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.
STEADY: Prices are to rebound following inventory rebuilding demand, TrendForce said, with Samsung Electronics Co further trimming capacity as it slashes DDR4 lines The contract prices of DRAM chips are to rise by as much as 18 percent sequentially this quarter — the first price upticks in about eight quarters — driven mainly by inventory rebuilding demand for DRAM chips used in mobile devices and PCs, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) projected yesterday. The price rebound is led by a quarterly increase of mobile DRAM chips, which are to climb between 13 percent and 18 percent quarter-on-quarter this quarter, which has not been seen since the fourth quarter of 2021, the Taipei-based market researcher predicted. Likewise, the price of mainstream PC DDR4 DRAM is expected to bounce
CHINA NOT A FRIEND: ‘Newsflash: Democracy is good for your businesses,’ US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said as she gave a speech at a national defense forum US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on Saturday urged lawmakers, Silicon Valley and US allies to stop China from getting semiconductors and cutting-edge technologies key to national security. Speaking at an annual national defense forum in Simi Valley, California, Raimondo called Beijing “the biggest threat we’ve ever had” and stressed that “China is not our friend.” The world’s top two economies are locked in a fierce commercial and geopolitical rivalry, in which her department plays a leading role. In October, Raimondo unveiled a series of restrictions on the export of advanced chips to China, including those used in the development of artificial intelligence
SOLID FOUNDATION: Given its decades of expertise in megatronics, manufacturing and robotics, Japan has the wherewithal to create its own AI, Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp plans to help build an artificial intelligence (AI) tech-related ecosystem in Japan to meet demand in a country eager to gain an edge in this emerging technology. The US company will seek to partner with Japanese research organizations, companies and start-ups to build factories for AI, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday during opening remarks in a meeting with Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura. The company is to set up an AI research laboratory, and invest in local start-ups and educate the public on using AI, Huang said. Huang earlier this week met with Japanese Prime
A Hong Kong court postponed a court hearing on troubled Chinese property developer Evergrande Group’s (恆大集團) winding-up petition scheduled for yesterday until Jan. 29. Evergrande is trying to win support from its creditors for a plan to restructure more than US$300 billion in debt to stave off liquidation. The company’s lawyer told the court it was requesting an adjournment to “refine” its new debt restructuring plan. The Hong Kong High Court has postponed the hearing over Evergrande’s potential liquidation several times. Judge Linda Chan (陳靜芬) had said in October that yesterday’s hearing would be the last before a decision is handed down. Chan