Gamemag Interactive Inc (磁力線上), an affiliate of troubled game developer XPEC Entertainment Inc (樂陞科技), has shut down due to financial woes involving its chairman Aaron Hsu (許金龍), affecting about 100 employees.
“The company has run out of funds amid poor demand. As the chairman is no longer able to run the company, the shareholders cannot support the firm anymore,” Gamemag said in an undated internal letter to its employees.
Chiang Pao-chia (蔣寶夏), who referred to herself in the letter as the representative of Gamemag’s largest shareholder, said that she will help negotiate with XPEC for employees who want to transfer there.
“Since the company is unable to pay wages this month, we suggest employees seek new job opportunities as soon as possible,” Chiang said.
Although Gamemag has shut down its Web site, the Ministry of Finance’s tax data show that the company was still in operation as of yesterday, which means the firm’s formal closure application has not been processed.
Gamemag was XPEC’s research and development unit for PC and mobile games.
It became an affiliate in January 2013 with paid-in capital of NT$200 million (US$6.49 million at the current exchange rate), according to data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs.
XPEC sold its shares in Gamemag several times over the past four years to JAFCO Asia, a Japanese venture capital firm, and Minseng Plastics Industrial Co Ltd (明盛塑膠), a Taiwanese film and photograph album maker, local media reported.
XPEC now only holds a 10 percent share in Gamemag, but Hsu remains chairman of both firms, according to XPEC’s annual report to shareholders in June last year.
Hsu has faced trouble since the failed sale of XPEC stock amounting to NT$4.86 billion, or a 25 percent stake, to a Japanese firm, Bai Chi Gan Tou Digital Entertainment Co (百尺竿頭), in August last year.
Hsu, XPEC’s former acting chairman Peter Lee (李伯衡), chief financial officer Hsieh Tung-po (謝東波) and seven other people were indicted on Jan. 24 by the Taipei District Court over alleged violations of the Securities Exchange Act (證券交易法) to manipulate XPEC’s stock price over the botched deal with Bai Chi.
XPEC’s trading was suspended by the Taipei Exchange on Nov. 17 last year after it failed to resubmit its financial statements for the second and third quarters.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in