ENTERTAINMENT
Taipei Game Show canceled
The Taipei Game Show has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Taipei Computer Association (台北電腦公會) said yesterday. The annual expo was originally scheduled for February, but the association on Jan. 31 postponed it until June 25 to 28 after the WHO declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. As the Central Epidemic Command Center yesterday advised against indoor gatherings of more than 100 people, the association said in a statement that it and most participating companies had agreed to call off the show this year.
SEMICONDUCTORS
China approves ASE merger
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s Anti-Monopoly Bureau has lifted restrictions on the merger of Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (日月光半導體) and Siliconware Precision Industries Co Ltd (矽品精密), ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) said yesterday. The companies announced on June 30, 2016, that they planned to merge and establish a holding company. Previously, the transaction had been approved by various anti-trust authorities in different jurisdictions, including a conditional approval by the bureau on Nov. 24, 2017, the world’s largest chip packaging and testing firm said.
ENTERTAINMENT
Kuang Hong proposes payout
Entertainment service provider Kuang Hong Arts Management Inc (寬宏藝術) yesterday said its board has proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$4.5 per share, which suggested a dividend yield of 10.7 percent as the company’s shares closed at NT$42.05 in Taipei trading. The planned payout is greater than last year when the company distributed a cash dividend of NT$2 per share, plus a stock dividend of NT$1 each. Kuang Hong also said that the COVID-19 outbreak would negatively affect its business in the first half of this year. Its sales last year rose 39.26 percent to NT$1.61 billion (US$53.1 million), from NT$1.16 billion in 2018.
ELECTRONICS
Everlight income grows
LED chip packager and tester Everlight Electronics Co (億光) yesterday reported that net income last year grew 3.68 percent year-on-year to NT$822 million, or earnings per share of NT$1.86, from a better product mix and the high-end application market. Gross margin improved 0.99 percentage points to 24.46 percent and operating margin rose 0.29 percentage points to 3.98 percent, the company said in a financial statement. However, revenue decreased 12.96 percent to NT$20.97 billion, due to US-China trade tensions and declining LED product prices. The company’s board has proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$1.4 per share, down from NT$1.5 last year, but suggesting a payout ratio of 75.27 percent.
TIREMAKERS
Cheng Shin income drops
Cheng Shin Rubber Industry Co (正新橡膠), which sells its products under the Maxxis brand, on Tuesday reported net income of NT$3.4 billion for last year, down from NT$3.52 billion in 2018, due to continued weakness in the Chinese auto market. Earnings per share fell to NT$1.04 from NT$1.09 in 2018, although revenue edged up NT$109.57 billion, compared with NT$109.49 billion in 2018. The Changhua County-based company’s board has proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$1 per share, down from the NT$1.1 it paid out a year earlier.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”