ELECTRONICS
LED penetration to hit 23%
The global market penetration rate of LED commercial lighting will soar this year amid growing popularity of the product, LEDinside said in a recent research note, adding that the growth of the global LED commercial lighting market penetration rate will reach 23 percent by the end of the year. The global LED tube market totaled US$2.58 billion last year and will increase substantially to US$8.87 billion by 2018, with Europe, North America and China set to become major markets within the next five years, the market researcher said. Manufacturers should grab this opportunity and improve their products, such as boosting luminous efficacy, lifespan and light quality, LEDinside said. Luminous efficiency, lighting uniformity, color rendering and lifespan are still considered key technologies, it added.
FOOD
Show draws 1,500 exhibitors
This year’s annual Taipei International Food Show, scheduled to open on June 25, has attracted more than 1,500 local and foreign exhibitors occupying more than 3,700 booths, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said yesterday in a statement. The four-day event, which coincides with four other related packaging, processing, machinery and halal food shows, will run until June 28 at the Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall and Exhibition Hall 1. It is expected to attract more than 6,500 international buyers and 58,000 local visitors, TAITRA said. Each day between 1pm and 2pm, there will be promotions for 30 national pavilions, the organizers said. In addition to new product launches, the organizers will also host cooking shows and other promotional activities during the show.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$7.5 billion into its US subsidiary, the Department of Investment Review said in a statement. The department approved TSMC’s application of investing in TSMC Arizona Corp, which is engaged in the manufacturing, sales, testing and design of IC and other semiconductor devices, it said. The latest capital injection follows a US$5 billion investment for TSMC Arizona approved in June. The chipmaker has broken ground on two advanced fabs in Arizona with aggregated investments approved by the department totaling US$24 billion thus far. According to TSMC, the first Arizona
The lethal hack of Hezbollah’s Asian-branded pagers and walkie-talkies has sparked an intense search for the devices’ path, revealing a murky market for older technologies where buyers might have few assurances about what they are getting. While supply chains and distribution channels for higher-margin and newer products are tightly managed, that is not the case for older electronics from Asia where counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product, analysts and consultants say. The response from the companies at the center of the booby-trapped gadgets that killed 37
FRIENDLY TAKEOVER: While Qualcomm Inc’s proposal to buy some or all of Intel raises the prospect of other competitors, Broadcom Inc is staying on the sidelines Qualcomm Inc has approached Intel Corp to discuss a potential acquisition of the struggling chipmaker, people with knowledge of the matter said, raising the prospect of one of the biggest-ever merger and acquisition deals. California-based Qualcomm proposed a friendly takeover for Intel in recent days, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The proposal is for all of the chipmaker, although Qualcomm has not ruled out buying some parts of Intel and selling off others. It is uncertain whether the initial approach would lead to an agreement and any deal is likely to come under close antitrust scrutiny
SECURITY CONCERNS: The proposed ban on Chinese autonomous vehicle software and hardware would go into effect with the 2027 and 2030 model years respectively The US Department of Commerce today is expected to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on US roads due to national security concerns, two sources said. US President Joe Biden’s administration has raised concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on US drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the Internet and navigation systems. The proposed regulation would ban the import and sale of vehicles from China with key communications or automated driving system software or hardware, said the two sources, who declined to be identified because the