Third phase of space program will see more localization

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/02/13
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Over the next decade, Taiwan will launch at least one satellite a year under a NT$25.1 billion (US$814.5 million) government plan, Minister of Science and Technology Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) said Wednesday.

FORMOSAT-7 was ready for shipment to the United States for a launch this year, to be followed by completely locally developed spacecraft, the Central News Agency reported. SpaceX would use a Falcon Heavy rocket to boost the Taiwanese satellite into space, where it would take over the functions of FORMOSAT-3.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/02/13
By: Jeffrey Wu and Frances Huang 

Taipei, Feb. 13 (CNA) Disappointing sales in January sent shares in metal casing maker Catcher Technology Co., a supplier to Apple Inc., lower Wednesday, and selling spread to other “Apple concept stocks,” dealers said.

As of 12:23 p.m., shares in Catcher had lost 3.27 percent at NT$237.00 (US$7.69) on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, where the weighted index fell 0.10 percent at 10,087.24.

Among other Apple suppliers, shares in Largan Precision Co., a smartphone camera lens supplier, had lost 0.65 percent at NT$228.50, and shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., a processor provider for iPhones, dropped 0.50 percent to NT$3,980.00.

Dealers said the downturn in Apple suppliers pushed the broader market down, having gained in the previous two trading sessions to stay above the 10,000 point mark.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/02/12
By: Liao Yu-yang and Christie Chen

Taipei, Feb. 12 (CNA) Taiwan’s foreign exchange (forex) reserves hit another all-time

high at the end of January due to increased returns from the central bank’s management of forex reserves and the appreciation of the euro and other currencies against the U.S. dollar, the bank said Tuesday.

The central bank said that at the end of January, Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves totaled US$463.043 billion, an increase of US$1.259 billion from a month earlier.

It was the third consecutive month in which Taiwan had posted record high forex reserves.

In addition to the central bank’s management of the forex reserves, the appreciation of the euro and other currencies against the U.S. dollar also contributed to the increase in January’s foreign exchange reserves, according to Harry Yen (顏輝煌), head of the bank’s Foreign Exchange Department.    [FULL  STORY]

Manufacturers must take care if partnering with Chinese firms, however

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/02/11
By: Ryan Drillsma, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An innovative research expert believes Taiwan’s excellence in the field of 5G technology is an asset in today’s political climate.

Research director at the ITRI Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center Ray Yang (楊瑞臨) said the ongoing U.S.-China trade war is tense, and competition over 5G network implementation is stepping up.

Both sides are vying to collaborate with Taiwan’s electronic chip and mobile device manufacturers, he said, therefore they hold important strategic value.

A survey from German market analysis platform IPlytics GmbH indicates Taiwanese semiconductor developer MediaTek is one of the world’s top 20 contributors to 5G technology. Approval ratings of its 5G services are the third highest among all global providers, UDN reports.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/02/11
By: Chang Chien-chung and Frances Huang 

Taipei, Feb. 11 (CNA) Nanya Technology Corp., the dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chip production arm of Formosa Plastics Group, said Monday that sales in January fell to a 19-month low, a reflection of falling product prices.

In a statement, Nanya Technology said its consolidated sales for January fell 11.82 percent from a month earlier to NT$4.26 billion (US$138 million), the lowest since June 2017, when revenue stood at NT$4.19 billion.

The January figure was also down 30.73 percent from a year earlier, data compiled by Nanya Technology showed.

The DRAM maker said while shipments rose 4-6 percent from a month earlier in January, product prices fell 14-16 percent month-on-month, pushing down the sales value.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/02/10
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Feb. 10 (CNA) Employees in the utilities industry are the top earners in Taiwan, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS).

Data compiled by the DGBAS shows that the average earned income in the utilities industry, comprised of regular wages and non-regular wages such as overtime pay and bonuses hit NT$97,578 (US$3,173) per month on average in the first 11 months of last year, much higher than the national average of NT$52,059.

The DGBAS said the median earned income in the utilities industry, led by state-owned Taiwan Power Co., reached about NT$1.196 million on average in 2017, indicating that more than half of the employees in the industry pocketed more than NT$1 million per year.

The financial and insurance industry came in second, with the monthly average earned income hitting NT$89,925 during the first 11 months of last year.    [FULL  STORY]