AIRLINES
StarLux tickets sell out
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) yesterday said that tickets for its first flights to three destinations sold out in just 11 minutes after sales started at 11am. The carrier is scheduled to start services on Jan. 23 to Macau; Penang, Malaysia; and Da Nang, Vietnam. Starlux spokesman Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國維) told reporters that tickets for the first flight to Macau sold out in six minutes, tickets for Da Nang sold out in nine minutes and those for Penang in 11 minutes. Tickets on the second flight to Macau were also sold out yesterday, it said. Starlux also announced its rewards program, Cosmile, which started signing up members.
DEFENSE
AIDC to sign F-16 deal
Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC, 漢翔航空) and Lockheed Martin Corp are to sign a strategic partnership agreement today to promote the establishment of an F-16 maintenance center in Taiwan, AIDC said. Taiwan is in the process of procuring 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets, known as the F-16Vs, and the government is implementing a NT$110 billion (US$3.63 billion) program to upgrade the nation’s existing fleet of 142 F-16A/B fighters to the same specifications as the F-16V. This has prompted AIDC to collaborate with the US defense contractor to build a regional F-16 maintenance repair and overhaul center in Taiwan, the company said.
ELECTRONICS
HTC confirms layoffs
HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday confirmed market rumors of employee layoffs as it looks to ensure the future of its smartphone and virtual reality businesses. HTC continues to innovate its product mix and services, while setting new standards in domains such as virtual reality and blockchain, the company said in a statement. HTC did not disclose the exact number of employees affected, nor did it provide a time line, but mainly Taiwan-based employees would be affected, it said. HTC last year laid off about 1,500 employees from its manufacturing department. The company has more than 3,000 employees.
RETAILERS
PChome Apple sales surge
PChome Online Inc (網路家庭) yesterday reported a 50 percent surge in sales of Apple Inc’s mobile devices during its Double 12 shopping event. Among the top 10 items in terms of sales were AirPods, the iPhone 11 Pro Max, the iPhone 11 and the iPad. Samsung Electronics Co’s Galaxy S10e and Nintendo Co’s Switch consoles also made the list. The company said that sales of PCs and other information and network devices grew more than 40 percent, while sales of cosmetics and health products; fashion and sports items; and home appliances posted 30 percent increases.
AUTO PARTS
Tong Yang profit up 42%
Tong Yang Industry Co (東陽實業), which manufactures bumpers and automotive sheet metal, yesterday posted a pretax profit of NT$323 million for last month, up 42 percent year-on-year and the highest on record. Pretax profit in the first 11 months was NT$2.27 billion, up 6 percent year-on-year, the company said in a statement. The company last week posted revenue of NT$2.11 billion, up 7.66 percent year-on-year, with its aftermarket business posting a record-high NT$1.58 billion, up 27 percent year-on-year.
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
TECH WINNERS: Taiwan and South Korea reported robust trade, which suggests that they have critical advantages in the rapidly expanding AI supply chain, an official said Exports last month surged to a new high, as booming demand tied to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure fueled shipments of advanced technology components, underscoring the nation’s pivotal role in the global semiconductor supply chain. Outbound shipments climbed to US$80.18 billion, the highest ever for a single month, rising 61.8 percent from a year earlier and marking the 29th consecutive month of growth, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. “The surge was driven primarily by global investment in AI infrastructure,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said. The mass production of next-generation AI computing systems has accelerated procurement across the semiconductor supply
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