■ Electronics
Samsung to spend more
Samsung Group, which controls Asia's biggest chipmaker, said it will spend 21 percent more this year on products from the greater China region, including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. Samsung China, based in Beijing, will spend US$18.5 billion on purchases in the region, compared with US$15.3 billion a year earlier, the company said in an e-mail statement, without providing details on how or where the money will be spent.
■ Oil
Putin vows to look east
Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday said Russia, the world's second biggest oil exporter, was struggling with "unfair competition" on energy markets, and he said it should focus on supplying Asia. "Despite the great demand for energy resources, any excuses are being used to limit us in the north, in the south, in the west. We must look for markets, fit into the processes of global development," he was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying. "The countries of the Asian-Pacific region are developing at great speed and need to cooperate with us," he added.
■ Computers
Seagate unveils big drive
Seagate Technology LLC is beefing up the capacity of its hard disk drives to a huge 750 gigabytes, offering consumers of digital media more storage for their computers than ever before. The drive Seagate introduced yesterday, the Barracuda 7200.10, is the first computer desktop disk drive to hit the 750-gigabyte mark and represents a 50 percent increase from the previous industry maximum of 500 gigabytes. Analysts say a 750-gigabyte drive could hold roughly 375 hours of standard-definition television programming, about 75 hours of high-definition video, or more than 10,000 music CDs converted to the MP3 digital audio format.
■ Semiconductors
Intel lowers chip prices
Intel Corp, which reported its biggest sales drop in more than four years in the first quarter, lowered prices this month less than analysts had expected. The world's largest semiconductor maker cut prices on five desktop chips by as much as 50 percent but didn't change prices of server chips where it has been losing market share to rival Advanced Micro Devices Inc. Analysts had expected Intel to use cheaper manufacturing costs and stronger finances to cut prices and claw back share losses. Intel slumped to less than 80 percent of the personal computer processor market for the first time in more than four years in the fourth quarter.
■ Electronics
Sharp posts record profit
Sharp Corp posted record high group sales and net profit in the year ending last month on strong sales of liquid-crystal-display (LCD) televisions, LCD panels for flat-screen televisions and mobile phones, the company said yesterday. The company marked a 15.4 percent increase in its group net profit of ¥88.67 billion (US$773.47 million) while its sales were also up 10.1 percent at ¥2.8 trillion in the year, compared to the previous year, it said. Sharp projects its group net profit to rise 12.8 percent to ¥100 billion in the current year on a sales increase of 7.3 percent to ¥3 trillion.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
RSS