Semiconductor orders drop
North American orders for semiconductor equipment fell 36 percent last month as chipmakers curbed spending amid a 17-month industry contraction.
Orders dropped to US$1.03 billion last month from US$1.61 billion a year earlier, trade group Semiconductor Equipment & Materials International said in an e-mailed statement on ThursdayUS.
The book-to-bill ratio, a gauge of industry health, was 0.85 last month, meaning chip-equipment producers in North America received US$85 in new orders for every US$100 in products sold. A ratio of less than 1 signals that the industry is shrinking. The ratio has been below that level since January last year.
“The industry awaits more clarity in the overall economic condition before increasing capital spending,” Daniel Tracy, senior director of Industry Research and Statistics at San Jose, California-based SEMI, said in the statement.
MiTAC reports revenues
MiTAC International Corp (神達電腦) reported NT$30.718 billion (US$1.013 billion) in revenues for the first half of the year, with earnings before tax at NT$1.439 billion, or NT$0.83 per share, the company said yesterday.
The board of MiTAC declared Aug. 15 as the ex-dividend date, which makes the settlement date Aug. 18. The company plans to pay a cash dividend of NT$1.4 per share and 4 percent stock dividend for each common share.
MiTAC also presented the nation’s Olympics Team with 60 Mio Moov 370 GPS systems with maps of China. MiTAC general manager Billy Ho (何繼武) said at a ceremony that the Mio Moov 370 would help team members find their way to tournament sites and to restaurants and other locations.
Ford pessimistic about market
Ford Lio Ho Motor Co (福特六和汽車) forecast on Thursday that the nation’s total vehicle sales would drop 20.25 percent to 260,000 units this year from 326,000 units last year in response to rising commodity prices that have hit consumer spending.
Jeffrey Nemeth, president of Ford Lio Ho Motor, said he expected domestic vehicle sales to start picking up either at the end of this year or the beginning of next year, because the automobile industry usually takes about two years to recover.
The auto industry last saw a serious slump in 2006 when the credit card storm erupted and cut annual vehicle sales from more than 500,000 to 366,000.
HP expects strong growth
Hewlett-Packard Taiwan Ltd said on Wednesday that the company was optimistic about the domestic market in the second half of this year after the company’s sales growth rate in the first half of the year surpassed that of the local market.
As most of the nation’s computer users already have a desktop or laptop computer at home, the company’s focus is on ultra-mobile laptops targeting specific consumer groups, HP Taiwan product marketing manager Clair Chang (張淑雯) said at a product launch.
The company seeks to offer multiple product lines to increase its market share with models of 8.9 inch mini notebooks, 13.3 inch notebooks and the new 15.4 inch Pavillion DV5 series.
Chang said its 8.9 inch laptops, priced at NT$17,900 per unit, are out of stock as a result of the high demand.
With notebook sales expected to grow, HP’s strong foot-hold in Taiwan is good news for suppliers, Chang said. HP’s local notebook computer manufacturers include Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) and Inventec Corp (英業達).
‘UPHOLDING PEACE’: Taiwan’s foreign minister thanked the US Congress for using a ‘creative and effective way’ to deter Chinese military aggression toward the nation The US House of Representatives on Monday passed the Taiwan Conflict Deterrence Act, aimed at deterring Chinese aggression toward Taiwan by threatening to publish information about Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials’ “illicit” financial assets if Beijing were to attack. The act would also “restrict financial services for certain immediate family of such officials,” the text of the legislation says. The bill was introduced in January last year by US representatives French Hill and Brad Sherman. After remarks from several members, it passed unanimously. “If China chooses to attack the free people of Taiwan, [the bill] requires the Treasury secretary to publish the illicit
NO HUMAN ERROR: After the incident, the Coast Guard Administration said it would obtain uncrewed aerial vehicles and vessels to boost its detection capacity Authorities would improve border control to prevent unlawful entry into Taiwan’s waters and safeguard national security, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday after a Chinese man reached the nation’s coast on an inflatable boat, saying he “defected to freedom.” The man was found on a rubber boat when he was about to set foot on Taiwan at the estuary of Houkeng River (後坑溪) near Taiping Borough (太平) in New Taipei City’s Linkou District (林口), authorities said. The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) northern branch said it received a report at 6:30am yesterday morning from the New Taipei City Fire Department about a
A senior US military official yesterday warned his Chinese counterpart against Beijing’s “dangerous” moves in the South China Sea during the first talks of their kind between the commanders. Washington and Beijing remain at odds on issues from trade to the status of Taiwan and China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, but they have sought to re-establish regular military-to-military talks in a bid to prevent flashpoint disputes from spinning out of control. Samuel Paparo, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, and Wu Yanan (吳亞男), head of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, talked via videoconference. Paparo “underscored the importance
IN BEIJING’S FAVOR: A China Coast Guard spokesperson said that the Chinese maritime police would continue to carry out law enforcement activities in waters it claims The Philippines withdrew its coast guard vessel from a South China Sea shoal that has recently been at the center of tensions with Beijing. BRP Teresa Magbanua “was compelled to return to port” from Sabina Shoal (Xianbin Shoal, 仙濱暗沙) due to bad weather, depleted supplies and the need to evacuate personnel requiring medical care, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) spokesman Jay Tarriela said yesterday in a post on X. The Philippine vessel “will be in tiptop shape to resume her mission” after it has been resupplied and repaired, Philippine Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin, who heads the nation’s maritime council, said
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