Event will feature smart solutions including healthcare, transportation, manufacturing, record number of participants to attend

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/07/28
By: Huang Tzu-ti, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Smart City Summit & Expo (SCSE) 2020 will take place virtually this year amid the coronavirus pandemic, featuring 1,000 smart city solutions by 450 companies from around the world.

Organized by the Taiwan Smart City Solutions Alliance, the event will last from July 1 through Dec. 31 and consist of 16 online pavilions with a variety of themes. Participants hail from both the public and private sectors, including Taipei and Taoyuan city governments, the National Development Council, and telecom giants Chunghwa Telecom and Taiwan Mobile.

The 1,000 Internet of Things (IoT) solutions to be showcased span applications in smart healthcare, disease control, transportation, architecture, energy conservation, education, manufacturing, security control, the workplace, for homes, AI, and 5G, reported CNA.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 07/24/2020
By: Wu Hsin-yun and Ko Lin

Taipei, July 24 (CNA) The number of furloughed workers in Taiwan rose over the past week as activity in the manufacturing sector slowed amid uneven overseas demand for Taiwan's exports due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Ministry of Labor (MOL).

As of Friday, 1,049 companies had unpaid leave programs, while a total of 25,208 workers had agreed to go on furlough, up 1,601 from a week earlier, data compiled by the MOL showed.

Among the companies that carried out the furlough programs, 353 were manufacturers, 332 were retailers or wholesalers, and 71 were in the service sector, the data showed.

Manufacturers also accounted for two-thirds of the companies that began furlough programs in the week from July 16 to July 24.    [FULL  STORY]

‘ONE-STOCK SHOW’: Turnover hit an all-time high as TSMC continued to determine the local market’s direction and surpassed Visa in market capitalization

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 29, 2020
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The TAIEX early yesterday hit an all-time intraday high on the back of soaring Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares, before tumbling back to the previous day’s close as the contract chipmaker could not single-handedly prop up the index.

The TAIEX rose more than 400 points in the first 20 minutes of trading to hit a record 13,031.7 points, but later pared its gains to close down 0.01 percent at 12,586.73.

Turnover was NT$343.252 billion (US$11.63 billion), the highest in the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s history.

TSMC continued to dictate the market’s direction, as its early surge by the daily maximum 10 percent to NT$466.5 accounted for more than 350 points of the TAIEX’s early gains.
[FULL  STORY]

Semiconductor foundry added additional US$35 billion to its market capitalization Monday

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/07/27
By: Eric Chang, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Shares for Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) soared by more than 9 percent during Monday morning’s (July 27) trading session after rival Intel announced last week it would face significant production delays.

The Taiex closed 2.3 percent higher on Monday — breaking a 30-year record — as TSMC added an additional US$35 billion to its market capitalization, making it the 12th most valuable stock worldwide, according to Bloomberg. This helped the Taiwanese semiconductor maker reach a total market cap of more than NT$10 trillion (US$340.1 billion), according to Nikkei Asian Review.

That comes after Intel announced last Thursday (July 23) that its 7-nanometer chips will not be ready for market until 2022 or early 2023, Reuters reported. Intel also said it is considering outsourcing some production to outside semiconductor foundries, according to Reuters.

Intel’s two biggest rivals, TSMC and Samsung, are set to benefit as the U.S. semiconductor giant falters. Both Asian companies are already working on more advanced 5-nanometer chip technology, while TSMC is already mass-producing 5-nanometer chips, Nikkei Asian Review reported.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 07/27/2020
By: Frances Huang

Taipei, July 27 (CNA) Shares in Taiwan closed at a record high Monday on a strong rally by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and other chipmakers, dealers said.

With buying focused on tech stocks throughout the session, old economy and financial stocks largely stayed in the doldrums as concerns over political tensions and fears over the COVID-19 pandemic still weighed on sentiment, they said.

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE), the Taiex, ended up 284.26 points, or 2.31 percent, at 12,588.30, after moving between 12,586.91 and 12,686.36, on turnover of NT$252.40 billion (US$8.59 billion).

The market opened up 2.56 percent as TSMC shares shot up on news that Intel's 7-nanometer technology development was being postponed, which is expected to divert more orders in TSMC's direction, dealers said.    [FULL  STORY]

Epoch Times
Date: July 26, 2020
By: Ella Kietlinska

Robert Spalding, a former senior director for strategy to the president, lauded the decision of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), one of the top world’s chipmakers, to stop taking orders from Chinese telecom giant Huawei and strongly recommended for the United States and its allies to bring back some manufacturing from China.

According to Spalding, among factors impacting world’s chipmakers are traditional Intel-based architecture being gradually replaced by neuromorphic computing, which resembles some functions of the human brain, and China’s work in the field of quantum computing. In addition, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seeks to use Chinese SMIC as a chip supplier instead of TSMC and TSMC plans to build a factory in Arizona, Spalding said on Wednesday in an interview at the Jamestown Foundation.

“The bottom line is TSMC is at the epicenter of a big struggle for the future of the semiconductor world” Spalding said.

For the sake of national security, the United States must win this battle through reshoring—bringing manufacturing back to the United States from overseas—and partnering with allies to ensure that no semiconductor technology will flow to China, Spalding said, calling the struggle for chip technology dominance the main battle of “the second cold war.”    [FULL  STORY]

Forbes
Date: Jul 23, 2020
By: Will Horton, Senior Contributor

Flying the flag usually lets airlines brag.

So coveted is national carrier status that when British Airways in the ’90s applied global emblems to its aircraft instead of U.K. insignia, rival Virgin Atlantic added a Union Jack sticker on planes and proclaimed itself “Britain’s Flag Carrier.”

For China Airlines, its national branding created a blame game culminating with Taiwan’s legislature this week ordering renaming proposals. But aircraft will not be in the paint shop anytime soon, if ever – Taiwan’s lively political parties may be jockeying.

“The ministry should make China Airlines more identifiable internationally with Taiwanese images to protect Taiwan’s national interests,” said legislative president Yu Shyi-kun of the independence-leaning party DPP. “Overseas it is mistaken for a Chinese airline.”
[FULL  STORY]