ProMOS sells Hynix shares
ProMOS Technologies Inc (茂德科技), the nation’s third-largest computer memory chipmaker, said yesterday it had sold a 8.6 percent stake to South Korean chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor Inc for NT$3.46 billion (US$109.8 million) through private placement.
Hynix bought 576 million ProMOS common share at NT$6 a share via Korea Exchange Bank Co Ltd. ProMOS will soon arrange a seat for Hynix on its 11-member board, company spokeswoman Jessie Peng (彭卓蘭) said by telephone.
ProMOS said in May that it planned to start using Hynix’s 50 nanometer technology to produce chips by the end of the year, or early next year.
Four injured at TSMC site
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest custom-chip maker, said four workers were injured when they fell from the second floor of a chip factory construction site.
One worker had surgery, another is awaiting surgery and a third was being treated for broken bones, TSMC spokesman Michael Kramer said yesterday. A fourth worker has been released from hospital, he said.
TSMC doesn’t expect any impact on the construction schedule of the factory, which is being built in Hsinchu, and doesn’t see any liability from the incident, Kramer said. He declined to comment further on the extent of the injuries.
The workers were moving a power transformer for ABB Ltd at the time, Kramer said. All four are Taiwanese and were employed by a local firm contracted by ABB, he said.
German agents hunt pirates
German customs agents swarmed through the IFA consumer electronics fair in Berlin shortly after the expo opened yesterday, hunting for non-payers of royalties.
Major targets appeared to be Asian electronics makers.
The raids were led by Berlin prosecutors.
There were similar raids at the CeBIT electronics fair in Hanover in March. Many of the allegations involve patented software in the digital devices. The patent owners expect royalties or fees every time the software is used.
Norbert Scheithauer, a Berlin-region spokesman for the German customs service, said 220 agents had been deployed to raid about 50 booths at IFA and would continue their work until last night.
A German online news service, FAZ.net, said the Taiwan Image Hall, where top Taiwanese designs were shown, was a target.
Agents brought cartons and took away TV sets, receivers for terrestrial digital video broadcasting (DVB-T) and MP3 players.
Investment applications pass
The Investment Commission yesterday approved China Steel Corp’s (中國鋼鐵) application to invest US$292.74 million in its plant located in the suburbs of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
The plant is scheduled for commercial operation in 2011, the company says on its Web site.
The commission also approved Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp’s (奇美電子) application for outward remittance of US$60 million to increase its investment in its subsidiaries in Nanhai, China.
The commission also greenlighted Chi Mei Corp’s (奇美實業) application for outward remittance of US$92.95 million to increase its investment in Chi Mei Chemical Co (奇美化工) in Zhenjiang, China, along with two other Chinese companies.
The commission approved Netherlands-based W.P.V. Holding BV’s application for inward remittance of NT$790 million to purchase new shares from Gsharp Corp (浩緯實業) and to acquire 100 percent of shares in Cable-Giant Catv Co (大新店民主有線電視) through indirect investment.
MULTIFACETED: A task force has analyzed possible scenarios and created responses to assist domestic industries in dealing with US tariffs, the economics minister said The Executive Yuan is tomorrow to announce countermeasures to US President Donald Trump’s planned reciprocal tariffs, although the details of the plan would not be made public until Monday next week, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. The Cabinet established an economic and trade task force in November last year to deal with US trade and tariff related issues, Kuo told reporters outside the legislature in Taipei. The task force has been analyzing and evaluating all kinds of scenarios to identify suitable responses and determine how best to assist domestic industries in managing the effects of Trump’s tariffs, he
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TIGHT-LIPPED: UMC said it had no merger plans at the moment, after Nikkei Asia reported that the firm and GlobalFoundries were considering restarting merger talks United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電), the world’s No. 4 contract chipmaker, yesterday launched a new US$5 billion 12-inch chip factory in Singapore as part of its latest effort to diversify its manufacturing footprint amid growing geopolitical risks. The new factory, adjacent to UMC’s existing Singapore fab in the Pasir Res Wafer Fab Park, is scheduled to enter volume production next year, utilizing mature 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer process technologies, UMC said in a statement. The company plans to invest US$5 billion during the first phase of the new fab, which would have an installed capacity of 30,000 12-inch wafers per month, it said. The
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
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