ELECTRONICS
Viveport Arcade launched
HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday launched its self-developed Viveport Arcade, a location-based entertainment platform for virtual reality (VR) technologies. The Taiwanese company has inked a strategic agreement with Leke VR (北京樂客靈境科技), with the first batch of Viveport Arcades to be exclusively available on the Chinese company’s platform, HTC said in a statement. The strategic cooperation between HTC and Leke VR is to be deployed at 1,000 selected Leke VR experience stores in China by the end of the year to help promote the development of the offline VR entertainment industry, HTC said.
EQUITIES
Shares extend their losses
Shares in Taiwan extended their losses from the previous session to end lower yesterday, with the weighted index falling below the 9,300-point mark in the wake of the latest losses on Wall Street, which raised worries about a further downturn in the US market in the wake of its strong showing, dealers said. Large-cap stocks in the bellwether electronics sector led the TAIEX lower as investors were led by the fall in high-tech stocks on Wall Street on Friday last week, they said. The financial sector, which has gained significantly on hopes of a widening interest-rate spread, also fell as investors seized on a weaker Wall Street to lock in earlier gains, they added.
ECONOMY
Minister bullish on growth
National Development Council Minister Chen Tain-jy (陳添枝) yesterday said that the council has set a target that GDP growth will top 2 percent next year. Speaking at a meeting of the Economics Committee of the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, Chen told lawmakers that the economy has been in consolidation mode, but it has the potential to grow about 3 percent next year. Chen’s forecast was more upbeat than the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, which updated its forecast late last month and said that the economy would grow 1.87 percent next year. The statistics agency forecast that GDP growth for this year would be 1.35 percent, compared with 0.72 percent last year.
HOSPITALITY
Regent eyes newlyweds
The Regent Taipei (晶華酒店) yesterday introduced an offering for people intending to tie the knot next year, including new food and beverage choices, and exclusive partnership with Regent Galleria and options to plan wedding ceremonies or honeymoons at Regent Hotels worldwide. The new wedding package, “The Moment,” includes reworked appetizer and dessert options, in addition to signature menus and the popular “Lady M” dessert, the hotel said in a statement. Couples who wed at the Regent Taipei would also be given a Regent wedding card, allowing them to purchase the 12 traditional gifts required at marriage ceremonies at discounted prices, it said. If couples spend more than a specified amount, they would receive a discount on the wedding banquet, it said.
MACHINERY
Hiwin to build Suzhou plant
Leading machinery maker Hiwin Technologies Co (上銀科技) yesterday said it is to spend 127.5 million yuan (US$18.36 million) on a new plant in China’s Suzhou Industrial Park (蘇州工業園區), in an effort to expand its capacity. Hiwin is also planning to invest another NT$4 billion to NT$5 billion (US$125 million to US$156 million) to meet rising demand from its customers, compared with this year’s NT$3.5 billion, chairman Eric Chuo (卓永財) said last month.
Anna Bhobho, a 31-year-old housewife from rural Zimbabwe, was once a silent observer in her home, excluded from financial and family decisionmaking in the deeply patriarchal society. Today, she is a driver of change in her village, thanks to an electric tricycle she owns. In many parts of rural sub-Saharan Africa, women have long been excluded from mainstream economic activities such as operating public transportation. However, three-wheelers powered by green energy are reversing that trend, offering financial opportunities and a newfound sense of importance. “My husband now looks up to me to take care of a large chunk of expenses,
SECTOR LEADER: TSMC can increase capacity by as much as 20 percent or more in the advanced node part of the foundry market by 2030, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to lead its peers in the advanced 2-nanometer process technology, despite competition from Samsung Electronics Co and Intel Corp, TrendForce Corp analyst Joanne Chiao (喬安) said. TSMC’s sophisticated products and its large production scale are expected to allow the company to continue dominating the global 2-nanometer process market this year, Chiao said. The world’s largest contract chipmaker is scheduled to begin mass production of chips made on the 2-nanometer process in its Hsinchu fab in the second half of this year. It would also hold a ceremony on Monday next week to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday signed a letter of intent with Alaska Gasline Development Corp (AGDC), expressing an interest to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) and invest in the latter’s Alaska LNG project, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a statement. Under the agreement, CPC is to participate in the project’s upstream gas investment to secure stable energy resources for Taiwan, the ministry said. The Alaska LNG project is jointly promoted by AGDC and major developer Glenfarne Group LLC, as Alaska plans to export up to 20 million tonnes of LNG annually from 2031. It involves constructing an 1,290km
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
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