LENS MAKERS
Genius reports income fall
Genius Electronic Optical Co (玉晶光), a camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones, yesterday reported net income of NT$108 million (US$3.5 million) for October, down 23 percent year-on-year, with earnings per share (EPS) of NT$1.08. Analysts said that firms in the iPhone supply chain face weak demand this quarter, mainly due to Chinese smartphone inventory adjustments and declining iPhone XR orders. In the first 10 months of the year, Genius Electronic Optical’s net income was NT$754 million, up 23.94 percent from the same period last year, or EPS of NT$7.56.
AUTO SALES
Hotai to build service center
Hotai Motor Co (和泰汽車), which distributes Toyota and Lexus vehicles in Taiwan, yesterday announced plans to build a service center on company-owned land in Taoyuan’s Yangmei District (楊梅). Construction of the predelivery service center is estimated to cost NT$519.76 million, Hotai said. The project is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2020, it said. Hotai sold 99,032 vehicles in the first 10 months of the year, a market share of 27.7 percent.
ECONOMY
Banknote change dismissed
The central bank on Thursday said it has no plan to issue new versions of New Taiwan dollar banknotes, because it is one of the world’s least-counterfeited currencies. The central bank’s remark came after rumors on the Line messenger app said the government is to redesign NT dollar bills at a cost of NT$50 billion. Executive Yuan spokeswoman Kolas Yotaka on Thursday said the rumor was complete misinformation. She said that NT dollar bills have an excellent counterfeit-proof design and the government has not allocated any funds for changes.
ELECTRONICS
King Yuan buys machinery
King Yuan Electronics Co (京元電子), an IC circuit testing service provider, yesterday said that it had purchased 77 machinery items from Teradyne (Asia) Ptd Ltd for NT$1.21 billion to meet rising demand for IC testing. King Yuan posted a 2.17 percent annual increase in revenue for the first 10 months of this year to NT$16.95 billion as it benefited from increased demand for chips used in smartphones, Internet of Things applications and vehicles.
BANKING
OBU assets decline
The 60 offshore banking units (OBUs) of financial institutions operating in Taiwan had assets totaling US$203.044 billion as of the end of October, down US$928 million, or 0.5 percent, from September, the central bank said in a statement yesterday. The OBUs of 37 local banks held US$181.944 billion in assets, while foreign banks’ 23 OBUs held US$21.10 billion, it said. At the end of October, the primary uses of OBU funds were discounts and loans, amounting to US$83.562 billion, or 41.2 percent of total assets, it said.
MANUFACTURING
TIER reports slow growth
The manufacturing sector in October saw sluggish growth for a fifth consecutive month amid escalating trade tensions between the US and China, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) said on Thursday. The composite index for the manufacturing sector rose just 0.54 points from a month earlier to 11.43, which TIER economist Fang Chun-teh (方俊德) attributed to high international crude oil prices and the launch of new devices by major brands.
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Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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