New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi, center, listens to a TaiDoc Technology Corp employee during a visit to the company’s production lines of COVID-19 antigen rapid test kits at the New Taipei Industrial Park yesterday. The medical products manufacturer said it has applied to the Food and Drug Administration for approval to use the kits at home to make it convenient for people amid the level 3 COVID-19 alert.
Photo courtesy of the New Taipei City Government
SEMICONDUCTORS: The firm has already completed one fab, which is to begin mass producing 2-nanomater chips next year, while two others are under construction Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, plans to begin construction of its fourth and fifth wafer fabs in Kaohsiung next year, targeting the development of high-end processes. The two facilities — P4 and P5 — are part of TSMC’s production expansion program, which aims to build five fabs in Kaohsiung. TSMC facility division vice president Arthur Chuang (莊子壽) on Thursday said that the five facilities are expected to create 8,000 jobs. To respond to the fast-changing global semiconductor industry and escalating international competition, TSMC said it has to keep growing by expanding its production footprints. The P4 and P5
Honda Motor Co absorbing Nissan Motor Co could give the two struggling Japanese brands the scale they need to take on China’s BYD Co (比亞迪), sales figures released yesterday showed. Honda, which earlier this week sketched out plans for a deal that amounts to an acquisition of Nissan, sold 3.43 million cars globally in the first 11 months of this year. Nissan said it sold just over 3 million. China’s biggest automaker BYD sold 3.76 million vehicles over the same period — a clear illustration of how Nissan and Honda are weak alone, but together might have a fighting chance. Honda and Nissan
Printed circuit board (PCB) maker Global Brands Manufacture Ltd (精成科技) is to fully acquire Japanese peer Lincstech Co for about NT$8.4 billion (US$256.9 million) as the company aims to add high-end PCBs to its PC-centric product lineups. The company also expects the deal to help expand its manufacturing sites in Southeast Asia, as local firms diversify to mitigate geopolitical risks. “The acquisition will mean an important step for the company to further expand its presence in Southeast Asia and globally,” Global Brands Manufacture chief financial officer Weng Chia-yu (翁家玉) said at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. The company has set up manufacturing
DOWNFALL: The Singapore-based oil magnate Lim Oon Kuin was accused of hiding US$800 million in losses and leaving 20 banks with substantial liabilities Former tycoon Lim Oon Kuin (林恩強) has been declared bankrupt in Singapore, following the collapse of his oil trading empire. The name of the founder of Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd (興隆貿易) and his children Lim Huey Ching (林慧清) and Lim Chee Meng (林志朋) were listed as having been issued a bankruptcy order on Dec. 19, the government gazette showed. The younger Lims were directors at the company. Leow Quek Shiong and Seah Roh Lin of BDO Advisory Pte Ltd are the trustees, according to the gazette. At its peak, Hin Leong traded a range of oil products, made lubricants and operated loading