GAMING
Soft-World to diversify
Soft-World International Corp (智冠科技), an online game developer, yesterday told shareholders that the company would continue to diversify its business scope, provide comprehensive service support and reach more overseas markets. The company’s non-gaming business segment — such as online advertising and marketing, and financial technology — has contributed more than 30 percent of its total sales, and the demand for related services continues to grow, the company told shareholders at its annual general meeting in Taipei. The company reported earnings per share of NT$6.84 for last year, the second-highest in the past 11 years. Shareholders yesterday approved a proposal to distribute a dividend of NT$5.2 per share, or a payout ratio of 76 percent.
SHIPPING
Shih Wei remains bullish
Dry bulk shipper Shih Wei Navigation Co (四維航業) yesterday said it remains optimistic about the prospects of the bulk shipping market this year, despite headwinds ahead. The company told shareholders at its annual general meeting in Taipei that it would be prudent in planning its fleet operations in the wake of potential challenges, such as extreme weather, labor constraints and port congestion. The company reported earnings per share of NT$7.16 for last year, the highest since 2008, and decided to distribute a cash dividend of NT$2 per share. Many countries are shifting to coexisting with COVID-19, which would add support to the bulk shipping market, Shih Wei said. However, the global economy is under pressure from geopolitical conflict, economic sanctions and monetary tightening, the company said, adding that it would strive to maximize its financial and operational resources to generate greater returns for shareholders.
ELECTRONICS
HTC shares surge 10%
Smartphone brand HTC Corp (宏達電) on Monday said that chairwoman Cher Wang (王雪紅) was named an independent nonexecutive director at the China-based Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想). HTC shares yesterday surged 10 percent, the daily maximum, to close at NT$46.3 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, as the move sparked market speculation that Lenovo would team up with HTC in the emerging “metaverse” market, dealers said. The “metaverse” is the in-vogue name for immersive Internet technologies accessed through virtual reality and related devices. HTC said that Wang has worked in the information technology industry for more than 40 years and would continue to promote industrial innovation in the areas of virtual reality, augmented reality, 5G, artificial intelligence and blockchain technology.
TOURISM
Japan tops destinations
Japan is the top destination that Taiwanese tourists want to visit as the COVID-19 pandemic eases, a survey released on Monday by Lion Travel Service Co (雄獅旅行社) found. The top five destinations were rounded out by South Korea, Europe, Asia and Africa, and Southeast Asia, the travel agency said in a statement about the online survey that drew about 3,000 respondents. Europe surpassed Southeast Asia on Taiwanese tourists’ destination lists, which Lion Travel attributed to a lifting of pandemic-related border restrictions in European countries. Europe-bound tour packages remain more economical than packages for other destinations, despite a 30 percent increase in prices, making Taiwanese more willing to travel to that part of the world for sightseeing, the travel agency said.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
SK Hynix Inc warned of increased volatility in the second half of this year despite resilient demand for artificial intelligence (AI) memory chips from big tech providers, reflecting the uncertainty surrounding US tariffs. The company reported a better-than-projected 158 percent jump in March-quarter operating income, propelled in part by stockpiling ahead of US President Donald Trump’s tariffs. SK Hynix stuck with a forecast for a doubling in demand for the high-bandwidth memory (HBM) essential to Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators, which in turn drive giant data centers built by the likes of Microsoft Corp and Amazon.com Inc. That SK Hynix is maintaining its
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