EQUITIES
TAIEX investors take profits
Shares in Taipei yesterday closed moderately lower as investors shifted to the sell side, taking advantage of the main board’s earlier upturn. Selling focused on the bellwether electronics sector, which had driven the broader market higher in recent sessions, while old economy and financial stocks remained largely in the doldrums, dealers said. The TAIEX ended down 70.88 points, or 0.51 percent, at 13,807.13, on turnover of NT$263.21 billion (US$9.13 billion). Foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$4.78 billion of shares on the main board yesterday, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
BANKING
NT dollar’s gains ‘limited’
The central bank has rejected pressure from exporters to reverse the appreciation of the New Taiwan dollar, saying that the currency’s gains have been limited compared with other currencies in the region. In a Facebook post, the bank disputed critics’ contention that the NT dollar has risen 15 percent and harmed the global competitiveness of local exporters, saying that the currency has appreciated about 6.7 percent against the greenback since the end of 2018, and risen about 4.5 percent so far this year. The year-to-date gains are lower than the Chinese yuan’s 6.01 percent rise and the Japanese yen’s 4.65 percent rise against the US dollar over the same period, and just above the 4.14 percent rise of the South Korean won, it said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
TSMC to list OTC bonds
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is scheduled to list NT$12 billion in green bonds on the over-the-counter (OTC) market on Wednesday next week, the Taipei Exchange said yesterday. TSMC would become the eighth local firm to issue green bonds on the OTC market this year, the exchange said. The green bonds would consist of a five-year NT$1.6 billion tranche with a coupon rate of 0.4 percent, a seven-year NT$5.6 billion tranche at 0.44 percent and a 10-year NT$4.8 billion tranche at 0.48 percent, TSMC said on Monday. The funds raised are to be used on green building projects and other eco-friendly initiatives, it said.
TECHNOLOGY
Huawei market share falls
Huawei Technologies Co’s (華為) global smartphone market share is expected to fall to just 4 percent next year, down from 14 percent this year, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. A sustained campaign of sanctions against Huawei from the US government has resulted in the firm losing access to key software, chip design and manufacturing partners. The forecast points to other established Chinese brands, such as Xiaomi Corp (小米) and Oppo Mobile Telecommunications Corp (歐珀), stepping in to fill the void left by Huawei, benefiting along with Apple Inc’s iPhone sales.
APPAREL
Makalot to issue shares
Apparel maker Makalot Industrial Co (聚陽實業) yesterday said that its board of directors approved a plan to issue shares through a cash capital increase to repay bank loans. The firm plans to issue 22 million new shares, with 15 percent of them reserved for employee subscription, 10 percent open for public subscription and the remaining 75 percent going to existing shareholders. The board has authorized the firm chairman to decide details such as issue price, issue terms and conditions, payment period and other issuance matters.
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
An Indian factory producing iPhone components resumed work yesterday after a fire that halted production — the third blaze to disrupt Apple Inc’s local supply chain since the start of last year. Local industrial behemoth Tata Group’s plant in Tamil Nadu, which was shut down by the unexplained fire on Saturday, is a key linchpin of Apple’s nascent supply chain in the country. A spokesperson for subsidiary Tata Electronics Pvt yesterday said that the company would restart work in “many areas of the facility today.” “We’ve been working diligently since Saturday to support our team and to identify the cause of the fire,”
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
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