BANKING
Investors cut yuan holdings
The nation’s yuan deposits fell to the lowest level in 14 months as investors cut yuan holdings for fear of a slowdown in China’s economy and potential debt defaults in Chinese corporations, according to the latest central bank data. Yuan deposits declined for a second consecutive month to 314.32 billion yuan (US$48.56 billion) last month, a reduction of 2.5 billion yuan, or 0.79 percent from February, the central bank said in a statement yesterday. Yuan deposits at lenders’ domestic banking units (DBU) totaled 272.86 billion yuan last month, falling by 1.17 billion yuan from February, the central bank said. Yuan deposits at lenders’ offshore banking units (OBU) reached 41.46 billion yuan, down 1.34 billion yuan from the previous month, the central bank said. However, remittances hit 132.09 billion yuan last month, up 25.33 percent from February, when yuan activity tends to be lower, as the Lunar New Year holiday reduced the number of working days, the central bank said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Materials markets is biggest
The nation is expected to retain the world’s largest semiconductor material market this year, although sales in Taiwan contracted by 2 percent last year, a global industry association said yesterday. Last year, sales of semiconductor materials in Taiwan amounted to US$9.41 billion, down from US$9.6 billion in the previous year, Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) said in a statement. However, sales in South Korea rose 2 percent to US$7.16 billion and those in China also increased 2 percent to US$6.12 billion, SEMI said. The total sales of the global semiconductor material market declined 1.5 percent last year from the previous year to US$43.4 billion, it said.
SCOOTERS
Gogoro has 92% share
Electric scooter vendor Gogoro Inc (睿能創意) on Thursday said its market share for electric scooters in the greater Taipei area reached 92 percent last month, and that it is planning on tapping into another city in Taiwan in the middle of this year. The company declined to say which city, as it is still under discussion. However, Gogoro said its existing partners, such as 7-Eleven and Hi-Life convenience stores would continue providing spaces for its battery-swapping stations in the new city. At present, Gogoro operates 12 brick-and-mortar stores and 175 battery-swapping stations in Taipei, Keelung, Taoyuan and Hsinchu. The company sold 1,884 scooters in the first quarter, compared with 765 units of China Motor Corp’s (中華汽車) E-moving 100 electric scooters.
FOOTWEAR
Pou Chen revenue up 7.7%
Footwear manufacturer Pou Chen Corp (寶成工業) this week said its revenue rose 7.7 percent annually to NT$22.69 billion last month, boosting the company’s cumulative revenue for the first quarter to increase 8.3 percent to NT$67.44 billion from NT$62.27 billion in the same quarter a year ago. The company attributed the strong quarterly increase mainly to higher contribution from its subsidiary — Hong-Kong-listed Yue Yuen Industrial Holdings Ltd (裕元工業). Yue Yuen, in which Pou Chen owns a 49.98 percent stake, reported revenue last quarter rose 3.1 percent annually to US$2.03 billion from US$1.97 billion on the back of sales growth in its shoe manufacturing and distribution business, Pou Chen said in a statement issued on Monday.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
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