RESILIENT: Blows to its China business due to US-imposed export restrictions would not affect earnings, as it could ‘fill the void quickly,’ the chipmaker said

ocus Taiwan
Date: Oct 29, 2020
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

Win Semiconductors Corp (穩懋半導體), the world’s largest pure-play gallium arsenide foundry, yesterday said that it expects a 5 percent growth in revenue this quarter from last quarter’s NT$6.57 billion (US$227.29 million) on rising demand for wafers for premium smartphones.

The Taoyuan-based chipmaker produces wafers used in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers for Apple Inc’s iPhone 12 series to unlock the smartphones via facial identification, as well as power amplifiers for the company’s first 5G devices.

Demand for Wi-Fi roosters also shows strong momentum due to the remote-working trend, it said.

Those growth drivers would offset orders lost in its business with HiSilicon Technologies Co (海思), a semiconductor arm of Huawei Technologies Co (華為), as Win has stopped shipping chips to the Chinese company after export restrictions imposed by the US took effect on Sept. 15.
[FULL  STORY]

Apple’s major assembly partners have all set up either a subsidiary or an iPhone assembly plant in India

Deccan Herald
Date: OCT 24 2020
By:  Debby Wu

Cheng Uei Precision Industry Co., a Taiwan-based cable and connector maker, will start mass production for Apple Inc. later this year from its new plant in India, according to a person familiar with the matter, the latest sign of the US company’s increasing presence in the South Asian country.

Apple’s major assembly partners, Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group, Pegatron Corp. and Wistron Corp., have all set up either a subsidiary or an iPhone assembly plant in India. The chairman of Cheng Uei, also known as Foxlink, is T.C. Gou, the brother of Foxconn founder Terry Gou.

India is trying to attract manufacturing for Apple, Samsung Electronics Co. and other major smartphone brands with an incentive program, as political tensions between the US and China escalate. The global coronavirus pandemic has added pressure on companies to review supply chains.

Cheng Uei said in a statement on Friday that a company engineer was caught on internal surveillance video this month damaging automation equipment at the new Indian plant near Chennai. The suspect is a Chinese national, and the incident was reported to local police and Chinese authorities, it said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/24
By:  Central News Agency

The new iPhone 12 in "pacific blue" color became a hit on the first day of sale on Friday by three major telecom services providers in Taiwan, the companies said on Saturday.

The three telecom operators — Chunghwa Telecom Co., Taiwan Mobile Co. and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co. — said the iPhone 12 Pro model was in high demand by Taiwanese consumers on the first day of sale.

In particular, the companies said the "pacific blue" iPhone 12 Pro, the color Apple Inc. has adopted for the first time for its phone collection, is especially popular, leading to a shortage in supply.

The iPhone 12 series — the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini, the 6.1-inch iPhone 12, the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro, and the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max — are the first phones, launched by Apple on Sept. 13, to support 5G.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/24/2020
By: Liang Pei-chih and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 24 (CNA) Taiwan's retail sector got a boost from Ghost Month promotions to post sales growth of almost 3% from the same month a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

Retail sales in September totaled US$320.6 billion (US$10.76 billion), the highest ever for the month of September and 2.9% higher than a year earlier, data compiled by the MOEA showed.

MOEA Department of Statistics deputy chief Huang Wei-chieh (黃偉傑) attributed the gains to supermarket chains and other retailers running aggressive promotional campaigns for Ghost Month, the seventh month on the Lunar Calendar, which fell from Aug. 19 to Sept. 16 this year.

In Taiwan, many people believe ghosts roam around during Ghost Month, and they tend to buy food as offerings to comfort them in a bid to avoid bad luck.    [FULL  STORY]

Pingtung County Commissioner Pan Meng-an caught in crossfire

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/10/20
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A Facebook post by Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) on Saturday (Oct. 17) has set off a tussle between the mayors of Kaohsiung and Tainan over which city's braised pork rice is tastier, with Pingtung County Commissioner Pan Meng-an (潘孟安) caught in the crossfire.

Chen posted photos of himself savoring braised pork rice at a celebrated eatery in the city’s Fengshan District, praising the deliciousness of the snack in an effort to help market the city’s local delicacies. However, in the process, he put down the comestibles in neighboring Tainan — a city renowned for its snacks — by writing that Kaohsiung’s braised pork rice tastes better than Tainan’s, which tastes “only so so.”

Chen’s post drew the ire of Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-cher (黃偉哲), who later took to Facebook to flaunt photos of himself chowing down on braised pork rice at two eateries in Tainan’s East District.

Huang also poked fun at Chen, saying, “I guess the owner of the store selling delicious braised pork rice in Kaohsiung is from Tainan." He added that a list compiled by the city government includes more than 700 stores selling the dish that have been recommended by locals.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/20/2020
By: Liang Pei-chi and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 20 (CNA) As foreign investors continued to inject funds into Taiwan's renewable energy sector, foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country for the first nine months of this year exceeded US$6 billion, the Investment Commission said Tuesday.

Data compiled by the commission showed that FDI approved by the agency totaled US$6.32 billion during the period, after GRP III Taiwan U.K. Ltd. secured approval in September to invest NT$6.78 billion (US$234 million) in Taiwan-based solar energy developer New Green Power.

The accumulated FDI in the nine-month period was the fourth- highest in 10 years, but the figure fell 19.77 percent from a year earlier on a relatively high comparison base over the same period, when Germany-based Yunlin Holding GMBH invested NT$14.1 billion in local offshore wind energy development, the data indicated.

The commission said that approved investment from the countries covered by the government's New Southbound policy, such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member countries, India, Australia and New Zealand, totaled about US$299 million over the nine months, down 65.26 percent.    [FULL  STORY]

V-SHAPED RECOVERY: Local tech firms have benefited from strong demand for 5G deployment and electronic devices required for a low-contact economy, CIER said

Taipoei Times
Date: Oct 21, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for the nation’s GDP growth this year to 1.76 percent, from its previous estimate of 1.33 percent, saying exports and private consumption have staged a V-shaped recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic in the second half of the year.

“The upgrade aims to reflect the fast recovery in Taiwan’s exports and domestic demand,” CIER president Chang Chuang-chang (張傳章) told a media briefing.

The Taipei-based think tank said the economy might have expanded 2.77 percent last quarter — emerging from a 0.78 percent decline in the second quarter — and would grow 2.55 percent this quarter.

The showing is impressive, making Taiwan one of the few economies reporting growth as COVID-19 infections surge in many parts of the world, threatening economic activity, the institute said.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 10/19/2020
By: William Yen

Taipei, Oct. 19 (CNA) Indonesia will work to strengthen trade with Taiwan by actively promoting exports of Indonesian goods and forging partnerships in the field of technology transfers, according to Budi Santoso, head of the Indonesian Economic and Trade Office (IETO) to Taipei.

Budi, the new de facto Indonesian envoy to Taiwan, made the comment in a letter to CNA Sunday, just days after officially assuming office on Oct. 13. He arrived in Taiwan Sept. 19, where he underwent quarantine for three weeks.

"Of course, we will intensely promote Indonesian products in Taiwan by facilitating exhibitions and business matching," Budi said.

With international travel severely impacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, IETO hosted a virtual trade show in July to bring together Indonesian food and beverage companies and Taiwanese buyers.    [FULL  STORY]

LEANNESS-ENHANCING DRUG: Assigning a commodity classification to meat containing ractopamine could come under scrutiny by the WTO, the economic affairs minister said

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 20, 2020
By: Angelica Oung / Staff reporter

Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) yesterday rejected opposition lawmakers’ calls to assign a product code for US pork and beef containing ractopamine.

Facing a barrage of questions from lawmakers at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee, Wang said that giving meat containing residues of ractopamine a commodity classification code would sow confusion and could come under scrutiny by the WTO.

“Ractopamine is not a [meat] product, it is an additive,” said Wang, when questioned by Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Chiu Chen-yuan (邱臣遠). “If we had a serial code for every additive it would cause confusion. There is no precedent for this internationally.”

“Why not be the first?” Chiu asked.    [FULL  STORY]

Barron's
Date: Oct. 15, 2020
By: Eric J. Savitz

Taiwan Semiconductor, the world’s largest contract chip manufacturer, reported better-than-expected third-quarter financial results on Thursday, as demand grows for the company’s cutting-edge chips.

Taiwan Semi (ticker: TSM) posted revenue of $12.1 billion, up 29% from a year earlier and ahead of the Wall Street analyst consensus forecast at $11.5 billion. Profit was 90 cents per American depositary receipt, above the Street consensus at 77 cents.

The company is projecting fourth-quarter revenue of $12.4 billion to $12.7 billion, which likewise is above the Street consensus at $12.7 billion. Taiwan Semi expects fourth quarter gross margin of 51.5% to 53.5%, which compares with 53.4% in the third quarter. Operating margin is expected to be 40.5% to 42.5%, compared with 42.1% in the third quarter.

“Our third-quarter business benefited from the strong demand for our advanced technologies and specialty technology solutions, driven by 5G smartphones, [high-performance computing] and IoT-related applications,” Taiwan Semiconductor CFO Wendell Huang said in a statement. “Moving into fourth quarter 2020, we expect our sequential growth to be supported by strong demand for our industry-leading 5-nanometer technology, driven by 5G smartphone launches and HPC-related applications.”    [FULL  STORY]