Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) and its IC design subsidiary ASMedia Technology Inc (祥碩) yesterday said they have agreed to pay VIA Technologies Inc (威盛電子) US$15 million to settle a four-year patent infringement dispute in Taiwan and the US.
Asustek and ASMedia will each shell out US$7.5 million as part of the settlement agreement, the two companies said in separate filings with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
“The case will not have a significant impact on Asustek’s finance and operations,” Asustek spokesman Nick Wu (吳長榮) said by telephone.
Asustek is considering booking the payment as a one-off expense in last quarter’s financial statements, pending discussions with its accountants, Wu said.
The payment is estimated to reduce Asustek’s earnings per share (EPS) by NT$0.3, based on the company’s 742.76 million outstanding shares.
The settlement is forecast to have a bigger impact on ASMedia, cutting its EPS by NT$3.97, based on its 57.07 million outstanding shares.
ASMedia’s stock price plunged 5.81 percent to close at NT$373 in Taipei trading yesterday.
VIA — an affiliate of HTC Corp (宏達電) — had accused a former executive, Lin Che-wei (林哲偉), and four other former employees who joined ASMedia of disclosing the firm’s confidential technologies on USB 3.0 chips to ASMedia.
VIA in November 2012 accused ASMedia of patent infringement and in 2013 filed a civil lawsuit against Asustek, Asustek CEO Jerry Shen (沈振來) and Lin, and asked for NT$4.13 billion (US$136.5 million) in damages.
Asustek chairman Jonney Shih (施崇棠) in 2013 held a press conference at the Taiwan Stock Exchange, defending the companies and Shen.
VIA chairman Chen Wen-chi (陳文琦) said Shih should state the truth and admit his mistakes.
VIA said in a filing on Monday with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that the company, Asustek and ASMedia reached a settlement on Saturday last week after four years of lawsuits.
“We [VIA, Asustek and ASMedia] are satisfied with the result,” VIA said.
The details of the settlement is protected under a confidentiality agreement, the companies said.
soft landing: The US’ rate-setting FOMC finds itself in a difficult situation as it seeks to address inflation through interest rate hikes while avoiding a recession The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday after a summer of mixed economic data, while leaving the door open to another hike if needed. The Fed has raised interest rates 11 times over the past 18 months, lifting its key lending rate to a level not seen for 22 years as it tackles inflation still stubbornly above its long-term target of 2 percent. Analysts and traders broadly expect the US central bank to hold rates steady on Wednesday in order to give policymakers more time to assess the health of the world’s largest economy. “We think
AI TREND: TSMC has been rapidly expanding capacity to meet a spike in demand for advanced packaging services, but still expects supplies to be tight for 18 months Arizona is in talks with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) about advanced chip packaging, state Governor Katie Hobbs said yesterday, which is crucial for the manufacturing of artificial intelligence (AI) chips. TSMC, which is building a US$40 billion chip factory in the US state, has not announced plans to build facilities for advanced chip packaging in the US. Advanced packaging processes stitch multiple chips together into a single device, lowering the added cost of more powerful computing. “Part of our efforts at building the semiconductor ecosystem is focusing on advanced packaging, so we have several things in the works around that
NXP Semiconductors NV expects its first automotive-grade 5-nanometer chip built by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to become available for automakers within one-and-a-half years at the earliest, following demand for better computing performance and energy efficiency for connected vehicles, a company executive said yesterday. That would mean a significant upgrade from the 16-nanometer technology NXP adopted in its existing series of microprocessors. NXP chief technology executive Lars Reger made the remarks during a media briefing yesterday in Taipei. The latest updates came after NXP unveiled its plan to source 5-nanometer capacity from TSMC in 2021. This is Reger’s first trip to
Tailwinds: Blockbuster earnings at Nvidia Corp have sparked hopes of a tech sector boom; Taiwanese chipmakers are hopeful benefits will come to them too The worst could be over for the New Taiwan dollar as China’s economic recovery and a rebound in the chip industry will support the beleaguered currency, analysts said. The NT dollar is on course to weaken for a sixth month, the longest stretch since 2006, after foreign funds turned sour on its technology sector and risk sentiment deteriorated on slower growth in China. The tide seems to be turning now on nascent signs of stabilization in China’s economy — its biggest trading partner — following policy boosts. The yuan emerged as the best-performing Asian currency last week, followed by the Japanese yen