SEMICONDUCTORS
Silicon Motion mulls sale
Silicon Motion Technology Corp (慧榮科技) is exploring a potential sale amid takeover interest, people familiar with the matter have said. The semiconductor company is working with advisers as it holds talks with potential buyers, the people said. Silicon Motion makes NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices, its Web site says. It also supplies data centers, and makes specialized industrial and automotive solid-state drives. The company’s American depositary receipts have fallen about 19 percent this year, giving it a market value of US$2.7 billion, although its share price has risen amid the takeover speculation. Founded in 1995 in San Jose, California, Silicon Motion reported net income of US$60.6 million in the fourth quarter of last year, up 9.4 percent from the third quarter.
COSMETICS
Maywufa to build factories
Maywufa Co Ltd (美吾華), which manufactures and sells hair and skincare products under the Maywufa brand in Taiwan, has pledged NT$900 million (US$30.64 million) to install cosmetics plants at the Youth Industrial Park Service Center (幼獅工業區) in Taoyuan’s Yangmei District (楊梅) after the InvesTaiwan Service Center approved its application to participate in the government’s incentive programs, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Friday. The Invest in Taiwan initiative has so far attracted 1,188 firms to invest more than NT$1.68 trillion, creating 133,500 local jobs, the ministry said. Thirteen applications to join the initiative are pending, it said.
LABOR
More workers furloughed
The number of workers on official furlough programs increased over the past week, surpassing 14,000 as travel agencies continued to be hampered by strict border controls amid a spike in locally transmitted cases of COVID-19, the Ministry of Labor said yesterday. Ministry data showed that the number of workers on unpaid leave rose to 14,398 as of Saturday, up 881 from the report released on Monday last week. The number of firms implementing furlough programs rose by 103 from a week earlier to 2,270, the data showed. The increase is partly attributed to a spike in workers placed on unpaid leave in the support services industry, which is largely comprised of travel agencies, amid a local outbreak of COVID-19, the ministry said. As of Saturday, the support services industry reported the highest number of furloughed workers at 8,405, followed by 1,446 in the transportation and warehousing industry and 1,357 in the manufacturing sector, the ministry said.
EQUITIES
Foreign sell-off continues
Foreign investors last week sold a net NT$23.06 billion of local shares after selling a net NT$55.59 billion a week earlier, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. As of Friday, foreign investors had sold NT$631.46 billion of local shares since the beginning of the year, it said. Last week, the top three shares sold by foreign investors were Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控), Taiwan Business Bank (台灣企銀) and Yuanta Financial Holding Co (元大金控), while the top three shares bought by foreign investors were China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), Walsin Lihwa Corp (華新麗華) and Innolux Corp (群創光電), it added. As of Friday, market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$21.57 trillion, or 40.87 percent of total market capitalization, it said.
Contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) yesterday said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Polar Semiconductor LLC to collaborate on the production of 8-inch wafers in the US. The collaboration aims to strengthen 8-inch wafer manufacturing in the US amid Washington’s efforts to increase onshore manufacturing of semiconductors, contribute to supply chain resilience against shifting geopolitical dynamics, and ensure a secure domestic supply of power semiconductors critical to automotive, electric grids, robotic manufacturing and data centers, the companies said in a joint statement. Under the MOU, Polar and UMC will identify devices for Polar to manufacture at
TECH TITANS: Amazon’s latest chip joins Google in competing for the 90 percent market share held by Nvidia, which claims it is ‘a generation ahead of the industry’ Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Tuesday launched its in-house-built Trainium3 artificial intelligence (AI) chip, marking a significant push to compete with Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market for AI computing power. The move intensifies competition in the AI chip market, where Nvidia dominates with an estimated 80 to 90 percent market share for products used in training large language models that power the likes of ChatGPT. Google last week caused tremors in the industry when it was reported that Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc would employ Google AI chips in data centers, signaling new competition for Nvidia. This followed the release last month of
INSULATED: The company said it is less exposed to global complications, as it has built a strong footprint worldwide, and has multiple sources of rare earths and raw minerals Merck Group yesterday said it would ramp up production next year at its new flagship facility in Kaohsiung’s Lujhu District (路竹) to satisfy growing demand for advanced semiconductor materials and specialty gases, and to address supply resilience issues amid mounting geopolitical risks. Merck made the remarks during a news conference before the inauguration of its 500 million euros (US$582.1 million) facility, which is also to supply other markets in the Asia-Pacific region, it said. Merck executive board deputy chair and electronics CEO Kai Beckmann told reporters the company adopted a “local-for-local” strategy about seven years ago to address the cycle time of
Two companies wholly owned by the daughter of the founder of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Monday reported to the Taiwan Stock Exchange that they would dispose of all of the Hon Hai shares they hold. In filings with the exchange, Hong Wei Investment Co (鋐維) said it would sell the 2.771 million Hon Hai shares it holds and Frontier Investment Corp (承鋒投資) said it would sell its 2.409 million Hon Hai shares from tomorrow until Jan. 3 next year. The two companies are wholly owned and chaired by Shirley Gou (郭曉玲), the eldest daughter of Hon Hai founder Terry
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