ELECTRONICS
Hon Hai sales hit record
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Friday reported consolidated sales of NT$395.59 billion (US$12.9 billion) for last month, the highest for the month in the company’s history. The figures were 1.46 percent higher than the previous month and up 25.56 percent from a year earlier, Hon Hai said. In the first seven months of this year, cumulative revenue totaled NT$2.504 trillion, up 13.34 percent from a year earlier. Computing products were the main sales drivers during the period, followed by consumer electronics and communication products, it said.
INVESTMENT
Fund outflows continue
Foreign institutional investors last month recorded a net fund outflow of US$2.53 billion, marking the fourth consecutive month of net outflows amid concerns over an escalating trade war between the US and China, the Financial Supervisory Commission said. In addition to unfavorable external factors, foreign institutional investors also repatriated funds after receiving hefty cash dividends from their investments in local stocks, the commission said. In the first seven months of this year, foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$264.96 billion in local shares, it said.
MACROECONOMICS
CPI up 1.75% on tax hike
The nation’s consumer price index (CPI) last month rose 1.75 percent from a year earlier due largely to a spike in the prices of tobacco and betel nuts caused by a tax hike, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said on Tuesday last week. Excluding fruit, vegetables and energy, core CPI increased 1.5 percent year-on-year, it said. In the first seven months of this year, CPI increased 1.65 percent annually, it said.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
SUBSIDIES: The nominee for commerce secretary indicated the Trump administration wants to put its stamp on the plan, but not unravel it entirely US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency in charge of a US$52 billion semiconductor subsidy program declined to give it unqualified support, raising questions about the disbursement of funds to companies like Intel Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電). “I can’t say that I can honor something I haven’t read,” Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, said of the binding CHIPS and Science Act awards in a confirmation hearing on Wednesday. “To the extent monies have been disbursed, I would commit to rigorously enforcing documents that have been signed by those companies to make sure we get
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