ELECTRONICS
Delta to reveal new solutions
Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), the nation’s leading power, thermal management and automation solutions provider, yesterday said it is to launch its newest integrated solutions and framework for “smart” manufacturing at the SPS IPC Drives Nuremberg exhibition in Germany. Delta said in a statement that its latest framework covers the company’s new automation technologies and products, including a cloud-based industrial Internet of Things platform and its EtherCAT motion controller AH10EMC for smart machines.
TRADING
Electronics drag market
Shares yesterday closed down as the bellwether electronics sector continued to slide, led by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), after integrated circuit stocks in the US fell overnight, dealers said. While the broader market moved lower, the market-lagging financial sector appeared resilient, lending some support to keep the weighted index from falling further, they said. Sentiment was also cautious because of concerns over when foreign institutional investors are to shift to buying after recent heavy selling and whether a tax reform bill will clear the US Senate floor later this week, they said.
BANKING
Taishin joins loyalty network
Taishin International Bank (台新銀行) on Friday said it has joined the Global Loyalty Network, an organization aiming to facilitate trading of loyalty and reward points across its member financial institutions and retail outlets in Asia, North America and Europe. Point trading would be conducted on a new platform run on blockchain technology. Taishin also said it has completed the initial test to serve as a node on the blockchain platform, which is slated to be launched in February during the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Visitors to South Korea could trade for loyalty points issued by KEB Hana Bank, which can be used during their stay.
FINANCE
Fubon to issue new shares
Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) yesterday said its board approved a plan to raise nearly NT$40 billion (US$1.33 billion) via a preferred shares B issue at NT$60 apiece. The company said that 667 million preferred shares would be issued, making it the largest fundraising initiative in Taiwan's financial sector this year. Under the plan, Fubon Financial will pay dividends at a rate of up to 8 percent on the preferred shares, and while the shares will not have a maturity date, the company said it will start to buy them back seven years after they are issued. Fifteen percent of the planned preferred shares will be reserved for Fubon employees, 75 percent will be for existing shareholders and 10 percent will be opened to the public for subscription, the company said.
MANUFACTURING
TSMC biggest R&D spender
TSMC, the world’s largest contract chipmaker, spends more on research and development (R&D) than any other manufacturer listed on the local equity market, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. Ministry data showed that TSMC spent NT$59.5 billion on R&D in the first nine months, an increase of 16.1 percent from a year earlier. The amount was equivalent to 8.5 percent of the chipmaker’s total sales for the period, the data showed. No other Taiwanese manufacturer spent that much, although Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the world’s largest contract electronics maker, increased its R&D spending by 30.7 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) and Episil Technologies Inc (漢磊) yesterday announced plans to jointly build an 8-inch fab to produce silicon carbide (SiC) chips through an equity acquisition deal. SiC chips offer higher efficiency and lower energy loss than pure silicon chips, and they are able to operate at higher temperatures. They have become crucial to the development of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence data centers, green energy storage and industrial devices. Vanguard, a contract chipmaker focused on making power management chips and driver ICs for displays, is to acquire a 13 percent stake in Episil for NT$2.48 billion (US$77.1 million).
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