SOLAR ENERGY
Tainergy sees sales growth
Solar cell maker Tainergy Tech Co Ltd (太極能源) yesterday reported a strong annual increase of 36.31 percent in quarterly sales to NT$2.59 billion (US$ 77.93 million) for last quarter, compared with the previous year’s NT$1.9 billion. On a quarterly basis, the result grew 22.16 percent from the third quarter’s revenues of NT$2.12 billion, the firm said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Last quarter’s sales result brought the company’s combined annual revenues to NT$7.82 billion for last year, up 19.4 percent from NT$6.55 billion recorded a year earlier.
ELECTRONICS
Samsung focuses on Taiwan
Samsung Electronics Co yesterday said that it aims to increase its Taiwan revenue by a double-digit percentage this year by offering more value-added services and raising its service quality in retail stores. Gary Tsao (曹紋察), general manager of Samsung Taiwan’s IT and mobile communication team, said that although revenue from Taiwan last year was flat from a year earlier, the firm is still optimistic that sales this year could grow from last year. The company’s revenue is expected to be driven by smartphones, tablets, wearable products and accessories, Tsao told reporters on the sidelines of Samsung’s Galaxy A7 and Galaxy A5 launch event. He declined to disclose the sales figures.
FINANCE
NT dollar dips 0.51%
The New Taiwan dollar yesterday closed down 0.51 percent to trade at NT$33.236 against the greenback, relatively stable compared with the South Korean won’s 1.28 percent decline, the central bank said in a statement. The central bank issued the statement after the local currency dropped to a three-month low on the first trading session of this year. The depreciation came after foreign institutional investors cut local shares by NT$13.94 billion and mutual funds by NT$287.94 million, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Proprietary traders had overbought positions of NT$439.93 million.
MANUFACTURING
Ichia sales plunge 33.86%
Keypad manufacturer Ichia Technologies Inc (毅嘉科技) yesterday reported sales of NT$1.66 billion for last quarter, a significant plunge of 33.86 percent from NT$2.51 billion a year earlier. The quarterly result also represents a 12.16 percent decline from the third quarter’s NT$1.89 billion. In the first three quarters of last year, the firm’s net income totaled NT$49.39 million, plunging 94.31 percent from NT$869.17 million made over the same period of time in the previous year. The keypad maker’s combined revenues totaled NT$7.38 billion last year, plummeting 34.24 percent from NT$11.22 billion made a year ago.
PHARMACEUTICALS
China grants BioFirst patent
BioFirst Co (匯特生技) yesterday said its newly developed surgical fluid for eye operations has gained patent approval from the Chinese authority, following approvals from Taiwan, Australia, Canada and Japan. The firm said the patent approval from China is valid through 2031, which is expected to help the firm tap into the Chinese and other Asian markets. The Taiwanese biotech company said it is still waiting for the US and European countries to offer a green light to its eye operation surgical fluid in the regions. The company is set to gain a technological advantage in the global market with more patent approvals, it said.
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
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
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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