BANKING
Yuan deposits rise 0.57%
Yuan deposits at Taiwanese banks totaled 338.218 billion yuan (US$54.47 billion) at the end of last month, up 0.57 percent from 336.285 billion yuan at the end of May, the central bank said yesterday. Last month’s level of yuan deposits included 283.387 billion yuan in savings accounts at 69 domestic banking units and 54.831 billion yuan in savings accounts at 59 offshore banking units, according to data provided by the central bank.
MANUFACTURING
Macauto predicts sales boost
Macauto Industrial Co (皇田), which has a 15 percent global share of the automotive sunshades market, yesterday said sales for this quarter would rise by double-digit percentage points from a year earlier, while sales for next quarter should hit the highest in the company’s history. Macauto reported sales of NT$1.77 billion (US$56.6 million) in the first half, up 12.86 percent year-on-year. Macauto spokesman Chang Po-jen (張博仁) told an investors’ conference at the Taipei Exchange that the fourth quarter should be the peak this year, because of strong seasonal demand and new product launches.
TELECOMS
Far EasTone inks app deal
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding with NTT Communications Corp’s local unit to provide the Japanese-owned firm with internal social networking services based on a social network application developed by the state-funded Industrial Technology Research Institute (工研院). The Enterprise Mobility Messaging Assistant app is similar to popular messaging app Line. Far EasTone said the deal will help it accelerate its progress in offering services to other companies.
TELECOMS
HTC eyes October release
HTC Corp (宏達電) might reveal its consumer-ready virtual reality Vive headset in October, the UK-based TechRadar Web bulletin reported on Monday, quoting HTC executive director of marketing Jeffrey Gattis. “We are targeting mid-October, but have not yet finalized the event details, venue, etc,” Gattis said in the report. “Our hardware development for the consumer versions of both the HMD [head-mounted display] and wireless controllers, remain on schedule for the end of 2015.”
INVESTMENT
Aviva links with CTBC
Aviva Investors, an asset management company and part of British insurer Aviva PLC, has selected CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) as its master agent in Taiwan, Reuters reported on Tuesday. CTBC Investments Co (中國信託投信) is to sell Aviva products from Aug. 1, eyeing the nation’s NT$3.3 trillion offshore-funds market. Aviva chairman John Misselbrook said in the report that Taiwan is a major retail wealth management market along with Singapore and the UK.
CHIPMAKERS
MediaTek shares gain 1.63%
Handset chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) shares gained 1.63 percent from their closing price of NT$389 on Tuesday to close at NT$373 yesterday after going ex-dividend with a reference opening price of NT$367. MediaTek paid a NT$22 cash dividend per share for last year’s earnings. Dealers said the stock’s reference opening price attracted buying soon after the local bourse opened, as investors intented to take advantage of a recent sell-off. However, upside is limited, as global smartphone sales growth is moderating, they said.
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
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