The Guru of 3D
Date: 07/07/2020
By: Hilbert Hagedoorn

In what is an unfortunate news item, Sheng-Chang Chiang, also named Charles Chiang general manager and CEO of MSI fell off a building today, and passed away. The news reported by Taiwanese media moments ago, also is confirmed through our MSI backchannel.

The 56-year-old Sheng-Chang Chiang had just taken over as CEO of MSI in January 2019. He fell from the seven-floor building for unknown. Security of MSI went out on patrol and at 2 pm local time heard a loud noise. Chiang was found lying on the ground in the company's car lane. The police hurried to the scene and rushed him to the hospital for treatment, but unfortunately, he passed away. Authorities are investigating the incident. Chiang graduated from the Institute of Electronics, Jiaotong University. He previously served as Yangzhi Technology Associate and General Manager of MSI Desktop Platform Business Division and took over as MSI General Manager and CEO in January 2019. A company where he has had a role in for 20 years.

We wish the family, friends, staff at MSI and everyone involved or acquainted to Mr Chiang our sincere condolences and profound respect.     [FULL  STORY]

Group goes ahead with annual pay raise amid losses from coronavirus

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

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) has announced a one percent pay raise for rank-and-file employees despite revenue being affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision was agreed upon by William Wong (王文淵), chairman of FPG, and the group’s labor union representatives in a meeting on Tuesday (July 7). FPG is a long-standing conglomerate in Taiwan whose business interests span plastics, biotech, petrochemical, energy, and transportation.

According to the wage adjustment plan, non-management workers will see their monthly salary increased by one percent, plus an NT$3,300 (US$112) bonus. The one percent raise translates to around NT$500 for the average monthly payment of NT$54,800, reported UDN.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 07/07/2020
By: Flor Wang and Wang Shu-fen

Taipei, July 7 (CNA) China Airlines (CAL), one of Taiwan's major carriers, announced on Tuesday that a temporary pay cut program introduced at the start of May to tackle fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic has ended earlier than originally planned.

Based on an agreement with the airline's labor union earlier the same day, union president Liu Hui-tsung (劉惠宗) confirmed that the 15-25 percent pay reduction for all airline employees in May and June was ended retrospectively on June 30.

Following the ending of the temporary pay cut, CAL staffers began to receive their normal pay from July 1, Liu said.

According to Liu, CAL Chairman Hsieh Shih-chien (謝世謙) agreed to end the pay cut program earlier to thank CAL employees, who he said had done a great job transporting relief materials around the world, since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.    [FULL  STORY

MAIN FACTOR: Despite international oil and raw material prices picking up, demand for related products was still sluggish, the Department of Statistics director-general said

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 08, 2020 page12
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The nation’s exports last month slid 3.8 percent from a year earlier to US$27.13 billion, as poor shipments of mineral, chemical and plastic products eclipsed record semiconductor sales, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday.

“Despite rebounds in international oil and raw material prices, demand for related products remained sluggish,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a news conference in Taipei.

That was the reason shipments of mineral products plunged a record 65.5 percent, while shipments of chemical, base metal and plastic products declined 25.3 percent, 23.8 percent and 23.4 percent respectively, Tsai said.

Price factors aside, a languid global economy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic continued to weigh on demand, she said.    [FULL  STORY]

Which semiconductor stock has more room to run this year?

The Mot7ley Fool
Date: Jul 6, 2020
By: Leo Sun (TMFSunLion)

Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU) and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (NYSE:TSM) are two crucial players in the semiconductor market. Micron is one of the world's top producers of DRAM and NAND memory chips, which are widely used in mobile devices, PCs, data centers, and other electronics.

Taiwan Semiconductor, commonly known as TSMC, is the world's largest contract chipmaker and manufactures the world's most advanced chips for companies like Apple, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and AMD.

Both stocks have generated big returns for investors over the past five years. Micron's stock has rallied more than 160% on robust demand for its memory chips across multiple industries, while TSMC's stock advanced over 150% on consistently strong orders from its top customers. Let's see which semiconductor stock has more room to run this year.

How does Micron make money?

Micron generates nearly all its revenue from different types of memory chips. DRAM chips accounted for 66% of its revenue last quarter. NAND (flash memory) chips generated another 31% of its revenue, and the rest came from other types of memory.    [FULL  STORY]

The chipmaker spends approximately $10 billion per year on equipment, research and development

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/07/06
By: Eric Chang, Taiwan News, Contributing Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — While Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) currently controls half of the world’s contract chipmaking business, it is now facing an increased challenge from Samsung Electronics.

Samsung is planning on pouring tens of millions of dollars into research and development over the next decade in hopes of closing the gap between itself and the Taiwanese company, according to a report from Nikkei Asian Review. However, TSMC’s finances and business strategy could make that goal out of reach for the South Korean company.

In 2018, TSMC began construction on a $40-billion state-of-the-art plant in the southern city of Tainan. The Tainan foundry has started producing 5-nanometer chips designed for new Apple iPhones slated for launch in the second half of 2020, according to the report.

These central processing unit chips will then be slimmed down to 3-nanometers in 2022 to meet new 5G equipment specifications. According an industry observer cited by the Nikkei Asian Review, the Tainan plant will become a vital supply base for 5G gear.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 07/06/2020
By: Lee Hsin-Yin

Taipei, July 6 (CNA) An overwhelming majority of German companies operating in Taiwan consider travel restrictions between Taiwan and the European Union harmful to their businesses, a survey by the global network of the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad (AHK) has found.

Among the surveys of AHK's 140 locations in 92 countries from June 15 to 26, the one targeting Taiwan found 90.5 percent of respondents citing travel restrictions as the biggest burden on their operations, the German Trade Office Taipei said Monday.

Moreover, 70 percent of respondents perceived the bans as a major challenge for Taiwan's economic recovery, the office said in a press release.

"It was with great regret that we have learned about the decision of the European Union not to add Taiwan to the list of safe travel destinations," said Axel Limberg, chief representative and executive director of the office.    [FULL  STORY]

GOGOROS TO GO: The scooter maker’s CEO said that the electric vehicles ‘are the perfect complement to a program designed to stimulate the Taiwanese economy’

Taipei T&imes
Date: Jul 07, 2020
By: Angelica Oung / Staff reporter

Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) yesterday announced a draw to encourage people to claim their Triple Stimulus Vouchers digitally.

The prizes include movie tickets and 25 electric scooters donated by Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), Wang said.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs said that it would hold a scooter draw every day for the next 10 days, beginning yesterday, after which there would be a draw every week for 15 weeks.

The first winner was a Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合庫銀行) credit card user, the ministry said.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 07/04/2020
By: Chang Chien-chung and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 4 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, will issue NT$13.9 billion (US$470 million) in unsecured bonds soon to help fund its plan to expand production capacity.

In a filing on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) Friday, TSMC said the bonds will comprise three tranches — NT$5.7 billion payable over 5 years, NT$6.3 billion over 7 years, and NT$1.9 billion over 10 years.

The interest rates will be 0.58 percent on the five-year bonds, 0.65 percent on the seven-year ones, and 0.67 percent on the 10 year tranche, TSMC said.

Capital Securities will serve as the main underwriter in the bond sale, TSMC said, but did not disclose when exactly the bonds will be issued.    [FULL  STORY]