COMPUTERS
Asustek sales climb 5.07%
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) yesterday posted sales of NT$30.64 billion (US$980.48 million) for last month, an increase of 5.07 percent year-on-year, as business slowly regained momentum due to peak season demand. The company said it plans to reinforce its product innovation and business management as it expects further growth in the upcoming months. In the first eight months of the year, cumulative sales dropped 4.82 percent year-on-year to NT$216.27 billion.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Vanguard revenue slumps
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進), which supplies driver ICs for flat panels and power management chips, yesterday posted revenue of NT$7.29 billion for last month, a decrease of 8.03 percent month-on-month. Vanguard chief financial officer Amanda Huang (黃惠蘭) attributed the decline to lower wafer shipments. On an annual basis, revenue fell 12.28 percent. Separately, contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) posted a 4 percent month-on-month decline in revenue to NT$13.18 billion. That was flat from a year earlier.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
CTBC profit soars 107%
CTBC Financial Holding Co’s (中信金控) net profit rose 107 percent year-on-year last month, thanks to higher investment returns on stocks and bonds, while its banking arm also expanded, spokeswoman Chiu Ya-ling (邱雅玲) said yesterday. E.Sun Financial Holding Co’s (玉山金控) net profit increased 58 percent year-on-year due to growing financial technology and cross border payment services, while SinoPac Financial Holdings Co (永豐金控) said its net profit grew 25 percent last month due stable banking business.
AVIATION
AIDC denies supplying door
Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC, 漢翔航空) yesterday said that it did not manufacture the door blown out in Boeing Co’s high-pressure stress test for its new wide-body 777X aircraft on Thursday last week. AIDC only provides pressurized doors for Boeing 737 and 747 jets, and so far has not discussed supplying components for the 777X, general manager Ma Wan-june (馬萬鈞) said by telephone. “While the failure of the door has caught the attention of the media, we think it is normal for there to be failures in tests,” Ma said.
SHOEMAKERS
Demand boosts Fulgent Sun
Fulgent Sun International Holding Co (鈺齊國際) yesterday posted revenue of NT$1.16 million for last month, an increase of 36.11 percent year-on-year, but a 16.13 percent fall month-on-month. Cumulative revenue in the first eight months grew 25.51 percent year-on-year to a record NT$8.48 billion on the back of strong demand in the US, as well as European and Asian markets, the company said.
APPAREL
Orders boost Quang Viet
Down jacket and garment maker Quang Viet Enterprise Co (廣越企業) posted sales of NT$2.26 billion last month, an increase of 7.9 percent month-on-month and 2.41 percent year-on-year, while cumulative revenue in the first eight months soared 33.64 percent to NT$10.71 billion. “Major clients such as Patagonia, Adidas AG, Nike Inc and The North Face Inc have placed more orders this year,” a company official said by telephone yesterday. The firm’s top five clients have decided to hasten the pace of their expansion in the next two years, which would help boost sales, the official said.
US SANCTIONS: The Taiwan tech giant has ended all shipments to China-based Sophgo Technologies after one of their chips was discovered in a Huawei phone Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) suspended shipments to China-based chip designer Sophgo Technologies Ltd (算能科技) after a chip it made was found on a Huawei Technologies Co (華為) artificial intelligence (AI) processor, according to two people familiar with the matter. Sophgo had ordered chips from TSMC that matched the one found on Huawei’s Ascend 910B, the people said. Huawei is restricted from buying the technology to protect US national security. Reuters could not determine how the chip ended up on the Huawei product. Sophgo said in a statement on its Web site yesterday that it was in compliance with all laws
SPEED OF LIGHT: US lawmakers urged the commerce department to examine the national security threats from China’s development of silicon photonics technology US President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday said it is finalizing rules that would limit US investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology sectors in China that could threaten US national security. The rules, which were proposed in June by the US Department of the Treasury, were directed by an executive order signed by Biden in August last year covering three key sectors: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies and certain AI systems. The rules are to take effect on Jan. 2 next year and would be overseen by the Treasury’s newly created Office of Global Transactions. The Treasury said the “narrow
TECH TITANS: Nvidia briefly overtook Apple again on Friday after becoming the world’s largest company for a short period in June, as Microsoft fell to third place Nvidia Corp dethroned Apple Inc as the world’s most valuable company on Friday following a record-setting rally in the stock, powered by insatiable demand for its specialized artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Nvidia’s stock market value briefly touched US$3.53 trillion, slightly above Apple’s US$3.52 trillion, London Stock Exchange Group data showed. Nvidia ended the day up 0.8 percent, with a market value of US$3.47 trillion, while Apple’s shares rose 0.4 percent, valuing the iPhone maker at US$3.52 trillion. In June, Nvidia briefly became the world’s most valuable company before it was overtaken by Microsoft Corp and Apple. The tech trio’s market capitalizations have been
Two scoops of pistachio, one of corruption. For years holidaymakers have guzzled Sicilian gelato at famous parlors in Palermo, unaware that the booming businesses were controlled by organized crime. The fraud was a textbook case for detectives trained to sniff out dirty money, but even with three mobster classics — a suspicious bankruptcy, a front man and a scheming “Godfather” — it took years for investigators to shut the operation down. The Brioscia brand, made up of two ice cream parlors, was thriving at the end of the 2010s, attracting locals and foreign visitors alike with its glittering gold stars on travel