Wistron Group (緯創集團) yesterday announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft Corp Taiwan’s artificial intelligence research and development center, whereby the two firms would create an office in Kaohsiung for artificial intelligence and big data-related products and services.
Wistron is also to invest NT$50 million (US$1.69 million) over the next two years to develop new talent in the area, Wistron Corp (緯創資通) vice chairman Robert Huang (黃柏漙) told a news conference in Taipei.
The office is part of the contract electronics manufacturer’s “digital transformation” from an original design manufacturer into a technology service provider, Huang said.
Photo: CNA
“Big data is not just for big business … it is the company’s mission to help all businesses embrace digital technology,” he said.
The Kaohsiung office is to have a strong emphasis on the cultivation of talent, as “we are growing people, not factories,” he added.
Artificial intelligence technologies are being developed for many different industries, and Wistron, in conjunction with Microsoft, plans to use its resources, as well its subsidiary WiAdvance Technology Co’s (緯謙科技) expertise in corporate digital transformation and smart manufacturing, to address various challenges facing local industries, Huang said.
Huang also serves as chairman of WiAdvance.
Tragedies such as the fire that killed six people at a karaoke parlor in Taipei in April could be avoided if inspectors could continually monitor firefighting equipment online, WiAdvance senior technology director Raymond Fan (范振煌) said.
Smart technology could also assist with disease prevention efforts by tracking individual’s movements and body temperature without compromising their privacy, he said.
As an example, Wistron has provided En Chu Kong Hospital (恩主公醫院) in New Taipei City’s Sanxia District (三峽) with a smart healthcare system incorporating remote capabilities.
The system allows medical instructions to be passed to patients and doctors to inspect how wounds are healing remotely, the company said.
IN THE AIR: While most companies said they were committed to North American operations, some added that production and costs would depend on the outcome of a US trade probe Leading local contract electronics makers Wistron Corp (緯創), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Inventec Corp (英業達) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) are to maintain their North American expansion plans, despite Washington’s 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods. Wistron said it has long maintained a presence in the US, while distributing production across Taiwan, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. The company is in talks with customers to align capacity with their site preferences, a company official told the Taipei Times by telephone on Friday. The company is still in talks with clients over who would bear the tariff costs, with the outcome pending further
A proposed 100 percent tariff on chip imports announced by US President Donald Trump could shift more of Taiwan’s semiconductor production overseas, a Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) researcher said yesterday. Trump’s tariff policy will accelerate the global semiconductor industry’s pace to establish roots in the US, leading to higher supply chain costs and ultimately raising prices of consumer electronics and creating uncertainty for future market demand, Arisa Liu (劉佩真) at the institute’s Taiwan Industry Economics Database said in a telephone interview. Trump’s move signals his intention to "restore the glory of the US semiconductor industry," Liu noted, saying that
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
STILL UNCLEAR: Several aspects of the policy still need to be clarified, such as whether the exemptions would expand to related products, PwC Taiwan warned The TAIEX surged yesterday, led by gains in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), after US President Donald Trump announced a sweeping 100 percent tariff on imported semiconductors — while exempting companies operating or building plants in the US, which includes TSMC. The benchmark index jumped 556.41 points, or 2.37 percent, to close at 24,003.77, breaching the 24,000-point level and hitting its highest close this year, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) data showed. TSMC rose NT$55, or 4.89 percent, to close at a record NT$1,180, as the company is already investing heavily in a multibillion-dollar plant in Arizona that led investors to assume
RSS