RETAIL
Eslite to exit Shenzhen
Eslite Spectrum Corp (誠品生活), which operates the Eslite bookstore chain (誠品書局), plans to close its Shenzhen outlet in China at the end of the year, citing the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and a change in international accounting rules, Eslite spokesman Wu Li-chieh (吳立傑) said in a statement on Friday. Eslite would record an asset impairment loss of NT$182 million (US$6.15 million) and an income loss of about NT$187 million, due to the early termination of its property lease, he said.
AUTOMAKERS
Tesla opens Tainan station
Electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc on Friday announced the opening of a V3 Supercharger station in Tainan, less than a week after its first electric vehicle charging station opened in Taipei. The new station, which has eight charging stalls, is at the Tainan Art Museum’s Building 2 and is larger than the facility at National Taiwan University in Taipei, which opened on Monday last week, with only three charging stalls. The V3 Supercharger stations, first unveiled last year, charge vehicles at a peak rate of 250 kilowatts (kW), compared with the previous generation, which had a peak rate of 145kW, Tesla said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
WPG revises T3EX bid
Semiconductor components distributor WPG Holdings Co’s (大聯大投資控股) board of directors has agreed to raise its public tender offer price for shares of freight forwarder and logistics operator T3EX Global Holdings Corp (台驊國際投控) to NT$32 per common share, up from the NT$28 per share it first proposed on June 18, WPG said on Saturday. The new offer price represents a premium of 4.74 percent compared with T3EX’s closing price of NT$30.55 on Friday.
GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s No. 3 silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said that it is considering further capacity expansion as customers are requesting more capacity due to rising end-market demand and persistent supply constraints. The Hsinchu-based company said that emerging technologies and applications from 5G, artificial intelligence and electric vehicles are driving semiconductor demand. The semiconductor industry has a positive outlook for this year and beyond, with shipments of all diameters of wafers to increase through 2023, GlobalWafers said. “We have received requests for expansion from many strategic partners. We are now in discussions with customers,” company chairwoman Doris Hsu (徐秀蘭) told a
OUTBREAK: About 200 of the airline’s 1,200 pilots are not able to work. Most of them have been quarantined to prevent further infection, but 12 have COVID-19 China Airlines Ltd (CAL,中華航空) yesterday confirmed that it would temporarily reduce its cargo flight services to cope with a pilot shortage, as one-sixth of its pilots have been sidelined by a COVID-19 outbreak. “We are working out a new schedule,” the airline said in a statement after local news media reports on Saturday said that it would be reducing its cargo services from Wednesday, primarily affecting US destinations. CAL declined to give details about its new operating plan, but the reports said that it would be suspending its cargo flights to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and
XSEMI: The new venture would consolidate the strengths and resources of the two market leaders to secure chip supply and offer clients total solutions, the partners said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Yageo Corp (國巨) yesterday signed an agreement to form a joint venture called XSemi Corp (國瀚半導體) to develop” small ICs” priced under US$2 per unit, marking the latest effort by Hon Hai to bolster its foothold in the semiconductor market. The collaboration fits into Hon Hai’s plans for expansion by providing a steady supply of small semiconductors, while also serving the global market, the companies said in a joint statement. The new company, to be located in Hsinchu, would “consolidate the strengths and resources of the two market leaders” to provide a “complete semiconductor
German semiconductor producer Infineon Technologies AG on Tuesday said that microchip supply bottlenecks could continue into next year, in a blow to the auto industry. “We predict that the imbalance between supply and demand will continue for a few quarters yet, with the risk that it lasts into 2022,” Infineon chief executive Reinhard Ploss said in a virtual news conference. He added that the “bottlenecks” are a particular problem for the Munich-based company in areas where they do not produce the chips themselves, but buy them from subcontractors to equip microcontrollers for vehicles or smart appliances. The auto industry remains plagued by
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