EQUITIES
TAIEX closes above 10,300
The TAIEX closed slightly higher yesterday on bargain hunting, which helped the main board recoup its earlier losses of more than 100 points caused by a plunge in US markets overnight. Bargain hunting focused on large-cap stocks across the board, lifting the market above the technical hurdle of 10,300 points by the end of the session to close near the day’s high, traders said. The TAIEX closed up 19.32 points, or 0.19 percent, at 10,307.74, on turnover of NT$151.80 billion (US$5.04 billion). Foreign institutional investors sold a net NT$3.45 billion of shares on the main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed.
OPTOELECTRONICS
Largan proposes dividend
Largan Precision Co’s (大立光) board of directors yesterday proposed distributing a cash dividend of NT$79 per share, a historic high, the company said in a regulatory filing. Based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$210.7, the cash dividend represents a payout ratio of 37.49 percent, the same as the previous year. The company said that it would distribute NT$10.597 billion in cash to shareholders. It has also signed engineering contracts and equipment purchases for the construction of a new plant at the Taichung Industrial Park (台中工業區) that are worth a total of NT$2.38 billion, Largan said in a separate filing.
TECHNOLOGY
HTC loses patent lawsuit
Japan’s Nichia Corp yesterday announced that it has won a patent infringement lawsuit against HTC Corp’s (宏達電) Japanese affiliate, HTC Nippon Corp. The Tokyo District Court ruled that HTC infringed on Nichia’s patents through the distribution of smartphones equipped with white LEDs, it said. HTC in a statement said that it respects the court’s decision, even if it regrets the outcome. As the patents expired in 2017, the ruling would not affect the company’s product sales and business, HTC said.
COMPUTERS
Adata unveils gaming PC
Memory module maker Adata Technology Co (威剛) yesterday introduced the Xenia gaming notebook computer under the XPG brand. The laptop is equipped with a 15.6-inch narrow bezel screen with narrow frames, Adata said, adding that it is equipped with Intel Corp’s Core i7-9750H processors, as well as Nvidia Corp’s GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q or GeForce GTX 1660 Ti graphics chips. The company said that it would start selling the Xenia in Taiwan through PChome Online Inc’s (網路家庭) 24-hour shopping service, and launch the laptop in North America and Mexico by the end of this month, before expanding to other markets in the third quarter.
MANUFACTURERS
Zeng Hsing eyes rebound
Zeng Hsing Industrial Co (伸興), the world’s largest original design manufacturer of household sewing machines, yesterday said that shipments are forecast to increase 15 percent to 700,000 units this quarter, compared with 610,000 units last quarter, on steady recovery in market demand. The Taichung-based company said that it sees no signs of order increases in the short term, but maintains its shipment forecast for the whole of this year at 3.05 million units. Zeng Hsing makes machines for several international companies, including Singer Corp and Bernina International AG. Its revenue in the first quarter decreased 7.64 percent from the previous quarter, but increased 8.67 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.17 billion, company data showed.
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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