MSI registers high-end GPUs for cryptocurrency mining

U.Today
Date: 09/02/2020
By: Alex Dovbnya

Cover image via stock.adobe.com

Nvidia’s new affordable GPUs 

During its Sept. 1 event, Nvidia unveiled its much-awaited GeForce RTX 30-series GPUs that offer blow out of the water its previous products.The flagship RTX 3080 card, which comes with 8,704 CUDA Cores and the peak memory bandwidth of 760 GB/s, will set you back only $699, thus substantially lowering the cost of hind-end gaming.

MSI’s database listing doesn’t show the exact specifications of its custom graphics cards. It’s not clear whether or not they will be able to bring anything new to the table apart from the name.According to NiceHash, NVIDIA GTX 1660 Super is currently able to earn its owner about $2.72 per day for mining crypto.       [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan eases restrictions on US meat imports in hope of deepening bilateral trade partnership

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/09/02
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (right) met with U.S.-Taiwan Business Council Chairman Michael Splinter last year.  (CNA photo)

In an opinion piece published by Nikkei Asian Review on Tuesday (Sept. 1), Danielsson pointed out that the Taiwanese government has removed the main barriers to closer trade links with the U.S. despite backlash from opposition politicians and local farmers. She said the move signifies Taiwan's readiness to establish high-standard trade agreements with the U.S. and that Washington should capitalize on the opportunity to deepen economic cooperation between the two countries.

Danielsson stressed that there has been increasing support of a Taiwan BTA from members of the U.S. House of Representatives and that the TAIPEI Act passed by Congress also encouraged the pursuit of business opportunities with Taiwan. She said that several U.S. policy think tanks are also in favor of a Taiwan trade agreement.

Danielsson mentioned that a BTA would benefit the U.S. by giving Taiwan, its 9th largest trading partner, a more important role in strategic sectors in the Indo-Pacific region. She added that Taiwanese companies' semiconductor manufacturing is vital to the global technology supply chain and could help open new business opportunities for American technology companies.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 09/02/2020
By: Chung Jung-feng and Evelyn Kao

The 2019 edition of the trade fair. CNA file photo

This year's show, to be held Sept. 23-25 in Taipei, will feature 13 theme pavilions and 19 international seminars, including a smart manufacturing pavilion and a strategic materials conference, according to SEMI, the association representing the global semiconductor sector.

It will also set a first in the industry as the first hybrid event where internet attendees can interact with speakers and other guests as if they were in attendance, according to Terry Tsao (曹世綸), global chief marketing officer and Taiwan president of SEMI.

One of the event's highlights will be a Master Forum program featuring leaders in the tech sector who will look at how semiconductors are supporting 5G and artificial intelligence technologies and how those technologies are helping the semiconductor sector stay competitive.
[FULL  STORY]

Taipei Times
Date: Sep 03, 2020
By: Kao Shih-ching / Staff reporter

HSBC Bank (Taiwan) Ltd retail banking and wealth management head Linda Yip, back row third left, and other bank personnel hold promotional material at a news conference in Taipei yesterday to introduce a new investment platform targeting young clients.
Photo: Lee Ching-hui, Taipei Times

The online “Refreshed HSBC Advance” platform allows clients to directly buy stocks listed in the US and Hong Kong, purchase funds and exchange their New Taiwan dollars into nine foreign currencies, the bank said.

The strategy of focusing on foreign shares instead of local shares is based on HSBC’s leverage in its global network and intense competition from local stocks brokerages, HSBC Taiwan retail banking and wealth management vice president Christine Lee (李瑜芬) told a news conference in Taipei.

“We noticed that young investors generally prefer US shares to domestic shares, as they want to pursue higher returns even at the cost of higher risks. Compared with local stocks with stable dividends, some US stocks are more attractive, despite greater volatility,” Lee said.
[FULL  STORY]

Bloomberg News Network
Date: Sep 1, 2020
By: Chris Horton and Samson Ellis

People shop at food stalls at the Ningxia Night Market in Taipei, Taiwan, on Thursday, July 30, 2020. As the world braces for the worst economic contraction since since World War II, Taiwan appears poised to get away lightly. Economists expect the export-dependent island to show a second-quarter performance that is merely stagnant, as opposed to the deep recessions seen elsewhere, and a brighter outlook for the rest of the year. , Bloomberg

The Economic and Commercial Dialogue announced by Washington and Taipei this week marks a breakthrough in Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s four-year quest for trade talks with the U.S. The Trump administration announced the framework days after Tsai dropped restrictions on the American pork products that Washington viewed as a barrier to broader negotiations.

Rupert Hammond-Chambers, president of the Washington-based U.S.-Taiwan Business Council, calling the decision “bigger than the F-16 sale” last year. “There’s very little chance this will go unnoticed, primarily because it’ll rightly be seen as a play for a bilateral trade agreement commitment from the Trump administration,” Hammond-Chambers said.

The trade talks add a new dimension to the expanding cooperation between Taiwan and the U.S., as Donald Trump’s administration highlights its efforts to challenge China in the president’s re-election campaign. So far, the U.S.’s outreach has focused on diplomacy, such as Health Secretary Alex Azar’s landmark visit to Taipei last month, and defense ties, including the administration’s decision to approve the first fighter jet sale to Taiwan in almost three decades.
[FULL  STORY]

Deal one step further in company's foray into automobile, automation markets

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/09/01
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

(Facebook, Nuvoton photo)

The all-cash transaction, announced in November, would have been finalized in June but was postponed due to the coronavirus. Panasonic Semiconductor Solutions Co. (PSCS) will be rebranded as Nuvoton Technology Corporation Japan, reported Anue.

Nuvoton has acquired a 100-percent equity stake in PSCS, which supplies semiconductor-related technologies and products, including image sensors, microcontrollers, and field-effect transistors. The relevant technologies will be applied to the automobile and automation industries, said Nuvoton.

The deal has been hailed as being able to magnify the profitability for Nuvoton, a spin-off from Winbond Electronics Corp. The company expects to expand its product lines, increase its market presence, and enhance its research and development capabilities with the acquisition.
[FULL  STYORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 09/01/2020
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Sept. 1 (CNA) Taiwan's manufacturing activity expanded rapidly in August as export orders continued to pick up as the COVID-19 crisis appeared to be abating, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER) reported Tuesday.

The seasonally adjusted manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) registered 56 in August, an increase of 1.9 points from the previous month, marking an expansion in the manufacturing sector for the second consecutive month and the sector's fastest rate of expansion since January this year, according to the CIER, one of Taiwan's leading economic think tanks.

The non-manufacturing index (NMI) for Taiwan's service sector, meanwhile, also rose in August by 2.1 points from a month earlier to 59.4, the strongest expansion since the data started to be compiled in August 2014, according to the CIER.

For the PMI and NMI, readings above 50 indicate expansion or growth, while those below that threshold represent contraction.    [FULL  STORY]