BANKING
Yuan deposits at six-year low
Chinese yuan deposits held by banks operating in Taiwan last month fell to the lowest level in more than six years as the currency’s slumping interest rates made it less attractive, the central bank said on Friday. The balance of yuan deposits totaled 246.01 billion yuan (US$34.64 billion), down about 6.11 billion yuan from the end of March, central bank data showed. That is the lowest level since February 2014, when yuan deposits totaled 247.05 billion yuan. The decline in yuan deposits came after institutional investors allocated yuan-denominated funds to investments, or as payments for purchases, central bank Department of Foreign Exchange specialist Chen Wan-ning (陳婉寧) said, adding that retail investors also moved their deposits to buy yuan-denominated insurance policies.
ELECTRONICS
Hon Hai aids Japan, Israel AI
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) has teamed up with semiconductor firms in Japan and Israel to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) image solution. In a statement on Wednesday, Hon Hai said that it has formed a partnership with Japan-headquartered system-on-chip solution provider Socionext Inc and Israel-based AI chip designer Hailo to launch next-generation AI processing solutions for video analytics. The results would be used in diverse segments, such as smart cities, smart medical care and smart retail development, as well as the industrial Internet of Things, Hon Hai said, adding that it is combining its high-density, fan-less and edge computing solution — BOXiedge — with Socionext’s high-efficiency parallel processor — the SynQuacer SC2A11 — and Hailo’s deep learning processor — the Hailo-8 — in the development.
CHIP RACE: Three years of overbroad export controls drove foreign competitors to pursue their own AI chips, and ‘cost US taxpayers billions of dollars,’ Nvidia said China has figured out the US strategy for allowing it to buy Nvidia Corp’s H200s and is rejecting the artificial intelligence (AI) chip in favor of domestically developed semiconductors, White House AI adviser David Sacks said, citing news reports. US President Donald Trump on Monday said that he would allow shipments of Nvidia’s H200 chips to China, part of an administration effort backed by Sacks to challenge Chinese tech champions such as Huawei Technologies Co (華為) by bringing US competition to their home market. On Friday, Sacks signaled that he was uncertain about whether that approach would work. “They’re rejecting our chips,” Sacks
Taiwan’s exports soared 56 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$64.05 billion last month, propelled by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and cloud service infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) called the figure an unexpected upside surprise, citing a wave of technology orders from overseas customers alongside the usual year-end shopping season for technology products. Growth is likely to remain strong this month, she said, projecting a 40 percent to 45 percent expansion on an annual basis. The outperformance could prompt the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and
NATIONAL SECURITY: Intel’s testing of ACM tools despite US government control ‘highlights egregious gaps in US technology protection policies,’ a former official said Chipmaker Intel Corp has tested chipmaking tools this year from a toolmaker with deep roots in China and two overseas units that were targeted by US sanctions, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. Intel, which fended off calls for its CEO’s resignation from US President Donald Trump in August over his alleged ties to China, got the tools from ACM Research Inc, a Fremont, California-based producer of chipmaking equipment. Two of ACM’s units, based in Shanghai and South Korea, were among a number of firms barred last year from receiving US technology over claims they have
BARRIERS: Gudeng’s chairman said it was unlikely that the US could replicate Taiwan’s science parks in Arizona, given its strict immigration policies and cultural differences Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登), which supplies wafer pods to the world’s major semiconductor firms, yesterday said it is in no rush to set up production in the US due to high costs. The company supplies its customers through a warehouse in Arizona jointly operated by TSS Holdings Ltd (德鑫控股), a joint holding of Gudeng and 17 Taiwanese firms in the semiconductor supply chain, including specialty plastic compounds producer Nytex Composites Co (耐特) and automated material handling system supplier Symtek Automation Asia Co (迅得). While the company has long been exploring the feasibility of setting up production in the US to address
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