FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Reserves hit another record
Taiwan’s foreign-exchange reserves hit an all-time high of US$463.043 billion at the end of last month thanks to increased returns from the central bank’s management of foreign-exchange reserves, and the appreciation of the euro and other currencies against the US dollar, the bank said on Tuesday. The foreign-exchange reserves increased US$1.259 billion from December last year, the bank said, adding that it was the third consecutive month in which foreign-exchange reserves posted a record high.
CHIPMAKERS
Taiwan remains global leader
Taiwan has maintained its global lead in wafer production capacity, said IC Insights, a firm that researches the semiconductor market. Last year, Taiwan remained the leader in global wafer capacity with a 21.8 percent share, a slight increase from 21.3 percent in 2017. Taiwan was only slightly ahead of South Korea, which accounted for 21.3 percent of global wafer capacity, the recently released Global Wafer Capacity report by IC Insights said.
ELECTRONICS
Risks to hit handset sales
Growing economic uncertainty would not favor local handset components suppliers Catcher Technology Co (可成), Merry Electronics Co (美律) and TXC Corp (晶技) this quarter, analysts said. Low seasonal demand and disruptions from the Lunar New Year holiday are expected to drag down sales for handset component makers, they said. Catcher reported weaker-than-expected sales of NT$4.91 billion (US$159.16 million) last month, down 26.7 percent from a month earlier; Merry’s sales dropped 23 percent to NT$2.92 billion; and TXC’s sales fell 8.7 percent to NT$611 million.
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
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