ENERGY
Firms vow to cut consumption
Six domestic companies have vowed to cut energy consumption by NT$270 million (US$8.55 million) and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 69,000 tonnes through collaboration with the government’s three-year energy-saving drive, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. The ministry said the reduction in carbon dioxide emissions would require the equivalent of 179 Daan Forest Parks (大安森林公園). The companies involved are Chung Hwa Pulp Corp (中華紙漿), Hota Industrial Manufacturing Co (和大工業), Tung Ho Steel Enterprise Corp (東和鋼鐵), Kuozui Motor Ltd (國瑞汽車), Neo Solar Power Corp (新日光能源) and Savior Lifetec Corp (展旺生命科技), the ministry said.
CHIPMAKERS
Nanya income declines
Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), the nation’s biggest DRAM chipmaker, yesterday reported second-quarter net income of NT$4.25 billion, down 30.1 percent year-on-year and 32.4 percent quarter-on-quarter. Earnings per share (EPS) were NT$1.75, the lowest level in the past six quarters. For the first half of the year, net income totaled NT$10.55 billion, with EPS of NT$4.36. Revenue for last quarter contracted by 7.32 percent to NT$11.16 billion from NT$12.03 billion in the first quarter, the company reported earlier this month. Nanya said it still plans to produce 20-nanometer (nm) chips in 2017, but has not decided when to start a fundraising scheme in which it is to issue up to 400 million new shares to finance the construction of the new 20nm factory.
SEMICONDUCTORS
King Yuan to buy back shares
King Yuan Electronics Co (京元電子), a domestic chip packaging and testing company, plans to buy back 30 million of its shares, or 2.52 percent of outstanding stock, on the open market, the company said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday. King Yuan said the share buyback would begin today and run through Sept. 28. It plans to repurchase the shares at between NT$14.39 and NT$38.21 per share, the filing showed. King Yuan shares ended 4.05 percent higher at NT$20.05 yesterday. The company also reported second-quarter profit of NT$680 million, down 13 percent year-on-year, but up 13.45 percent quarter-on-quarter, with EPS of NT$0.57. In the first half of the year, net income totaled NT$1.28 billion, up 5.4 percent from a year earlier, at NT$1.07 per share.
ELECTRONICS
E Ink, Netronix eye venture
E Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技), the world’s largest e-paper display supplier, yesterday announced a partnership with e-reader maker Netronix Inc (振曜科技) to set up a joint venture in the economic and technology development zone in Yangzhou in China’s Jiangsu Province. The new venture — in which E Ink is to hold a 49 percent share and Netronix a 51 percent share — is to focus on system integration and product assembly services for e-paper applications, which are to be used in smartphone back covers, electronic shelf labels and e-paper billboards. It is set to start mass production in October, E Ink said.
INTERNET
Addcn HK unit to break even
Addcn Technology Co Ltd (數字科技), which operates online trading platforms on which people can sell cars, houses, clothing and virtual treasures, yesterday said it expected its online property classified advertising Web site in Hong Kong to break even next year after beginning operation last year.
EXTRATERRITORIAL REACH: China extended its legal jurisdiction to ban some dual-use goods of Chinese origin from being sold to the US, even by third countries Beijing has set out to extend its domestic laws across international borders with a ban on selling some goods to the US that applies to companies both inside and outside China. The new export control rules are China’s first attempt to replicate the extraterritorial reach of US and European sanctions by covering Chinese products or goods with Chinese parts in them. In an announcement this week, China declared it is banning the sale of dual-use items to the US military and also the export to the US of materials such as gallium and germanium. Companies and people overseas would be subject to
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) yesterday said that Intel Corp would find itself in the same predicament as it did four years ago if its board does not come up with a core business strategy. Chang made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions about the ailing US chipmaker, once an archrival of TSMC, during a news conference in Taipei for the launch of the second volume of his autobiography. Intel unexpectedly announced the immediate retirement of former chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger last week, ending his nearly four-year tenure and ending his attempts to revive the
WORLD DOMINATION: TSMC’s lead over second-placed Samsung has grown as the latter faces increased Chinese competition and the end of clients’ product life cycles Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) retained the No. 1 title in the global pure-play wafer foundry business in the third quarter of this year, seeing its market share growing to 64.9 percent to leave South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co, the No. 2 supplier, further behind, Taipei-based TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report. TSMC posted US$23.53 billion in sales in the July-September period, up 13.0 percent from a quarter earlier, which boosted its market share to 64.9 percent, up from 62.3 percent in the second quarter, the report issued on Monday last week showed. TSMC benefited from the debut of flagship
TENSE TIMES: Formosa Plastics sees uncertainty surrounding the incoming Trump administration in the US, geopolitical tensions and China’s faltering economy Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), Taiwan’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday posted overall revenue of NT$118.61 billion (US$3.66 billion) for last month, marking a 7.2 percent rise from October, but a 2.5 percent fall from one year earlier. The group has mixed views about its business outlook for the current quarter and beyond, as uncertainty builds over the US power transition and geopolitical tensions. Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠), a vertically integrated supplier of plastic resins and petrochemicals, reported a monthly uptick of 15.3 percent in its revenue to NT$18.15 billion, as Typhoon Kong-rey postponed partial shipments slated for October and last month, it said. The
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