ELECTRONICS
ChipMOS granted loan
ChipMOS Technologies Inc (南茂), a packaging and testing service provider for memory chips and LCD driver integrated circuits, yesterday said it has secured a NT$12 billion (US$402 million) syndicated loan to repay debts and replenish its operating capital. The company said the loan would help it significantly improve its short-term cash position from NT$3.2 billion as of March 31. ChipMOS must also repay NT$2.2 billion in debt within a year. Eleven local lenders led by state-run Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行) signed the loan agreement.
ELECTRONICS
Ennoconn eyes chips
Ennoconn Corp (樺漢) yesterday said it has purchased a 47.15 percent stake in semiconductor equipment supplier Marketech International Corp (帆宣) for about NT$4.92 billion in a bid to expand its scope and enhance its technological capabilities. Ennoconn, an industrial computer manufacturing arm of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), last month announced a tender offer to acquire a controlling stake in Marketech during a one-month period through Tuesday last week. The acquisition of 86.47 million shares is the latest step in Ennoconn’s move to expand its product portfolio beyond contract manufacturing of industrial computers.
HOSPITALITY
Inhouse expands in Taichung
Inhouse Hotel Group (薆悅酒店) is to open a second property in Taichung, citing optimism about the tourism industry in central Taiwan. The flagship hotel on Taichung’s Wucyuan Road is to feature 116 luxury guestrooms priced between NT$2,000 and NT$3,000 per night and a cafe on the ground floor. The grand opening is set for late next month or early July, after a soft opening was held last week. The group owns four other smaller facilities near Taichung Railway Station and Taipei’s Ximen MRT Station.
HOSPITALITY
Caesar offers holiday boxes
Caesar Park Banciao (板橋凱薩飯店), the flagship property of Caesar Park Hotels and Resorts (凱撒飯店連鎖), is seeking to boost its food and beverage sales with special sticky rice dumpling gift boxes to be sold ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival. The boxes cost NT$980 each and contain six flavors of sticky rice dumplings to capitalize on the holiday that falls on June 18 this year. Caesar Park Banciao has since its opening last year aimed to become the top dining brand in New Taipei City. Its Chinese restaurant, Jia Yan (家宴), is to launch a special menu featuring bamboo dishes to attract diners who are looking for low-fat cuisine over the summer.
ASSET MANAGEMENT
FSITC plugs AI funds
First Securities Investment Trust Co (FSITC, 第一金投信), the asset management arm of state-run First Financial Holding Co (第一金控), is betting on artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology funds, as the industry gains popularity at home and abroad. AI-related funds led the 75 percent boon in themed funds last year to US$414.4 billion, as investors are upbeat that new technologies are to play an increasingly important role in people’s lives, FSITC said. The firm cited IBM Corp’s Watson as an example, saying that the technology has assisted the healthcare system in analyzing images to improve diagnoses and treatment. The system is also used to track patients’ genetic traits and recommend personalized therapies to add value to the healthcare industry, FSITC said, suggesting that investors take advantage of the trend.
Napoleon Osorio is proud of being the first taxi driver to have accepted payment in bitcoin in the first country in the world to make the cryptocurrency legal tender: El Salvador. He credits Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s decision to bank on bitcoin three years ago with changing his life. “Before I was unemployed... And now I have my own business,” said the 39-year-old businessman, who uses an app to charge for rides in bitcoin and now runs his own car rental company. Three years ago the leader of the Central American nation took a huge gamble when he put bitcoin
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
Demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips should spur growth for the semiconductor industry over the next few years, the CEO of a major supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) said, dismissing concerns that investors had misjudged the pace and extent of spending on AI. While the global chip market has grown about 8 percent annually over the past 20 years, AI semiconductors should grow at a much higher rate going forward, Scientech Corp (辛耘) chief executive officer Hsu Ming-chi (許明琪) told Bloomberg Television. “This booming of the AI industry has just begun,” Hsu said. “For the most prominent
PARTNERSHIPS: TSMC said it has been working with multiple memorychip makers for more than two years to provide a full spectrum of solutions to address AI demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it has been collaborating with multiple memorychip makers in high-bandwidth memory (HBM) used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications for more than two years, refuting South Korean media report's about an unprecedented partnership with Samsung Electronics Co. As Samsung is competing with TSMC for a bigger foundry business, any cooperation between the two technology heavyweights would catch the eyes of investors and experts in the semiconductor industry. “We have been working with memory partners, including Micron, Samsung Memory and SK Hynix, on HBM solutions for more than two years, aiming to advance 3D integrated circuit
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