The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) yesterday said it would interview representatives of South Korean online gaming giant Nexon Co next week in the wake of the company’s alleged hostile takeover bid for Taiwanese gaming firm Gamania Digital Entertainment Co (遊戲橘子).
The commission will ask Nexon to comment on its definition of Gamania’s market share, the particular field it defines Gamania as being in, and its current relations with Gamania — vital information in discerning whether Nexon has violated the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法), Fair Trade Commission Chairman Wu Shiow-ming (吳秀明) said at a legislative meeting.
The Fair Trade Act stipulates that any planned merger involving a company with more than a 25 percent market share in a particular field must be reported to the authorities.
Local media has reported that Nexon held more than 33 percent of Gamania’s shares as of the end of March, at least 10 percent more than Gamania chairman and CEO Albert Li’s (劉柏園) holdings.
Wu said the commission would “not just take Nexon’s word for it,” and stressed that it will follow judicial procedures to review the case.
On Monday, Nexon said in a statement that it believed Gamania’s market share was less than 25 percent of the overall Taiwanese digital content industry, which includes online games and other forms of digital entertainment.
In acquiring the shares, Nexon said it has made timely reports to Gamania and the government securities agency in Taiwan.
The government is currently checking the veracity of those claims.
Gamania issued a statement yesterday, saying it insisted on remaining independent and objecting to any merger with Nexon.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in