SOLAR POWER
AUO installations to double
AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) expects to double its solar panel installations in Taiwan to 125 megawatts this year. The company on Tuesday said it has completed the installation of rooftop solar panels for television and online retailer Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體) and for automotive components maker Hota Industrial Manufacturing Co (和大工業). AUO has also secured projects with the Chung Chen Armed Forces Preparatory School and Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC, 漢翔航空工業) among others, it said.
INTERNET
Yahoo Taiwan reaches 60m
Yahoo Taiwan Holding Ltd (雅虎台灣), a subsidiary of Oath Inc, yesterday said its live-streaming auction mobile app has acquired more than 60 million viewers in Taiwan since it launched the streaming service in April. More than 1,800 sellers on Yahoo Taiwan’s auction platform have used the live-streaming service, the company said, adding that more than 20 auctions are hosted each day. Food, cosmetics, accessories and women’s clothing auctions are the most popular in Taiwan, the company said.
LOGISTICS
Pchomestore expands services
PChomestore Inc (商店街), a subsidiary of PChome Inc (網路家庭), yesterday partnered with Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家便利商店) to provide free drop-off and collection services for sellers and buyers, as part of its strategy to expand its free shipping promotion. Adding to its collaboration with President Chain Store Corp’s (PCSC, 統一超商) 7-Eleven convenience stores in August, its drop-off and pick-up service has expanded to 8,200 convenience stores nationwide, PChomestore said.
TECHNOLOGY
Perfect Corp raises US$25m
Taipei-based Perfect Corp (玩美移動), developer of the YouCam Perfect selfie and photography editor app, yesterday said it has raised US$25 million in its first round of venture capital financing. The company, an investee of Cyberlink Corp (訊連科技), said that it would use the funds to further develop the augmented reality and machine learning capabilities of its app. The app has garnered 500 million users and is among the top “beauty technology” offerings. It is expected to secure more than 150 partners in the beauty products industry over the next two years, including L’Oreal SA, MAC Cosmetics, Yves Saint Laurent YSL and Estee Lauder Companies, Inc.
SHIPBUILDING
Task force to probe Ching Fu
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday voted to form a special task force to investigate the potential collapse of a sizeable contract with Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co (慶富造船) to build minesweeper vessels for the Republic of China Navy. Taxpayers could be forced to bear losses of more than NT$10 billion (US$331.13 million), as the shipbuilder borrowed NT$34.93 billion from state-run banks through a syndicated loan, of which about half have been transferred to the firm. Lawmakers across party lines questioned whether the banks had failed to detect financial irregularities during their loan approval process. As of this month, the shipbuilder has failed to service its debt for a second consecutive month. State-run First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) told lawmakers that it expects to recover NT$7.9 billion held in reserve by the Ministry of National Defense, as well as another NT$3 billion held in reserve by the shipbuilder.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
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