TECHNOLOGY
Advantech to acquire stake
Advantech Co (研華), the world’s biggest industrial computer manufacturer, yesterday said that its board of directors has approved a resolution to acquire 24.58 million shares of broadband systems integrator Hwacom Systems Inc (華電聯網) for NT$332.81 million (US$10.7 million). The strategic investment represents a 19.99 percent stake in Hwacom as the company eyes rising Internet of Things demand, Advantech said in a regulatory filing. Advantech purchased Hwacom shares at NT$13.7 per share and the net worth per share of Hwacom was NT$14.47 as of yesterday, the filing showed. The firms have long worked together and in 2015 partnered with Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) on a 4G smart vehicle project.
RETAIL
Momo.com income hits high
TV and online retailer Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體) yesterday said that revenue last quarter rose 22.7 percent to a record high NT$11.82 billion. Net profit reached NT$312 million, or earnings per share of NT$2.22. The company in a statement attributed the revenue growth to Mother’s Day and Children’s Day sales. Product promotions through “brand days” also played an imported part in boosting sales, the company said. To provide more delivery options to customers, Momo.com last month partnered with Taiwan Mobile Co (臺灣大哥大) to offer deliveries through nearly 800 Myfone stores nationwide.
INVESTMENT
Foreign investment rises
In the first six months of this year, the government approved US$3.51 billion of foreign investment into Taiwan, up 16.99 percent from a year earlier, thanks to Hitachi Ltd’s US$760.37 million investment in Yungtay Engineering Co (永大電機) and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group’s US$512.06 million capital injection into its Taipei branch, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Monday. In the first half of the year, the government approved US$47.47 million of investment by China-based investors, down 65.48 percent year-on-year, the ministry said in a statement, citing a high comparison base.
CHIPMAKERS
UMC withdraws unit’s IPO
United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) on Sunday night said that it had withdrawn an initial public offering (IPO) application for Chinese subsidiary Hejian Technology (Suzhou) Co (和艦) on the STAR start-up board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. UMC, the world’s No. 3 contract chipmaker, scrapped the plan due to differences between Chinese regulators and its underwriter, Changjiang Securities Co (長江證券), over Hejian’s ownership of a Chinese subsidiary, United Semiconductor (Xiamen) Co (聯芯), the company said in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange. Hejian holds an about 15 percent stake in United Semiconductor (Xiamen), which operates a 12-inch fab in Xiamen in China’s Fujian Province.
ELECTRONICS
Lite-On revenue slides 2%
Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) earlier this month said that revenue last month fell 2 percent annually to NT$16.15 billion due mainly to weakening market demand. The company said that its optoelectronics segment contributed 15 percent of total sales, of which vehicle LED lighting posted consecutive yearly growth. The information technology segment accounted for 66 percent of sales, while the storage segment accounted for 14 percent. Lite-On expects sales to improve in the second half of the year and to return to annual growth.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
CHEMICAL FIRE: 10 Indian employees were injured by smoke inhalation at a Tata Electronics plant in Tamil Nadu state that produces components for Apple Inc At least 10 people received medical treatment, with two hospitalized after a major fire on Saturday disrupted production at a key Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd plant in southern India that makes Apple Inc’s iPhone components. The fire occurred at the plant in the city of Hosur in Tamil Nadu state that makes some iPhone components. It broke out near another building inside the Tata complex, which was to begin producing complete iPhones in the coming months. The fire was contained to one building and has been extinguished fully, top district administrative official K.M. Sarayu said. No decision has been made on when
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