■ Semiconductors
Chips sales rise 37%
Semiconductor sales worldwide surged in May to their highest level in three and a half years, helped by rising demand for cellular telephones that can take photos and use the Internet. May sales totaled US$17.3 billion, a jump of 37 percent from a year earlier and the most since December 2000, the California-based Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) said in a statement. The gain from April was 2.1 percent, it said. The association expects "strong growth'' for the rest of the year," SIA president George Scalise said in the statement. The biggest increase, 54 percent, came in the Asia-Pacific region. European sales rose 29 percent and North America gained 27 percent, SIA said. Sales in Japan increased 25 percent.
■ LCD Panels
Sony, Samsung in talks
Sony Corp is in talks with joint venture partner Samsung Electronics Co about making larger liquid-crystal display panels used for televisions, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, citing Sony's vice president Ken Kutaragi. Sony, the world's second-largest consumer electronics maker, is building a plant with Samsung Electronics to make so-called seventh-generation sized LCD panels. The two companies may make larger eighth- generation panels, the newspaper said, citing Kutaragi. South Korea's S-LCD Corp, the two companies' joint venture, is aiming to start production of the seventh-generation panels in the three months ending June 30 next year. The panels will exceed the largest size currently produced at a Sharp Corp plant in Mie Prefecture, Japan.
■ Airlines
Thailand approves airport
Thailand's transport ministry has given the green light for a second airport on the resort island of Samui aimed at coping with surging tourist arrivals, according to a report yesterday. Promoting the popular island as a world-class tourist destination would require building a new airstrip to accommodate the 6,000 visitors per day expected during the high season, deputy transport minister Vichet Kasemthongsri said in The Nation newspaper. "The feasibility of building a second airport now depends on the environmental impact study of the past year," Vichet said in the English-language daily. The palm-fringed island in the Gulf of Thailand is currently served by a privately-run airport operated by domestic carrier Bangkok Airways.
■ Labor
S Korea to arrest unionists
Arrest warrants have been issued for five unionists leading a strike that has hamstrung the US-owned KorAm Bank for the past 10 days, police said yesterday. The management and the union held marathon talks overnight into early yesterday but the prospects of a breakthrough appeared gloomy as both sides stuck to their positions. "We obtained the warrants late Saturday from the Seoul district court," a police official told reporters. The five were accused of playing leading roles in illegally occupying the Seoul headquarters of the bank, police said. The strike is the longest such action by a bank union in South Korea's history. KorAm workers voted for an indefinite strike on June 25 that has shut down nearly 80 percent of KorAm's 225 branches, with about 2,600 of the 3,828 employees joining the walkout.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
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