung (李金恭) said the company’s performance in the second half of the year would be better than that of the first six months, after the industry enters its peak season in the third quarter.
TELECOMS
CHT raises 4G user target
Chunghwa Telecom Co (CHT, 中華電信) yesterday raised its 4G subscriber target for this year to 4.2 million users from a previous goal of 4 million. International Data Corp forecast the number of 4G subscribers would reach 10 million at the end of this year, which means CHT would have a 42 percent market share if it hits its goal. CHT president Shih Mu-piao (石木標) said the company plans to add 4,500 new 4G base stations to boost network coverage to 99 percent by the end of this year. Both Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) aim to secure 3 million 4G subscribers each.
AIRLINES
CAL optimistic on cargo
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) yesterday offered an upbeat outlook for its cargo business in the second half of this year, saying that the launch of several new consumer electronics products by major international brands in the third quarter might drive up seasonal demand through the final quarter of the year. Statistics issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) showed the carrier’s annual aviation cargo volume last year was the sixth-largest worldwide. CAL transported 1.296 million tonnes of cargo last year, an annual increase of 8 percent, the IATA statistics showed.
INSURANCE
Taiwan Life EV rises 19%
Taiwan Life Insurance Co (台灣人壽保險) yesterday said the company’s embedded value (EV) reached NT$51.853 billion for last year, an increase of 19.15 percent from NT$43.519 billion in 2013. The company was estimated to have an EV of NT$53.6 per share last year, up from NT$45.4, the company said in a statement. EV represents the value of a life insurance company’s future profitability plus its adjusted net asset value. Shareholders are expected to ratify the company’s merger with CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) on Monday next week, after the two firms agreed last month to a share-swap merger deal.
PHARMACEUTICALS
PharmaEssentia shifts team
Drugmaker PharmaEssentia Corp (藥華醫藥) yesterday announced a key management reshuffle in a bid to accelerate its new product development. President and CEO Lin Ko-chung (林國鐘) is to become the company’s chief strategy officer to help push blood disorder treatment drug “P1101” into the global market, while his position is to be filled by executive vice president Jack Hwang (黃正谷). PharmaEssentia said chairman Jan Ching-leou (詹青柳) is also to act as the company’s “qualified person” (QP) to ensure new medicine safety, the company said. QP is a technical term used in EU pharmaceutical regulation.
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
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
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
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) and Episil Technologies Inc (漢磊) yesterday announced plans to jointly build an 8-inch fab to produce silicon carbide (SiC) chips through an equity acquisition deal. SiC chips offer higher efficiency and lower energy loss than pure silicon chips, and they are able to operate at higher temperatures. They have become crucial to the development of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence data centers, green energy storage and industrial devices. Vanguard, a contract chipmaker focused on making power management chips and driver ICs for displays, is to acquire a 13 percent stake in Episil for NT$2.48 billion (US$77.1 million).
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