ELECTRONICS
Retailer confirms closures
Electronics retailer Tsann Kuen Enterprise Co (燦坤實業) yesterday confirmed that the company closed down 20 inefficient stores in the first half this year and the operational adjustments would continue in the second half, including the opening of a new-format outlet near Kaoshiung’s Chengching Lake (澄清湖). The company, which operates 319 stores in Taiwan, reported NT$11.82 billion (US$376.3 million) in revenue during the first six months, up 1.33 percent from a year earlier. Tsann Kuen chairman Jerry Yen (閻俊傑) said revenue in the second half would be higher than the first half, without giving exact numbers. He made the remark after the company launched a two-year business partnership with Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) to promote Lenovo’s notebook computers, tablets and other computer products in Taiwan.
CONTACT LENSES
Rules’ impact downplayed
The Taipei City Government’s announcement over the weekend that first-time users and those under the age of 18 will within six months need prescriptions to buy contact lens is not expected to have a major impact on the contact lens sector, JPMorgan Securities Ltd said in a note to clients on Monday. The brokerage said the city government’s move should have a limited effect, because the groups account for only a small portion of total contact lens users and enforcement is likely to be difficult, as no other cities or counties showed interest in following the move by Taipei, while the central government has been lukewarm over the issue. The nation’s two leading contact lens suppliers, Ginko International Co (金可國際) and St Shine Optical Co (精華光學), respectively generated only 8 and 19 percent of their sales from Taiwan last year, according to JPMorgan.
FOOTWEAR
Fulgent reports net loss
Fulgent Sun International Holding Co (鈺齊國際), which produces outdoor shoes, including those that feature waterproof and breathable fabric like Gore-Tex, on Monday unexpectedly reported a net loss of NT$109 million for last quarter, or a loss of NT$0.85 per share, as the company booked increased losses from its Cambodian operations. Shares plunged by 9.96 percent to NT$66.9 in Taipei trading yesterday. The company, which also supplies sports footwear, including a range of athletics shoes, might post continued net losses this quarter as efficiency in new production lines in Cambodia is unlikely to improve significantly in the short term, Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said yesterday. The brokerage downgraded the stock to “sell” and lowered its price target to NT$55.
CHIP DESIGNERS
Revenue boost tipped
Taiwanese chip designers led by handset chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) are expected to expand their combined revenues by 4.8 percent annually this year to NT$540 billion, outpacing global rivals, local market researcher Topology Research Institute (拓墣產業研究所) said in a report yesterday. Global chip designers are expected to increase their revenues by 3.8 percent annually to US$91.3 billion this year, the Taipei-based researcher said. Among them, Chinese chip designers are forecast to increase their revenues at a much faster pace of 15 percent annually this year, Topology said. The researcher attributed the Chinese companies’ robust growth to their large home-market demand, as well as their technology upgrades and support from Chinese government policy, the report said.
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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