ENERGY
Power use rises 4.5 percent
As domestic companies expanded production to meet global demand and people gradually changed their lifestyles amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan’s energy consumption increased 4.5 percent last year from 2020, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Energy consumption in the industrial sector increased 8.5 percent from a year earlier due to increased economic activities; it decreased 5.2 percent in the transportation sector as people avoided going out to comply with social distancing measures; it rose 2.6 percent in the residential sector as people spent more time at home; and it fell 1.4 percent in the service sector due to the government’s COVID-19 restrictions, the ministry said in a statement.
TELECOMS
Taiwan Mobile optimistic
Telecom operator Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) yesterday told investors that revenue this year would expand 15 to 17 percent from NT$15.61 billion (US$559.9 million) last year, mainly driven by its e-commerce subsidiary Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體). Taiwan Mobile said its mobile service revenue is projected to rise 3 to 5 percent year-on-year, after returning to growth last year, as 5G subscribers propped up the average revenue per user, helping to drive up revenue 4 percent annually. This year, Taiwan Mobile has set aside NT$11.2 billion for capital spending, with NT$6.43 billion to go toward its telecom business, it said. However, it would reduce spending on 5G-related buildup this year after it reached its peak last year, the company said. The company’s projection does not factor in its proposal to merge with local peer Taiwan Star Telecom Corp (台灣之星).
ELECTRONICS
Luxshare plans share sale
Apple Inc supplier Luxshare Precision Industry Co (立訊精密) is seeking to raise up to 13.5 billion yuan (US$2.13 billion) through a private share placement to fund a series of projects from intelligent wearable device manufacturing upgrades to electric vehicle component production. The Shenzhen, China-listed company plans to issue up to 2.1 billion shares to as many as 35 investors, including mutual funds, securities firms, trusts, finance companies, insurers and select foreign institutional investors, it said in an exchange filing. The firm aims to spend 6.2 billion yuan of the proceeds to construct or upgrade facilities and technology related to the production of intelligent wearable devices, and about 2 billion yuan on the production of electric vehicle components, the statement said. About 3.55 billion yuan of the proceeds would be used to supplement working capital, it added.
TRANSPORTATION
NDC approves light-rail plan
The National Development Council (NDC) has approved a feasibility study for the construction of a light-rail line linking Wugu (五股), Lujhou (蘆州) and Taishan (泰山) districts in New Taipei City, the city’s Department of Rapid Transit Systems (DORTS) said on Monday. The study would need to be approved by the Cabinet before New Taipei City can proceed with the next steps, which include an environmental impact assessment that would take three years, DORTS said. If construction on the 11.61km line goes ahead, it is estimated to cost NT$22.78 billion and could take about six years to complete, the department said. Construction of the project could be completed by 2030, the New Taipei City government has said, adding that it is designed to alleviate the traffic congestion that plagues the areas during rush hour.
AI REVOLUTION: The event is to take place from Wednesday to Friday at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center’s halls 1 and 2 and would feature more than 1,100 exhibitors Semicon Taiwan, an annual international semiconductor exhibition, would bring leaders from the world’s top technology firms to Taipei this year, the event organizer said. The CEO Summit is to feature nine global leaders from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), ASE Technology Holding Co (ASE, 日月光投控), Applied Materials Inc, Google, Samsung Electronics Co, SK Hynix Inc, Microsoft Corp, Interuniversity Microelectronic Centre and Marvell Technology Group Ltd, SEMI said in a news release last week. The top executives would delve into how semiconductors are positioned as the driving force behind global technological innovation amid the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution, the organizer said. Among them,
Demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips should spur growth for the semiconductor industry over the next few years, the CEO of a major supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) said, dismissing concerns that investors had misjudged the pace and extent of spending on AI. While the global chip market has grown about 8 percent annually over the past 20 years, AI semiconductors should grow at a much higher rate going forward, Scientech Corp (辛耘) chief executive officer Hsu Ming-chi (許明琪) told Bloomberg Television. “This booming of the AI industry has just begun,” Hsu said. “For the most prominent
Former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) yesterday warned against the tendency to label stakeholders as either “pro-China” or “pro-US,” calling such rigid thinking a “trap” that could impede policy discussions. Liu, an adviser to the Cabinet’s Economic Development Committee, made the comments in his keynote speech at the committee’s first advisers’ meeting. Speaking in front of Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰), National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) and other officials, Liu urged the public to be wary of falling into the “trap” of categorizing people involved in discussions into either the “pro-China” or “pro-US” camp. Liu,
Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said Taiwan’s government plans to set up a business service company in Kyushu, Japan, to help Taiwanese companies operating there. “The company will follow the one-stop service model similar to the science parks we have in Taiwan,” Kuo said. “As each prefecture is providing different conditions, we will establish a new company providing services and helping Taiwanese companies swiftly settle in Japan.” Kuo did not specify the exact location of the planned company but said it would not be in Kumamoto, the Kyushu prefecture in which Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC, 台積電) has a
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