EQUITIES
Virus worries impact TAIEX
The TAIEX yesterday moved lower to close below 17,000 points, as investors’ concerns over a surge in domestic COVID-19 cases continued. Selling focused on large-cap tech stocks, while cyclical old economy stocks also came under pressure later in the session as investors locked in gains posted in previous sessions, dealers said. The TAIEX ended down 109.99 points, or 0.64 percent, at 16,966.22, while turnover totaled NT$398.405 billion (US$14.348 billion), up from NT$350.72 billion the previous day. Foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$14.97 billion of shares on the market yesterday, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
ELECTRONICS
Innolux profit soars 42.3%
Flat-panel maker Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday posted NT$31.38 billion in revenue for last month, the highest in about four-and-a-half years. Revenue increased 3.4 percent from April and 42.3 percent from a year earlier. Shipments of large panels for computers and TVs rose 4 percent sequentially, while shipments of small panels dropped 2 percent. During the first five months of the year, revenue surged 56.36 percent year-on-year to NT$145.56 billion.
AUTO PARTS
Hiroca’s sales rise 10.73%
Automotive components maker Hiroca Holdings Ltd (廣華控股) yesterday reported consolidated sales of NT$8441.84 million for last month, up 10.73 percent year-on-year. Hiroca, which produces interior trim parts, as well as plastic, fabric and leather decorations, said that an increase in shipments to major automakers in China boosted its sales last month. However, revenue fell 20.78 percent from April due to a shortage of chips, the firm said. Cumulative sales in the first five months of this year rose 51.61 percent to NT$2.77 billion from a year earlier.
CHIPMAKERS
Winbond buys equipment
Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電) yesterday said that it has ordered NT$5.33 billion of manufacturing equipment from Applied Materials South East Asia Pte Ltd, after its board of directors approved a NT$378 million capital expenditure last month. Revenue last month soared 92.05 percent to NT$8.21 billion year-on-year from NT$4.27 billion last year, but edged lower 1 percent month-on-month from NT$8.3 billion in April. Cumulative revenue in the first five months totaled NT$29.63 billion from NT$15.9 billion last year.
MANUFACTURING
Value Valves demand rises
Value Valves Co (捷流閥業) yesterday reported that revenue last month rose 1.1 percent month-on-month to NT$208.1 million, the highest this year, thanks to rising demand in the electronics and petrochemical industries. However, the figure fell 0.34 percent year-on-year. In the first five months, cumulative revenue fell 8.97 percent to NT$923.91 million from last year, as major customers delayed orders over COVID-19 concerns, the firm said.
MANUFACTURING
Sheh Fung Screws revenue increases
Screw manufacturer Sheh Fung Screws Co (世豐螺絲) yesterday posted NT$244 million in revenue for last month, a spike of 71.86 percent from a year earlier on the back of selling prices hikes and strong demand from the US market. Demand for screws is gaining heat as the property market in the US market recovers and do-it-yourself home improvement projects grow increasingly popular, the Kaohsiung-based company said. Shipping clogs protracted delivery time and helped boost selling prices, it said, adding that a low base last year also lent support to the impressive showing.
ELECTRONICS
HTC VR headsets to launch
HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday said that it would launch new virtual reality (VR) headsets in its Vive lineup tomorrow. The Vive Pro 2, a successor to the original Vive Pro, is to sell for NT$24,900. It features a 120-degree field of view, a refresh rate of 120 hertz, and “premium 5K fidelity,” with 2.5k resolution per eye, HTC said. The Vive Focus 3, the latest in the firm’s series of all-in-one business-oriented VR headsets, can be preordered from today, before its June 25 launch, for NT$32,900, it said.
TECH TITAN: Pandemic-era demand for semiconductors turbocharged the nation’s GDP per capita to surpass South Korea’s, but it still remains half that of Singapore Taiwan is set to surpass South Korea this year in terms of wealth for the first time in more than two decades, marking a shift in Asia’s economic ranks made possible by the ascent of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電). According to the latest forecasts released on Thursday by the central bank, Taiwan’s GDP is expected to expand 4.55 percent this year, a further upward revision from the 4.45 percent estimate made by the statistics bureau last month. The growth trajectory puts Taiwan on track to exceed South Korea’s GDP per capita — a key measure of living standards — a
Samsung Electronics Co shares jumped 4.47 percent yesterday after reports it has won approval from Nvidia Corp for the use of advanced high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips, which marks a breakthrough for the South Korean technology leader. The stock closed at 83,500 won in Seoul, the highest since July 31 last year. Yesterday’s gain comes after local media, including the Korea Economic Daily, reported that Samsung’s 12-layer HBM3E product recently passed Nvidia’s qualification tests. That clears the components for use in the artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators essential to the training of AI models from ChatGPT to DeepSeek (深度求索), and finally allows Samsung
READY TO HELP: Should TSMC require assistance, the government would fully cooperate in helping to speed up the establishment of the Chiayi plant, an official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said its investment plans in Taiwan are “unchanged” amid speculation that the chipmaker might have suspended construction work on its second chip packaging plant in Chiayi County and plans to move equipment arranged for the plant to the US. The Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported earlier yesterday that TSMC had halted the construction of the chip packaging plant, which was scheduled to be completed next year and begin mass production in 2028. TSMC did not directly address whether construction of the plant had halted, but said its investment plans in Taiwan remain “unchanged.” The chipmaker started
MORTGAGE WORRIES: About 34% of respondents to a survey said they would approach multiple lenders to pay for a home, while 29.2% said they would ask family for help New housing projects in Taiwan’s six special municipalities, as well as Hsinchu city and county, are projected to total NT$710.65 billion (US$23.61 billion) in the upcoming fall sales season, a record 30 percent decrease from a year earlier, as tighter mortgage rules prompt developers to pull back, property listing platform 591.com (591新建案) said yesterday. The number of projects has also fallen to 312, a more than 20 percent decrease year-on-year, underscoring weakening sentiment and momentum amid lingering policy and financing headwinds. New Taipei City and Taoyuan bucked the downturn in project value, while Taipei, Hsinchu city and county, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung
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