Business and Finance

Winbond to build new NT$355bn fab

GOOD FUNDAMENTALS: Demand for memory chips has been soft in the first half due to excessive inventories, but would continue to rise as applications increase, the firm said

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 12, 2018
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Winbond Electronics Corp (華邦電), the world’s No. 3 NOR flash memorychip supplier, yesterday said it is to start building a new fab in September to cope with promising demand for memory chips used in Internet of Things (IoT) applications, cars and big data collection and analysis.

The NT$355 billion (US$11.90 billion) investment plan was given the go-ahead in September last year at a time when demand still outpaced supply after the memorychip market staged a comeback one year earlier. That led to an uptick in chip prices, which raised profits for most memorychip makers.

The Hsinchu-based chipmaker has not invested in a new factory since 2004, deterred by chronic volatility in demand and bouts of oversupply over the past decade.

Winbond is upbeat about memorychip demand over the next decade on the back of a “mega uptrend” created by demand from IoT, cars, cloud computing and big data technologies, Winbond chairman Arthur Chiao (焦佑鈞) told the Chinese-language Apple Daily on the sidelines of the firm’s annual shareholders’ meeting.
[FULL  STORY]

Taiwan shares open lower

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/06/08
By: Y.F. Low

Taipei, June 8 (CNA) The Taiwan Stock Exchange’s main index opened down 8.16 points Friday at 11,243.59 on turnover of NT$3.36 billion (US$112.87 million).    [SOURCE]

FSC mulls ending Saturday trading

‘PECULIAR’ PRACTICE: Chairman Wellington Koo said that the makeup sessions are not in line with global norms, but the central bank was against the proposal

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 08, 2018
By: Ted Chen  /  Staff reporter

The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday said that it could end the practice of opening Taiwan’s equity market on Saturdays to make up for lost trading sessions due to national holidays.

FSC Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said that the practice — which a few times each year leads to Taipei being the only equity market in the world that is open for trading — could be halted as soon as next year, depending on the opinions of the Taiwan Securities Association’s (券商公會) member brokerages.

A decision by the brokerage industry and regulators should begin to form toward the end of October, Koo said on the sidelines of a financial technology forum in Taipei.

“While most countries have national holidays that put a halt on trading, Taiwan’s Saturday trading sessions are peculiar and need to be examined to be more in line with global norms,” Koo said.    [FULL  STORY]

Top Businessman Worried About Power

ICRT Radio News
Date: 2018-06-06

One of Taiwan’s top businessmen is expressing concerns about the power supply.

Far Eastern group CEO Douglas Hsu says the group has already taken measures
to reduce their electricity consumption, but he’s still worried about
potential power rationing.

He says any rationing could force the group to shut down its production
lines.

With local power reserves recently often dropping to under 5 percent, Hsu
says Taiwan really needs to maintain a 15 percent reserve, which is the
standard worldwide, in order to avoid sudden power loss.

Despite these concerns, Hsu says he has no intention of taking Far Eastern’s
operations outside of Taiwan.

He says the group will continue its investment in the country while replacing
old equipment with newer, more energy-efficient versions.    [SOURCE]

AmCham releases 2018 White Paper on Taiwan’s business climate

The 2018 report shows excellent progress over 2017, Taiwan is ‘on the right track’ to stand out as an innovative country and a favorable location for international business

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/06/06
By: Duncan DeAeth, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Taiwan,

AmCham President William Foreman (L) and Chairman Albert Chang (R) present the 2018 White Paper (By Central News Agency)

released their annual White Paper on issues in various industries, government regulations, and the overall business climate in Taiwan, on June 6.

The Chairman of AmCham, Albert Chang, spoke at the press conference about the progress that has been made in a number of areas over the past year. According to Chang, this year’s report represents an exceptionally positive state of affairs for business in Taiwan, in marked contrast to the underwhelming report that was issued in 2017.

In last year’s report, out of 80 problems identified by the chamber, AmCham was unable to report that any had been resolved, and only 8 were showing decent progress at this time last year.    [FULL  STORY]

Taipei faces 4th highest risk to threats among global cities: Lloyd’s

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/06/06
By: William Yen

Taipei, June 6 (CNA) Taipei is the global city facing the fourth highest risk to its annual economic output, over the next three years mainly due to its vulnerability to tropical storms, according to an index compiled by the Lloyd’s of London insurance market.

The risk index lists 279 cities with a combined GDP of US$35.4 trillion and shows that they risk US$546.5 billion in economic output annually as a result of 22 types of threats, in the period 2018 to 2020.

The top five threats likely to cause the biggest economic loses worldwide over the three-year period are market crashes (US$103.33 billion), interstate conflicts (US$80 billion), tropical windstorms (US$62.59 billion), human pandemics (US$47.13 billion) and floods (US$42.91 billion), the index shows.

Taipei, which has an annual projected gross domestic product (GDP) of US$179.98 billion, has US$12.88 billion at risk annually, with tropical windstorms its biggest threat, according to Lloyd’s.    [FULL  STORY]

Varied Q3 forecasts for FPG units

UNCERTAINTY: Formosa Chemicals and Nan Ya Plastics were upbeat on revenue, while the petrochemical and plastics arms voiced caution over oil and protectionism

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 07, 2018
By: Kuo Chia-erh  /  Staff reporter

The four major units of Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) yesterday provided mixed outlooks for next quarter, as global oil prices remain uncertain due to growing political risk.

“Worries over supply disruptions from Venezuela and Iran have driven up oil prices,” Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) president Tsao Minh (曹明) said.

Tsao did not give a detailed forecast for global crude oil prices or the company’s product prices, but said that the US’ assurance of a stable oil supply should offset the effects of declining oil exports from Venezuela and Iran.

Washington has reportedly asked Saudi Arabia and other OPEC members to increase oil production by about 1 million barrels a day, Bloomberg News said on Tuesday.
[FULL  STORY]

ASUS announces new ZenBook, VivoBook notebooks, and VivoWatch BP healthcare wearable

At a Computex 2018 press conference in Taipei on Tuesday, ASUS unveiled all-new products, including new ZenBook and VivoBook notebooks and the VivoWatch BP wearable blood-pressure monitor

Taiwan News 
Date: 2018/06/05
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—At a Computex 2018 press conference in Taipei on Tuesday,

ASUS announces Gal Gadot as new brand ambassador for ASUS PC campaigns (photo courtesy of ASUS)

ASUS unveiled all-new products, including new ZenBook and VivoBook notebooks and the VivoWatch BP wearable blood-pressure monitor.

As part of the new ZenBook and VivoBook introduction, ASUS announced a partnership with Hollywood sensation and leading actress, Gal Gadot, as brand ambassador for ASUS PC product lines.

New ZenBook notebooks include ZenBook Pro 15 (UX580), ZenBook Pro 14 (UX480) and ZenBook S (UX391). ZenBook Pro 15 and ZenBook Pro 14 run Windows 10, are faster and more sophisticated than ever and feature ScreenPad, a brand-new way to interact with ZenBook that adapts to the user to provide effortless control, according to ASUS.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s forex reserves hit new high in May

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/06/05
By: Chiu Po-shen and Ko Lin

Taipei, June 5 (CNA) Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves as of the end of May hit a new high, largely on increased returns from the central bank’s fund management, the bank said Tuesday.

As of the end of May, Taiwan’s forex reserves amounted to US$457.27 billion, an increase of US$144 million from a month earlier, the central bank’s data shows.

The bank said however that the euro depreciated 3.3 percent against the U.S. dollar in May, making it the primary factor to buck the growth trend of Taiwan’s forex reserves in the U.S. dollar.

Holdings of Taiwanese stocks, bonds and Taiwan dollar-denominated deposits by foreign investors were up US$4 billion in May from a month earlier after the local main board rose about 2 percent, which also contributed to Taiwan’s forex gains, said Harry Yen (顏輝煌), head of the central bank’s Foreign Exchange Department.    [FULL  STORY]

MediaTek’s 5G modem to be ready next year

LEADING PLAYER: With new 5G standards being released this month, the company aims to have its first 5G modem, the MTK Helio M70, ready next year

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 06, 2018
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

MediaTek Inc (聯發科), which competes with Qualcomm Inc in the mobile phone chip

Mobile phones with the MediaTek Helio AI-accelerated face detection engine are displayed during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb. 28.
Photo: Reuters

segment, yesterday said it has started close collaborations with global telecom operators and device makers to unveil its first 5G modem processor next year.

Huawei Technologies Co (華為), Nokia Oyj, Japan’s NTT Docomo and China Mobile Ltd (中國移動) are among MediaTek’s partners for developing 5G technologies, the company said.

“MediaTek’s first 5G modem, the MTK Helio M70, is to be ready next year, with specifications and performance matching new 5G standards, which are to be released this month,” company president Joe Chen (陳冠州) told a media briefing in Taipei.

The company has made good progress in developing 5G technologies, as it joined the 5G standard-building body, 3GPP, very early, Chen said, adding that this has been a different experience than during the 4G era.    [FULL  STORY]