ELECTRONICS
Yageo acquisition approved
The Fair Trade Commission on Wednesday approved Yageo Corp’s (國巨) acquisition of Kemet Corp, but Yageo still needs to gain approval from US and Chinese regulators to close the deal. Yageo, the nation’s largest passive components supplier, in November last year announced that it planned to acquire Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Kemet for US$1.64 billion. Kemet, founded in 1919, owns 23 production sites in the US, Europe and Asia. The acquisition is expected to strengthen Yageo’s multilayer ceramic capacitor production, and bolster its automotive and 5G applications, helping it secure more orders in the US, European and Japanese markets.
APPAREL
Makalot pretax income falls
Makalot Industrial Co Ltd (聚陽) yesterday reported that pretax income last month fell 12.7 percent annually, but rose 33.8 percent monthly, to NT$213.97 million (US$7.1 million), as the COVID-19 pandemic affected operations in the regional supply chain and reduced its capacity utilization. The manufacturer of ready-to-wear apparel said that its pretax profit in the first quarter fell 6.84 percent annually, but grew 17.7 percent quarterly to NT$584.29 million, or earnings per share of NT$2.66. Revenue declined 8.76 percent from a year earlier to NT$6.13 billion, it said. The firm is expected to face headwinds in the near term in light of weak demand in the US and Europe amid the pandemic, analysts have said.
TEXTILES
Tri Ocean to sell properties
Tri Ocean Textile Co’s (三洋紡織) board of directors yesterday approved a plan to sell land and buildings in Taoyuan’s Dashulin (大樹林) area as the maker of fiber yarns aims to strengthen its working capital in preparation for a transformation of the firm’s business. Tri Ocean vice president Michelle Yang (楊宜蓁) told an online news conference that the 1,520.06 ping (5,025m2) of land and accompanying buildings are valued at NT$168 million, accounting for 11.33 percent of the firm’s total assets. The company plans to sell the properties through an auction, Yang said, without elaborating on the details of the firm’s business transformation.
ELECTRONICS
Gou increases Hon Hai stake
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) said in a regulatory filing that founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) last month raised his holdings in the company by 3.74 million shares to boost his stake by 0.27 percent to 9.65 percent. Analysts said the move suggested that Gou, who remains on the company’s board, aimed to support the company’s share price by raising his stake. The purchase was also evidence that Gou remains confident in Hon Hai’s business outlook in the longer term, although the COVID-19 pandemic has damaged the global economy, analysts said. Hon Hai shares yesterday fell 0.13 percent to close at NT$74 in Taipei trading.
SMARTPHONES
China shipments stage rally
Smartphone shipments in China last month totaled 21.03 million units, down 21.8 percent year-on-year, but up 231.6 percent monthly, recovering rapidly from the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic seen in the previous month, NH Investment & Securities Co said in a note yesterday, citing data compiled by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology. The main drivers behind the smartphone shipment recovery were a sharp increase in the number of business days and the reopening smartphone retail stores, including those of Apple Inc, the Seoul-based brokerage said.
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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