AVIATION
TransAsia sells Neihu office
TransAsia Airways Corp (復興航空) yesterday sold its office building in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖), allowing the company to book a disposal gain of NT$20 million (US$607,903) this quarter, according to the company’s filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. TransAsia said its board agreed to sell the buidling, which has eight above-ground floors and three basement floors, to Taiwan Secom Co (中興保全) for NT$694 million, as the company continues working to revitalize its idle assets and strengthen its financial structure. The deal is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
COMPUTERS
Acer ‘will not exit market’
Acer Inc (宏碁) founder and former chairman Stan Shih (施振榮) yesterday said the company will not exit the global PC market, after an International Data Corp (IDC) analyst earlier this month said that Acer and its crosstown rival, Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), could be among some PC vendors to drop out of the market in the future. Shih said the company would continue to improve its operations to compete on the world stage, but he is certain that Acer’s PC operations would move to a leaner workforce. Shih said that the PC division will no longer hire new employees.
COMPONENTS
Synnex reports Q3 profit
Synnex Technology International Corp (聯強國際) yesterday reported net profit of NT$300 million for last quarter, with earnings per share (EPS) of NT$0.19, while consolidated sales for last quarter were NT$84.5 billion. The company said financial results for last quarter were generally stronger than the previous quarter, but significantly weakened from a year earlier due to the lack of new product release and the impact from currency depreciation. For this quarter, the company expects the launches of Apple Inc’s iPhone 6S and the new generation for Microsoft Corp and Apple tablets as well as the release of Intel Corp’s Skylake processor to boost the overall market demand, while allowing the company to register a substantial revenue growth from last quarter.
SOLAR ENERGY
Giga Solar might see boost
As China has raised its solar installation demand to between 7 and 8 gigawatts this quarter, Giga Solar Materials Corp (碩禾), a photovoltaic conductive paste maker, might see its fourth-quarter revenue grow 11 percent from last quarter, with EPS of NT$10.5, Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧) said in a note yesterday. The brokerage also revised upward its revenue forecasts for Giga Solar this year by 64 percent and for next year by 28 percent, citing decent solar power demand growth ahead. In the third quarter, the company reported a net income of NT$928 million, or EPS of NT$15.25, with revenue of NT$4.51 billion, beating market expectations.
ELECTRONICS
Chilisin’s income grows 14%
Power inductor maker Chilisin Electronics Corp (奇力新) on Wednesday reported better-than-expected profit for last quarter, thanks to foreign exchange gains and a lower income tax rate. The company, which competes Holy Stone Enterprise Co (禾伸堂) and Yageo Corp (國巨) in Taiwan as well as TDK Corp of Japan, said net income grew 14 percent to NT$153 million from the previous quarter, with earnings per share of NT$1.2. However, the firm’s operating income only grew 1 percent to NT$151 million from the second quarter, due to higher operating expenses.
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) today unveiled a long-haul network expansion plan at a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei, including direct flights to Barcelona, Spain, and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as a service connecting Taipei, Sydney and New Zealand. Starlux is to become the first Taiwanese carrier to offer non-stop services to the two European cities, while the inaugural oceanic route is expected to expand transit opportunities within the Australia-New Zealand market, Starlux said. Flight services to Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York are under evaluation, the airline added. Prior to the shareholders’ meeting, the airline earlier this year announced that it would be
Nvidia Corp yesterday announced that CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) would attend an employee meeting in Taipei tomorrow to celebrate the launch of the company’s Taiwan headquarters project. Huang would attend a gathering at the site of Nvidia’s planned headquarters in Beitou Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區), the company said in a statement. After arriving in Taiwan on Saturday last week, Huang told reporters that he plans to meet with Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家), and would attend the groundbreaking ceremony for Nvidia’s Taiwan headquarters tomorrow. Nvidia has not yet applied
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