EQUITIES
Foreigners continue to buy
Foreign institutional investors last week bought a net NT$64.94 billion (US$2.11 billion) of local shares after buying a net NT$5.99 billion the previous week, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. The top three shares bought by foreign investors last week were China Airlines Ltd (中華航空), EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), while the top three sold were Shin Kong Financial Holding Co (新光金控), Wistron Corp (緯創) and Acer Inc (宏碁), the exchange said. As of Friday last week, foreign investors had bought NT$432.59 billion of local shares since the beginning of this year, while the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$22.29 trillion, or 41.13 percent of total market capitalization, it said. Yesterday, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$4.43 billion of shares, the exchange said.
TECHNOLOGY
Huawei shuts flagship store
Huawei Technologies Co (華為) has closed its flagship experience store in Taipei’s Syntrend Creative Park (三創園區), leaving only one outlet in Taiwan, as the Chinese tech giant adapts its marketing strategy. The Syntrend branch, which was next to Guanghua Digital Plaza in the city’s Bade District (八德), closed its doors on Sunday. After the branch’s closure, Huawei’s products and repair services would still be available at some chain retailers and on e-commerce platforms, said Xunwei Technologies Co (訊崴), which distributes Huawei’s products in Taiwan. At the peak of its presence in Taiwan in 2019, Huawei had 13 experience stores and three customer service centers, but it has since scaled back its business operations. The company has also come under intense scrutiny in Taiwan due to national security concerns.
BANKING
Mega Bank plans Thai boost
State-run Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) has approved plans to increase the capital of its subsidiary in Thailand by 100 million shares, or 1 billion baht (US$28,752,569), to boost its capital and competitiveness. The banking arm of Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) said the cash injection would raise the capital of its Thai subsidiary to 5 billion baht. The Thai subsidiary has operated for 76 years and owns four branches in different parts of Thailand, which serve retail customers and corporate clients, the bank said last week. Meanwhile, Mega Bank said a spike in overseas travel among Taiwanese has boosted its credit card circulation and spending this year, especially for its signature credit card, which offers an unlimited 3 percent rebate on overseas spending.
ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Delta to buy German firm
Power management solution provider Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) has agreed to acquire TB&C Group, a German provider of automotive hybrid components, for 142 million euros (US$155 million), the Taiwanese firm said on Thursday. The acquisition of TB&C, which develops hybrid technologies for mechanical components applied in automotive, industrial and medical applications, is expected to bolster its electric vehicle (EV) business portfolio, Delta said. The transaction would enhance the firm’s EV battery management system capabilities by integrating TB&C’s technologies with Delta’s automotive component product lines, it said. The acquisition is also expected to leverage both companies’ research and development and manufacturing resources to accelerate Delta’s overall EV business expansion, the company said.
Apple Inc has closed in on an agreement with OpenAI to use the start-up’s technology on the iPhone, part of a broader push to bring artificial intelligence (AI) features to its devices, people familiar with the matter said. The two sides have been finalizing terms for a pact to use ChatGPT features in Apple’s iOS 18, the next iPhone operating system, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the situation is private. Apple also has held talks with Alphabet Inc’s Google about licensing its Gemini chatbot. Those discussions have not led to an agreement, but are ongoing. An OpenAI
INSATIABLE: Almost all AI innovators are working with the chipmaker to address the rapidly growing AI-related demand for energy-efficient computing power, the CEO said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported about 60 percent annual growth in revenue for last month, benefiting from rapidly growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing applications. Revenue last month expanded to NT$236.02 billion (US$7.28 billion), compared with NT$147.9 billion in April last year, the second-highest level in company history, TSMC said in a statement. On a monthly basis, revenue surged 20.9 percent, from NT$195.21 billion in March. As AI-related applications continue to show strong growth, TSMC expects revenue to expand about 27.6 percent year-on-year during the current quarter to between US$19.6 billion and US$20.4 billion. That would
‘FULL SUPPORT’: Kumamoto Governor Takashi Kimura said he hopes more companies would settle in the prefecture to create an area similar to Taiwan’s Hsinchu Science Park The newly elected governor of Japan’s Kumamoto Prefecture said he is ready to ensure wide-ranging support to woo Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to build its third Japanese chip factory there. Concerns of groundwater shortages when TSMC’s two plants begin operations in the prefecture’s Kikuyo have spurred discussions about the possibility of tapping unused dam water, Kumamoto Governor Takashi Kimura said in an interview on Saturday. While Kimura said talks about a third plant have yet to occur, Bloomberg had reported TSMC is already considering its third Japanese fab — also in Kumamoto — which would make more advanced chips. “We are
KEY TECHNOLOGY: South Korea’s semiconductor exports reached US$11.7 billion in March, and the chip sector accounts for one-fifth of the nation’s total exports South Korea would set up an aid package worth more than US$7 billion to support its chip industry, the South Korean Ministry of Economy and Finance said yesterday. This initiative follows its pledge last year to build the world’s largest chip center using US$240 billion of private investment, primarily from Samsung Electronics Co, the world’s largest memorychip maker, as it seeks an edge in the global industry. Seoul “is preparing an assistance package of more than 10 trillion won (US$7.3 billion) to support fabless, chips materials and manufacturing equipment in all areas of chips industry,” South Korean Minister of Economy and Finance