INSURANCE
Taiwan Life fined NT$6m
The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday fined Taiwan Life Insurance Co (台灣人壽保險) NT$6 million (US$199,382) for irregularities related to a real-estate transaction that was made as the insurer was acquired by CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) in 2015. CTBC Financial was found to have overpaid for commercial property that was owned by Gobo Group (國寶集團), a major shareholder in the insurer. The property was put to auction in 2014 with a starting bid of NT$1.4 billion and did not find a buyer. It was later sold to CTBC Financial for NT$1.57 billion.
PHARMACEUTICALS
ASLAN defends IPO
ASLAN Pharmaceuticals (亞獅康), a biotech firm focused on the development of immunotherapies and targeted agents for Asia-prevalent tumor types, yesterday responded to allegations that the interests of retail investors who had participated in its initial public offering (IPO) on the Taipei Exchange had been harmed as its share price dropped from its NT$58 debut to NT$52.2. The company said that all of its investors have agreed to lockup periods of one to two years for board members and management, and six months for other investors of varying stakes. They did not sell ASLAN shares during its volatile market debut on Thursday last week, and it is not seeking to capital gains as critics claim, the company said.
TECHNOLOGY
HTC sales hit 14-month low
HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday reported that its sales last month had dipped 4 percent sequentially and 33 percent annually to NT$4.53 billion, reaching the lowest in the past 14 months. Sales during the first five months of this year fell 13 percent annually to NT$23.78 billion. The company attributed its sales performance to an ongoing product cycle adjustment, as it had launched its latest HTC U11 flagship handset last month. The company would also cut its number of new handset models this year from six to five in a bid to remain in the black.
CHIPMAKERS
MediaTek reports growth
MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the nation’s biggest handset chip designer, yesterday reported NT$18.44 billion in revenue for last month, representing 3.89 percent growth from April’s NT$17.75 billion. The sequential growth was supported by recovering demand from Chinese handset makers. On an annual basis, revenue plunged 25.16 percent from NT$24.64 billion made in May last year. The company forecast in April that revenue would be flat or grow 8 percent quarter-over-quarter to between NT$56.1 billion and NT$60.6 billion. Shipments of chips used in smartphones and tablets are to increase by less than 5 percent quarterly to between 110 million and 120 million units this quarter, MediaTek said.
CHIPMAKERS
Nanya reduction hits revenue
DRAM chipmaker Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday said revenue fell 4.68 percent last month to NT$4.12 billion from NT$4.32 billion in April due to a 4 percent reduction in shipments. The Taoyuan-based chipmaker attributed the shipment decline to its ongoing technological migration to 20 nanometer (nm) technology from 30nm technology. Compared with the same period last year, revenue soared 42.06 percent from NT$2.9 billion. As chip prices are stabilizing, Nanya Technology expects revenue to return to growth this month on a monthly basis. The company expects shipments to grow about 1 percent this quarter from last quarter.
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