EQUITIES
TAIEX rises on AI optimism
The TAIEX yesterday moved sharply higher on buying sparked by gains on Wall Street on Friday and ongoing optimism over the development of artificial intelligence (AI) applications, dealers said. While semiconductor stocks took a pause after a recent solid upturn, buying shifted to contract PC makers which also roll out AI servers, they said. The electronics index rose 1.17 percent, and the computer subindex gained 4.03 percent, while the semiconductor subindex edged up 0.52 percent, Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) data showed. The TAIEX closed up 168.66 points, or 1 percent, at 17,084.20. Turnover on the main board totaled NT$332.014 billion (US$10.67 billion), with domestic proprietary traders buying a net NT$13.2 billion of shares, while investment trust companies sold a net NT$798.27 million and foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$1.73 billion in shares, TWSE data showed.
EQUITIES
Foreigners sell NT$60.4bn
Foreign institutional investors last week sold a net NT$60.4 billion of local shares after buying a net NT$1.93 billion the previous week, the Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement yesterday. The top three shares sold by foreign investors last week were Walsin Lihwa Corp (華新麗華), Innolux Corp (群創) and AUO Corp (友達), while the top three bought were Tatung Co (大同), Unizyx Holding Corp (合勤) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶). As of Friday last week, foreign investors had bought NT$374.11 billion of local shares since the beginning of this year, while the market capitalization of shares held by foreign investors was NT$21.67 trillion, or 40.85 percent of total market capitalization, the exchange said.
SEMICONDUCTORS
TSMC pay hits NT$2.33m
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) median pay worldwide reached about NT$2.33 million last year, while the average compensation received by its production workers exceeded NT$1 million, a report released recently by the company showed. The average monthly income of TSMC employees last year was about four times Taiwan’s minimum monthly wage of NT$25,250, the company’s sustainability report said. It recruited 12,442 employees worldwide last year, including 7,817 for new high-quality jobs, providing competitive wages and incentives to maintain its talent pool, it said. On the back of improving finances, TSMC’s total compensation to employees worldwide grew NT$74.5 billion, or 45 percent, from a year earlier, to NT$239.5 billion last year, it said. Last year, the turnover rate of new hires was 15 percent, and the total turnover rate was 6.7 percent, the report said.
BANKING
E.Sun plans 150 voice ATMs
E.Sun Commercial Bank (玉山銀行) plans to add 150 automatic teller machines (ATMs) featuring voice guidance capabilities for the visually impaired by the end of this year after launching 99 similar machines last year. A special keypad on the machines enables users with visual impairments to locate numbers while making transactions, the bank said. “It is our goal that all of our bank branches have at least one ATM for the visually impaired by the end of this year,” E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) president Joseph Huang (黃男州) said on Wednesday. The move is part of the bank’s efforts to build an inclusive financial service for clients, he said.
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
RSS