TECHNOLOGY
Computex draws more buyers
This year’s Computex Taipei drew 42,284 buyers from 168 countries over five days, a 1 percent increase from last year, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) said on Saturday. The US, Japan, China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Germany, India and the Philippines had the strongest representation, TAITRA said. This year’s InnoVEX event attracted 17,687 visitors, an 18 percent increase over last year, it said. InnoVEX focused on innovative new businesses and gadgets.
CHIPMAKERS
TSMC sales decline 1.1%
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, on Friday last week posted NT$80.97 billion (US$2.72 billion) in consolidated sales for last month, down 1.1 percent month-on-month, which analysts attributed to weakening global demand for iPhones and a slower market for cryptocurrency mining. However, last month’s figure was still up 11.2 percent from a year earlier and brought the firm’s cumulative sales in the first five months of this year to NT$410.92 billion, an increase of 13 percent from a year earlier, TSMC said.
ELECTRONICS
Hon Hai sales rise 0.9%
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Friday last week reported NT$347.10 billion in consolidated sales for last month, up 24.03 percent from a year earlier and 0.9 percent from the previous month. The company attributed the increase to strong demand for computing devices. In the first five months of this year, Hon Hai posted NT$1.72 trillion in cumulative sales, up 8.8 percent from a year earlier, which marks the firm’s highest sales for the period.
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
TECH JUGGERNAUT: TSMC shares have more than doubled since ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022, as demand for cutting-edge artificial intelligence chips remains high Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday posted a better-than-expected 39 percent rise in quarterly revenue, assuaging concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) hardware spending is beginning to taper off. The main chipmaker for Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc reported third-quarter sales of NT$759.69 billion (US$23.6 billion), compared with the average analyst projection of NT$748 billion. For last month alone, TSMC reported revenue jumped 39.6 percent year-on-year to NT$251.87 billion. Taiwan’s largest company is to disclose its full third-quarter earnings on Thursday next week and update its outlook. Hsinchu-based TSMC produces the cutting-edge chips needed to train AI. The company now makes more
Protectionism: US trade chief Katherine Tai said the hikes would help to counter unfair trade practices from China, while boosting domestic clean energy investments US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) defended stiff tariff hikes against countries such as China, saying that paired with investment, they were a “legitimate and constructive” tool for reinvigorating domestic industries. Tai’s comments come a week after sharp tariff increases on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), EV batteries and solar cells took effect — with levies down the line on other products also recently finalized. The latest moves targeting US$18 billion in Chinese goods come weeks before next month’s US presidential election, with Democrats and Republicans pushing a hard line on China as competition between Washington and Beijing intensifies. In an interview on Thursday
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