ELECTRONICS
ITRI bolsters partnership
The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) has bolstered its partnership with electronic components supplier Lite-On Technology Corp (光寶科技) for intellectual property rights matters, including patent procurement, industry intelligence and patent generation, the institute said in a statement yesterday. ITRI and Lite-On have previously collaborated to develop optical storage products, and improve biomedical and material-chemistry skills, and the new partnership shows their determination to enhance intellectual property issues and their global competitiveness, the institute said.
WATER TREATMENT
Work starts on plant
Construction of a NT$981 million (US$31.48 million) water recycling plant capable of treating 8,000 tonnes of wastewater a day began in Tainan on Wednesday, part of the city’s efforts to sustainably meet increasing local demand. Scheduled to open in 2024, the plant is part of a novel “water-for-water” deal between Chi Mei Corp (奇美實業), which has a factory near the planned Rende Water Resources Recycling Center, and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電). Under the agreement, TSMC, which had originally committed to acquiring 8,000 tonnes of water a day from the Rende plant for 15 years, would give its allocation of treated water to Chi Mei in exchange for the latter’s equivalent quota of tap water. The Tainan City Government said the exchange eliminated the environmental and financial costs of building a more than 30km pipeline from the Rende plant to TSMC facilities at the Southern Taiwan Science Park (南部科學園區).
EMPLOYMENT
Furlough numbers rise
The number of workers on official furlough programs in Taiwan rose to 16,850 as of Tuesday, up 1,068 from 15,782 as of Monday last week, as more export-oriented manufacturers implemented unpaid leave programs amid weakening global demand, the Ministry of Labor said on Wednesday. The number of furloughed workers in the manufacturing sector rose to 4,727, up 757 from a week earlier, it said. In the past week, a machinery exporter placed more than 240 workers on a furlough program due to a decline in orders from foreign clients, the ministry said. The number of workers on furlough programs in the wholesale and retail business rose to 1,462 as of Tuesday, compared with 1,315 a week earlier, it said.
CRYPTOCURRENCIES
Temasek unveils FTX plan
Singaporean state investor Temasek Holdings Pte yesterday said it would write off the value of its full investment in FTX, irrespective of the outcome of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange’s bankruptcy filing. Temasek said in a statement that it invested US$275 million for a minority stake of about 1 percent in FTX International and about 1.5 percent in FTX US. During eight months of due diligence last year, it reviewed “FTX’s audited financial statement, which showed it to be profitable,” Temasek said, adding that it did not have a board seat. “It is apparent from this investment that perhaps our belief in the actions, judgement and leadership of [former FTX chief executive officer] Sam Bankman-Fried, formed from our interactions with him and views expressed in our discussions with others, would appear to have been misplaced,” Temasek said.
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
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
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
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure
RSS