FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Reserves rise US$120m
The nation’s foreign exchange reserves totaled US$433.55 billion last month, an increase of US$120 million from May, the central bank said yesterday. The bank attributed the increase to a successful management strategy, even though a weaker euro versus the US dollar subdued the gains slightly. The euro depreciated alongside the pound after the UK voted to leave the EU on June 23.
SMARTPHONES
Catcher sales down 9.38%
Catcher Technology Co (可成科技), a metal casing supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones, yesterday reported a 9.38 percent annual decline in sales for last month to NT$5.6 billion (US$173.47 million). It was the fourth consecutive monthly decline in revenue, according to the company’s filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Last quarter’s revenue totaled NT$17.5 billion, down by 13.02 percent from NT$20.12 billion in the same period last year. On a quarterly basis, revenue increased 3.91 percent from the previous quarter’s NT$16.84 billion. Revenue in the first half of this year totaled NT$34.36 billion, falling 8.4 percent from the NT$37.52 billion recorded in the same period last year.
SMARTPHONES
Largan posts year’s best
Largan Precision Co (大立光), a camera lens supplier for Apple’s iPhones, yesterday reported monthly revenue of NT$3.59 billion for last month, the company’s best monthly performance this year. Although revenue increased 7 percent from May’s NT$3.35 billion, it plunged 29.61 percent from the NT$5.1 billion recorded in the same period last year, according to the firm’s filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. In the second quarter, revenue plummeted 27 percent annually to NT$10.04 billion. Quarterly revenue improved 21.4 percent from the previous quarter’s NT$8.27 billion, according to the filing. Combined revenue in the first six months of this year totaled NT$18.31 billion, a drop of 25 percent from NT$24.34 billion in the same period last year.
PANELMAKERS
S Korean firms to add orders
South Korean TV vendors, such as Samsung Electronics Co, are planning to buy more TV panels from Taiwanese and Chinese panel makers in the second half of this year to reduce costs, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Monday. Samsung is expected to cut orders from South Korean panel makers, reducing their contribution to its TV panel supply from last year’s 50.5 percent to 43.7 percent, TrendForce said. As a result, Taiwanese LCD panel makers Innolux Corp (群創) and AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) are expected to see an increase in orders from South Korean TV brands, according to TrendForce data.
SEMICONDUCTORS
SPIL quarterly revenue rises
Siliconware Precision Industries Co Ltd (SPIL, 矽品精密), the world’s No. 3 chip tester and packager, yesterday said revenue rose 12.3 percent sequentially last quarter to NT$21.68 billion, after last month’s revenue dropped 0.9 percent from NT$7.46 billion in May to NT$7.39 billion. SPIL in April said that the first quarter, in which it generated NT$19.3 billion in revenue, would be the worst period this year and revenue would grow on a quarterly basis. In the first half of this year, combined revenue totaled NT$40.97 billion, down by 2.54 percent from the NT$42.04 billion recorded in the same period last year, according to a company filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
‘DECENT RESULTS’: The company said it is confident thanks to an improving world economy and uptakes in new wireless and AI technologies, despite US uncertainty Pegatron Corp (和碩) yesterday said it plans to build a new server manufacturing factory in the US this year to address US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policy. That would be the second server production base for Pegatron in addition to the existing facilities in Taoyuan, the iPhone assembler said. Servers are one of the new businesses Pegatron has explored in recent years to develop a more balanced product lineup. “We aim to provide our services from a location in the vicinity of our customers,” Pegatron president and chief executive officer Gary Cheng (鄭光治) told an online earnings conference yesterday. “We
LEAK SOURCE? There would be concern over the possibility of tech leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday stayed mum after a report said that the chipmaker has pitched chip designers Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Broadcom Inc about taking a stake in a joint venture to operate Intel Corp’s factories. Industry sources told the Central News Agency (CNA) that the possibility of TSMC proposing to operate Intel’s wafer fabs is low, as the Taiwanese chipmaker has always focused on its core business. There is also concern over possible technology leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺)
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
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