Largan posts 74% growth
Largan Precision Co (大立光), which supplies smartphone camera lenses to Apple Inc, yesterday posted 74 percent annual growth for last month’s revenue to NT$4.62 billion (US$151.8 million) and the company said it expects the growth momentum to carry into this month.
Largan said customer demand was rising after their new products hit the stores.
Last quarter, Largan’s revenue expanded 69 percent to NT$12.09 billion, compared with NT$7.16 billion in the same period last year.
On a quarterly basis, revenue rose 2.11 percentage points from NT$9.98 billion in the second quarter.
Fubon founder dies at 86
Fubon Group (富邦集團) founder Tsai Wan-tsai (蔡萬才) yesterday died at the age of 86, the financial conglomerate said in a brief statement.
Fubon Financial did not elaborate on the cause of death, except to say that Tsai died in a peaceful manner.
Tsai is the father of Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金) chairman Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠) and Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) chairman Richard Tsai (蔡明興).
The family was ranked the richest in the nation in Forbes magazine’s list of the 40 richest Taiwanese in 2012.
Tsai Wan-tsai, born in Miaoli County in 1929, was the younger brother of Cathay Group patriarchs Tsai Wan-lin (蔡萬霖) and Tsai Wan-tsun (蔡萬春).
Tsai Wan-tsai served as a lawmaker and advisor to the Cabinet and the Presidential Office, among many other positions, before founding Fubon Group.
Hon Hai to offer jobs
Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團) said on Saturday that it is planning to create 10,000 new engineer positions over the next five years, as it is expanding its plant in New Taipei City.
Over the next two years, the company is to recruit 5,000 engineers from around the world, Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) said.
In the next five years, the number of new positions for engineers at Hon Hai is expected to reach 10,000, he added.
The job openings are part of Hon Hai’s plans to expand its research and development center in Tucheng District’s (土城) Dingpu High-tech Industrial Park (頂埔高科技園區), Gou said, adding that he hopes to see more convenient transportation and the continued development of industry and technology in the district.
Hon Hai, the parent company of Foxconn in China, is the world’s largest computer components manufacturer and assembles products for Apple — including the iPhone — as well as Sony and Nokia.
It has 1.4 million employees in 14 countries.
In China alone, it employs about 1 million workers, roughly half of them based at its main facility in the southern city of Shenzhen.
Event to promote investment
The Ministry of Economic Affairs expressed optimism on Saturday that the nation would be able to attract more investment from overseas this year than last through an upcoming annual investment promotion event.
The ministry has held the annual Taiwan Business Alliance Conference since 2003.
The next event is scheduled for Wednesday at the Taipei International Convention Center.
Last year, the conference drew investments worth a record NT$138.8 billion.
According to ministry officials, at least five companies are planning to invest more than NT$5 billion in the nation this year, while a Western company intends to invest NT$10 billion in a travel and recreation project.
New plane for China Airlines
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) on Friday took delivery of a Boeing 777-300ER as part of its efforts to upgrade its fleet and expand its transportation capacity.
It is the first of 10 Boeing 777-300ERs the airline ordered in 2012 and CAL is to take delivery of the second and the third planes later this month and next month, with the remainder of the new purchases to arrive by the end of 2016, the company said.
CAL said each environmentally friendly Boeing 777-300 ER is expected to help the carrier save about NT$300 million in costs per year.
The first Boeing 777-300ER is scheduled to begin flights in December, flying passengers from Taipei to Los Angeles, the carrier said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$10.26 billion to finance the construction of its second fab in Kumamoto, Japan, and a second fab in Arizona, using advanced process technologies. The Department of Investment Review approved TSMC’s investment applications on the basis that Taiwan remains a major technology and manufacturing hub for the chipmaker, which makes its most advanced chips at home, the company operates its research-and-development center here and the majority of its capacity remains in Taiwan. The latest capital injections — US$5.26 billion for its Japanese venture Japan Advanced Semiconductor Manufacturing
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Taiwanese workers earned an average of NT$47,000 per month this year, but 40 percent are struggling financially and 18 percent plan to switch jobs within 12 months, two separate surveys showed yesterday. The amount equals a 5.4 percent increase from a year earlier to a decade high, 104 Job Bank (104人力銀行) said. The government is due to review the nation’s minimum wages. Employees at computer and consumer electronics manufacturers reported the highest average monthly wage of NT$60,000 a month, followed by semiconductor firms at NT$59,000, and vendors of shoe and textile products, along with software and Internet businesses at NT$55,000, 104 Job