EQUITIES
TAIEX sinks near 16,400
The TAIEX nearly dropped to 16,400 points after further overnight losses on US markets, dealers said. The bellwether electronics sector led the downturn on the main local board, with investors concerned that rising interest rates would make the stocks less attractive. Selling was also reported among old-economy stocks, despite a rebound by select shipping heavyweights, dealers said. The TAIEX closed down 114.85 points, or 0.7 percent, at 16,347.99. Turnover totaled NT$257.168 billion (US$9.14 billion), with foreign institutional investors selling a net NT$8.53 billion of shares on the main board. The TAIEX fell for a third consecutive session after losing 1.5 percent over the previous two sessions. Before yesterday, the index had shed 2.79 percent since the beginning of the month.
LISTED COMPANIES
Firms’ revenue rises 16.56%
Publicly listed companies on the Taiwan Stock Exchange reported NT$3.46 trillion in combined revenue for last month, up 16.56 percent from a year earlier, the exchange said yesterday. Firms in the shipping and transportation, oil, gas and electricity, and iron and steel industries led the increase, the exchange said in a statement, adding that 603 firms experienced revenue growth, while 351 experienced a decline. Compared with September 2019, combined revenue grew 15.17 percent, it added. Accumulated revenue of all listed firms in the first nine months of the year reached NT$27.57 trillion, up 18.25 percent year-on-year, led by firms in the shipping and transportation, glass and ceramics, plastics, and iron and steel industries, the exchange said. Accumulated revenue increased 16.28 percent from the same period in 2019, it added.
CHIP SERVICES
ISTI says patent lawsuit over
Chip inspecting services provider Integrated Service Technology Inc (ISTI, 宜特科技) yesterday said that a two-year-long patent lawsuit with Phoenix Silicon International Corp (昇陽半導體) had ended after the Supreme Court overruled Phoenix Silicon’s appeal against ISTI. The judge ruled earlier this month that Phoenix Silicon’s patent related to wafer thinning process technology was invalid and would not cause infringement, ISTI said in a statement. ISTI would demand that Phoenix pay its attorney’s fees, the statement added. Silicon wafer recycler Phoenix Silicon in September 2019 filed a patent infringement lawsuit at the Intellectual Property Court against ISTI. The court in June last year ruled in favor of ISTI, prompting Phoenix Silicon to appeal the case, but it was disappointed again in a second trial in June this year. Phoenix Silicon then took the case to the Supreme Court.
ELECTRONICS
Merry to take energy pledge
Audio electronics maker Merry Electronics Co (美律) yesterday announced that it would take the RE100 pledge, joining companies such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Delta Electronics Co (台達電) in committing to a roadmap to using renewable energy only. Merry said its goal is to reach 60 percent renewable energy by 2030, 90 percent renewable energy by 2040 and 100 percent by 2050 for its global operations. Merry is the ninth Taiwanese company to join the RE100 global initiative. More than 300 companies worldwide have joined the pledge, including Apple Inc and Walmart Inc.
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) and Episil Technologies Inc (漢磊) yesterday announced plans to jointly build an 8-inch fab to produce silicon carbide (SiC) chips through an equity acquisition deal. SiC chips offer higher efficiency and lower energy loss than pure silicon chips, and they are able to operate at higher temperatures. They have become crucial to the development of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence data centers, green energy storage and industrial devices. Vanguard, a contract chipmaker focused on making power management chips and driver ICs for displays, is to acquire a 13 percent stake in Episil for NT$2.48 billion (US$77.1 million).
RSS