EQUITIES
TAIEX closes above 11,000
Local shares yesterday moved higher, closing above 11,000 points on the back of an overnight rally in US markets, as investors embraced expectations that businesses would reopen and the development of a COVID-19 vaccine by US-based Novavax Inc. However, the upturn was limited, with some investors shifting into sell mode after Washington reacted to security laws proposed by China to tighten control over Hong Kong, dealers said. The TAIEX ended up 17.45 points, or 0.16 percent, at 11,014.66 on turnover of NT$156.24 billion (US$5.2 billion). Foreign institutional investors bought a net NT$332 million of shares on the main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. After breaking 11,000, the TAIEX might need to consolidate, analysts said.
CHIPMAKERS
Macronix approves dividend
Memorychip maker Macronix International Co (旺宏電子), which claims 23.8 percent of the world’s NOR flash memory market, yesterday said that shareholders at an annual general meeting approved a proposal to pay a cash dividend of NT$1.2 per common share. The distribution represents a 3.55 percent dividend yield based on the stock’s closing price of NT$33.85 yesterday in Taipei. Shareholders also approved NT$544.33 million in compensation for employees and NT$72.58 million for the board directors, as well as a proposal to raise funds by issuing up to 360 million common shares, the firm said.
CHIPMAKERS
Powerchip takes new head
Foundry and memorychip maker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) yesterday said that it has tapped former AP Memory Technology Corp (愛普科技) president Gu Jun (顧峻) as the new copresident of its memory business group in a bid to enhance its research and development. Gu worked at Intel Corp and Cypress Semiconductor Corp before joining AP Memory in 2011. Chief technology officer Chang Shou-ren (張守仁) has also been promoted to vice president, it said, adding that the changes take effect on Monday next week.
ENERGY
Wpd’s deal to limit bird loss
Offshore wind energy developer Wpd Taiwan Energy Co Ltd (達德能源) yesterday signed a contract worth nearly NT$70 million with WeatherRisk Explore Inc (天氣風險) to monitor bird activity around Wpd’s planned 640 megawatt (MW) wind farm in Yunlin County and help minimize the project’s impact on bird migration. Surveillance equipment such as cameras and microphones would be installed on the transitional wind turbines, with radars to be preinstalled on the turbine components, Wpd said. The wind farm’s 80 8MW wind turbines are to be completed by the end of next year.
BUILDING SERVICES
FDC to help TCC (Hangzhou)
TCC (Hangzhou) Environmental Protection Technology Co Ltd (台泥環保科技), a wholly owned subsidiary of Taiwan Cement Corp (台灣水泥), yesterday signed a deal covering management services, marketing and trademark licensing with FDC International Hotels Corp (雲品國際). Under the agreement, FDC would assist TCC (Hangzhou) in planning technical assistance and services for the parent company’s new building in Hangzhou, China, Taiwan Cement said in a statement. TCC (Hangzhou) would also entrust FDC assisting in operating and managing the building, it added. FDC said that it would provide TCC (Hangzhou) with marketing services and license it to use its trademark. FDC is part of the TCC Group (台泥集團).
Nvidia Corp’s demand for advanced packaging from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) remains strong though the kind of technology it needs is changing, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said yesterday, after he was asked whether the company was cutting orders. Nvidia’s most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chip, Blackwell, consists of multiple chips glued together using a complex chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) advanced packaging technology offered by TSMC, Nvidia’s main contract chipmaker. “As we move into Blackwell, we will use largely CoWoS-L. Of course, we’re still manufacturing Hopper, and Hopper will use CowoS-S. We will also transition the CoWoS-S capacity to CoWos-L,” Huang said
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) is expected to miss the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump on Monday, bucking a trend among high-profile US technology leaders. Huang is visiting East Asia this week, as he typically does around the time of the Lunar New Year, a person familiar with the situation said. He has never previously attended a US presidential inauguration, said the person, who asked not to be identified, because the plans have not been announced. That makes Nvidia an exception among the most valuable technology companies, most of which are sending cofounders or CEOs to the event. That includes
TARIFF TRADE-OFF: Machinery exports to China dropped after Beijing ended its tariff reductions in June, while potential new tariffs fueled ‘front-loaded’ orders to the US The nation’s machinery exports to the US amounted to US$7.19 billion last year, surpassing the US$6.86 billion to China to become the largest export destination for the local machinery industry, the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry (TAMI, 台灣機械公會) said in a report on Jan. 10. It came as some manufacturers brought forward or “front-loaded” US-bound shipments as required by customers ahead of potential tariffs imposed by the new US administration, the association said. During his campaign, US president-elect Donald Trump threatened tariffs of as high as 60 percent on Chinese goods and 10 percent to 20 percent on imports from other countries.
INDUSTRY LEADER: TSMC aims to continue outperforming the industry’s growth and makes 2025 another strong growth year, chairman and CEO C.C. Wei says Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major chip supplier to Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc, yesterday said it aims to grow revenue by about 25 percent this year, driven by robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips. That means TSMC would continue to outpace the foundry industry’s 10 percent annual growth this year based on the chipmaker’s estimate. The chipmaker expects revenue from AI-related chips to double this year, extending a three-fold increase last year. The growth would quicken over the next five years at a compound annual growth rate of 45 percent, fueled by strong demand for the high-performance computing
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