(Below are just a mirority of my high-tech article collections. If you want more for reference, please notify me so that I can email you the rest.)

Multimedia Software Market Blossoms Last Year      

        Taipei, February 1 (InfoTimes) – The domestic multimedia software market grew significantly last year. Seeing glowing prospects in this market, a large number of related companies are preparing initial public offers on the Over-the-Counter market, with a view to sharpening their competitive edge.

        According to the latest statistics released by the Market Intelligence Center (MIC), the value of the local multimedia education software market increased to NT$1.28 billion in 1999, up 103% year-on-year. MIC analysts cited the government’s policy of expanding domestic demand as a key factor behind the fast growth of this long-inactive sector.

        The value of the game software market grew to NT$3.485 billion last year, up 24% from 1998’s NT$2.809 billion. MIC analysts said that the main reason for the market’s continuing growth was the low-price trend in game software, which tempted more players into this market.

        In addition, the renaissance of online games and Internet coffee shops was also regarded as another key factor behind the prosperity of the game software market.

        In an attempt to cash in on this trend by raising more funds, a number of software producers, including Softchina Corp, Softstar Entertainment Inc, Soft-world International Corp, Waei International Entertainment Corp, and AcerTWP Corp, are currently planning to list on the OTC market.  (Kevin Liu)

Taiwan-Japan TFD-LCD Links Grow

Taipei,  February  2  (InfoTimes) – Taiwan’s thin-film transistor liquid crystal   display   (TFT-LCD)  producers’  partnership  with  their  Japan-based counterparts  is set to grow firmer, following the signing of a technology-transfer  contract  on  A-Si  TFT  LCDs between Chung Hwa Picture Tubes Ltd and Mitsubishi Electric Corp.

        More  Taiwan-Japan  cooperation in this sector is believed to follow, including  deals  for  the  manufacture of colour filters (CF) and low-temperature

poly-silicon  (LTPS)  LCD  panels.  Currently,  up  to  seven  new  concerns are reported to be poised  to  enter  the TFT-panel production. Meanwhile, producers of CF-related parts and components have already gained a foothold in this industry.

        Local  LCD  participants  indicated that their Japan-based counterparts, earlier  hesitant towards transferring  their  blue-blood  TFT-LCD  technologies  to Taiwan, are showing a keen interest  in  doing  so  these  days.  Most observers cite the slump in the LCD industry in Japan as the main reason for their change of heart.

        "All  they are now looking for is a good bargain for their technological transfer," a LCD producer said.

        The following table gives an overview of the technological cooperation between TFT-LCD makers in Taiwan and Japan.  (Kevin Liu)

Cooperation Item	Taiwanese Company          Japanese Company
A-Si TFT-LCD	Chung Hwa	Mitsubishi
A-Si TFT-LCD	Acer Display	IBM (Japan)
A-Si TFT-LCD	Unipac Optoelectronics	Matsushita Electric
A-Si TFT-LCD	Chi Mei Optoelectronics	Fujitsu Ltd
A-Si TFT-LCD	HannStar Display	Toshiba
CF	Everest Technology	Micron (Japan)
CF	Chi Mei Electronics	(No Japan partner)
CF	SinTek Photronic	IBM (Japan)
CF	Cando Corp	STI (Japan)

Source:  Commercial Times

Large-Sized TFT Panel Shipments Blossom

        Taipei, February 2 (InfoTimes) – Local shipment volumes of large-sized thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels continued to grow last month. Display producers such as Chung Hwa Picture Tubes Ltd, Acer Display Technology Corp, and HannStar Display Corp all saw the volume of their panel deliveries grow last month.

        Pioneering the local industry’s march into the display industry, Chung Hwa’s first LCD plant has adopted third-generation production lines to turn out 550mm × 670mm glass substrates. Currently, the plant is running at full production capacity, at 25,000 units a month.

     In order to overcome this bottleneck, the company is planning to expand the plant’s capacity to enable it to produce 30,000 units of substrates this March and 35,000 this August.

     Chung Hwa’s deliveries of LCD panels amounted to 60,000 units in November 1999 and 65,000 units in December, and rose to about 75,000 units last month.

        As for Acer Display, its 13.3-inch panel shipments exceeded 90,000 units in January, up 10,000 units from December. The company’s revenues were estimated at about NT$1.3 billion in January.

        X B Chen, the general manager of Acer Display, indicated that his company’s first LCD plant is now running at full capacity for glass-substrate production, of 15,000 units a month. As with Chung Hwa, Acer Display is working to expand its substrate production capacity to more than 20,000 units a month.

(Kevin Liu)

TSMC, UMC Work to Tap Japan Market

        Taipei, February 2 (InfoTimes) – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corp (UMC), two wafer-foundry powerhouses, are working to establish a bridgehead in Japan, an exclusive market but also a promising land for overseas investments.

        Morris Chang, the chairman of TSMC, said that Japan had huge market potential. He added that although leading integrated device manufacturers (IDMs) there remained quite reluctant to contract out orders to wafer foundries abroad, that situation would very likely take a turn in the near future.

           “Those IDMs which have entrusted their microelectronics production to other wafer foundries have seen a significant rise in their competitiveness,” Chang said. “I’m sure Japan’s IDMs will not be slow to follow suit.”

        TSMC has already established its unit in Japan. A retired senior manager who had worked in Texas Instruments Inc’s Japan division for 20 years was invited to take the helm of TSMC’s Japan unit. TSMC hopes this localisation measure will help it to expand its wafer-foundry presence in Japan.

        Its arch rival UMC has also made a furious onslaught on the Japan market. Nippon Foundry Inc (NFI), UMC’s Japan arm after its takeover of NPNX, a Japan-based semiconductor company, has turned out to be a successful merger. NFI has already managed to make profits, and is expected to help UMC foster ties with other counterparts in Japan.

        In addition, UMC is believed to have joined Hitachi Ltd in a 12-inch wafer fab venture, as part of its efforts to boost its profile in Japan.  (Kevin Liu)

Accton, DLink Make Inroads Into Home-Network NIC Market       

        Taipei, February 2 (InfoTimes) – Accton Technology Corp and DLink Taiwan Corp have begun moving into the production of a network interface card (NIC) specially intended for home networking, anticipating demand for the component this year to reach as high as 40 million units.

        In view of the dominance of broadband-network applications, the transmission quality of home phoneline networks has recently been upgraded to 10 MBps from the previous 1 MBps. This speed is already as fast as that of the Ethernet.

        The concept of home phoneline networking originated two years ago from the ideas of sharing information and resources. Quite different from the Ethernet currently used in offices, home phoneline networks (or home networks for short) can use a telephone line as a transmission medium. Given the high safety, low costs, and ease of use of phonelines, the development of home phoneline networks has already become a hot-profile issue among Net-related industries.

        In an attempt to promote the home network, a group of high-tech powerhouses including Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), Compaq Computer Corp, 3Com Corp, and Hewlett-Packard Co (H-P), have established a partnership called the Home Phoneline Networking Alliance (HomePNA), one of whose aims is to develop home-network technologies.

        The global demand for personal computers is estimated at 110 million units year, of which 35 million are expected to be used at home. Meanwhile, the global demand for LinkTEL and network computers is forecast to hit 150,000 units and 1.05 million units respectively this year. In sum, there will be a total global demand for nearly 36 million home computer and information appliance units. Users of both of these instruments will be potential clients of home networks.

        Taiwan’s NIC shipment volumes are estimated at only 32 million units this year, far lower than the aggregate global demand for home-network NICs. This wide gap could mean significant business opportunities for local NIC makers such as Accton and DLink.  (Kevin Liu)

Kinpo, President Enterprise Join Forces for TFT-LCD Project 

        Taipei, February 2 (InfoTimes) – Kinpo Group and President Enterprises Group have recently confirmed the ratio of their stakes in their joint optoelectronics venture, after the former verified its investment amounts for the project.

        Kinpo is reported to hold a 55% stake in the startup, and President 35%. Lite-On Group and Teco Group are expected to share the remaining 10% interest. The new firm will be dedicated to the manufacture of low-temperature poly-silicon liquid crystal displays (LTPS-LCDs).

        In the initial stage, the startup will come with investments amounting to NT$15 billion, which will be raised by the end of this year. The amount is estimated at NT$28 billion in the second stage. Its first plant is likely to be located at the Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park, and the second at the Tainan Science- Based Industrial Park.

        Teco Group first planned to make inroads into the TFT-LCD two years ago. At one point it set up a task force for the project, which was later instructed to develop LCD modules instead. Now, with the participation in Kinpo-President’s joint venture, Teco’s has finally realised its plan.

        Lite-On Technology, an affiliate of the Lite-On Group, owns a minority of stakes in HannStar Display Corp, another TFT-LCD island powerhouse. The group’s plan to invest in the Kinpo-President display project is expected to foster the development of its own LCD-panel production line.   (Kevin Liu)

AMD Unveils Advanced Switch Chips 

        Taipei, February 2 (InfoTimes) – Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), US-based microprocessor powerhouse, unveiled in Taipei yesterday a chip particularly intended for its SwitchIT™ portfolio of Ethernet switch devices. The chip is the first of its kind featuring voice-ready functions for AMD.

        Meanwhile, a senior executive of AMD revealed that his company would step up its efforts to promote voice-ready Ethernet switch solutions in the near future, with a view to grabbing an even larger slice of the corporate and commercial network markets.

        As one of the money-spinners for AMD, the CPU producer’s network unit accounted for one sixth of its overall annual revenues.

        J Z Lin, a senior executive of AMD’s Taiwan division, noted that global shipments last year of switches with built-in communication ports amounted to 80 million units. Hubs with built-in communication ports accounted for a further 63 million units.

        Lin expected the shipments of communication ports for hubs to decline gradually in the next few years, and to be replaced by switch communication ports. AMD’s switch-oriented project had been designed in response to this assumption, Lin added.

        The SwitchIT™ chips AMD introduced yesterday came in two versions, for SwitchIT F12 and SwitchIT F12M devices respectively. Both of these chips feature voice-ready functions. To support end-to-end priority, both SwitchIT devices have Quality of Service (QoS) built-in to provide wire-speed prioritisation of packets. Using industry standard techniques, the switch devices prioritise traffic to ensure time-critical information is not delayed by lower priority traffic such as e-mail or web inquiries.

        The non-blocking SwitchIT devices provide one dozen 10/100 Mbps ports and one gigabit port with integrated MAC functions, as well as an expansion port for multi-chip systems solutions.   (Kevin Liu)

Hoshin Works on IPO on Nasdaq 

        Taipei, February 8 (InfoTimes) – Hoshin Gigamedia Center Inc announced on 3 February that it had applied for an initial public offer (IPO) on the US Nasdaq market, with the transaction code “GIGM”.

        Hoshin is expected to issue 8.83 million of ordinary shares. Underwriters – including German-based Deutsche Bank – can subscribe other 1.324 ordinary shares.

        The company plans to carry out its IPO project through its Singapore-based holding company “Giga media Limited”. While the exact date of the IPO has yet to be unavailable, the management of Hoshin is certain that it won’t take too long to accomplish the project.

        Talks have been flying that Hoshin would distribute its stakes for US$32 per share. Yet a senior official of the company said that was no more than a rumour, adding that the exact issue price won’t be confirmed until the IPO application is approved.

        Already, Hoshin conducted a rights issue of four million shares as early as last October. Microsoft Corp acquired stakes worth of US$35 million, equivalent to NT$300 per share. Through the acquisition, Microsoft now holds a 10 stake of Hoshin, whose capitalisation currently stands at NT$400 million.

        As a cable-TV operator providing broadband network and content services, Hoshin now owns 23 cable-TV allies and 10,550 users across the island. The company also has a website (www.giga.net.tw) to offer users broadband content services. (Kevin Liu)

Taiwan’s Monitor Industry Tipped to Seize 20% of Global Market This Year    

        Taipei, February 8 (InfoTimes) – Taiwan’s monitor industry is widely expected to grab an even larger slice of the global market this year, with a number of major producers scaling up their shipment projections.

        Taiwan led the world to hold 57.5% of the global monitor market last year. The top five monitor makers – Acer Peripherals Inc, Essex Monitor Co Ltd, Lean Co Ltd, Lite-On Technology, and ADI Corp – accounted for 30% of local monitor production and 20% of global production.  

        These monitor producers have set a more ambitious goal for this year. Acer Display and Tatung Corp expect their monitor shipments to grow by 25% this year. Lite-On, Essex, and Compal Electronics Inc predict that their shipments will grow by an impressive 40% or even more.

        Acer Display delivered 4.80 million units of monitors last year, and expected this figure to climb to 6 million this year. Lite-On shipped 3.5 million monitors during the same period, and expected the volume to top 5 million units this year. Essex’s monitor shipment volume reached 3.5 million units in 1999, and the company vowed to boost the figure to 7 million this year.

        According to these producers’ ambitious forecasts, monitor shipment volumes will grow on average by more than 45% this year. As the global monitor industry is expected to grow by only 12% on average, Taiwan’s five leading monitor producers stand to capture 20 percent of the global market – and take another confident step forward.   (Kevin Liu)

Association for TFT-LCD Industry Established   

        Taipei, February 8 (InfoTimes) – In an unprecedented display of co-operation between leading companies in the thin-film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) industry, an industry association, to be called the TFT-LCD Association (TTLA), will be inaugurated at a ceremony on 18 February.

    After a long period of preparation, the TTLA is expected to help integrate and coordinate resources and efforts among the growing number of TFT-LCD participants on the island, with a view to honing the competitive edge of the entire industry.

        This sector is one of a swathe of companies hoping to cash in on what some view as the holy grail in the post-PC era. Seven newcomers are reported in Taiwan alone, poised to pour hundreds of billions of NT dollars into the establishment of TFT-LCD plants. Some of them have recently started operation.

        In just the past few days, the sector has expanded dramatically, with initial related investments nearly doubling to NT$200 billion. But with individual participants fighting over the same turf, the need for a quasi-official association to integrate their efforts and make best use of their resources to sharpen the competitiveness of the industry as a whole has become increasingly urgent. The TTLA has been established to meet this need.

        The TTLA members are believed to include such leading participants as Chung Hwa Picture Tubes Ltd, Acer Display Technology Corp, Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp, Unipac Optoelectronics Corp, HannStar Display Corp, and Prime View International Co Ltd.  (Kevin Liu)

Lite-On Expands Its Power-Supply Production in Mainland

        Taipei, February 8 (InfoTimes) – Lite-On Electronic is set to raise its profile of power-supply production in mainland China, while shutting down its power-supply production units in Malaysia.

        Last year Lite-On finished construction of its third unit in Dongguan in Guangdong Province, and before long will have shifted all of its monitor production lines to that startup. Meanwhile, it will transform a production division in Malaysia into a customer service center by the end of this month, as part of its efforts to provide more localised services there.

        These projects are part of a new, aggressive strategy adopted by the company after an overhaul of its management at the end of last year.  A major element in this strategy is to expand the company’s presence in mainland China.

        Currently, the manufacture of power supplies accounts for upward of 65% of Lite-On’s total production. Its third Dongguan unit has a production capacity of about three million units a month, more than the combined capacity of its two existing units in the city. Lite-On expects to reap revenues of more than NT$100 million from these mainland-bound reinvestments this year.   (Kevin Liu)

Passive-Component Plants Keep Running During New Year Holidays

        Taipei, February 9 (InfoTimes) – Staff members of leading passive-component firms either spent all of their Lunar New Year holidays in the plants or took significantly shortened breaks, in order to help their bosses to fill up overwhelming orders.

        Pan Overseas kept its multilayer ceramic capacitor production lines operating throughout the New Year holidays for the first time ever since its foundation 16 years ago. Its counterpart Yageo Corp shortened its holidays to one to two days.

        Aluminum electrolytic capacitor producers such as Teapo Electronic Corp and Luxon Electronics Corp were also struggling to keep up with all their orders over the holiday period, in contrast with last year’s slack sales. Teapo shortened its workers’ holidays to only three days, compared with seven days in previous years. Luxon shut down for two days as usual, but its foreign workers agreed to keep working during the New Year holidays.

        Pan Overseas is optimistic for the industry’s prospects this year. An insider of Pan Overseas indicated that his company would probably expand its MLCC capacity to as high as 800 million units a month, from 600 million notched late last year. The volume even stands to grow to 1 billion next month, 1.2 billion a month in the second quarter of this year, 1.5 billion in the third quarter, and 1.8 billion units in the fourth quarter.

        Yageo, which began MLCC production early last year, currently runs at a capacity of 300 million units a month. The company plans to double its capacity by the end of the second quarter, and double it again by around the end of the year. (Kevin Liu)

Shin Kong Bets on Net Biz   

        Taipei, February 10 (InfoTimes) – Shin Kong Group is set to fight its way into the Internet market, with a view to cashing in on the current Net-hype wave.

        T J Wu, the group’s president, announced yesterday that his enterprise was planning to establish an application software provider (ASP) unit, with the group’s current clients being first in line to benefit from this startup.

        In addition, Wu revealed that Shin King was considering forging alliances with other conglomerates, such as Eastern Broadband Telecommunications Co Ltd and Taiwan Cellular Corp (TCC). Meanwhile, it is currently in discussion with Great Taipei Gas, hoping to make use of the latter’s own pipeline systems to establish a fiber-optic broadband network.

        Wu boasted that Shin Kong generated sales of around NT$245 billion last year, up 5% from 1998. The lion’s share of this amount - 90% - was accounted for by the group’s various service units –Shin Kong Life Insurance Co Ltd, Taiwan Sogo Shinkong Security Co Ltd, Taishin International Bank, Taiwan Securities, and Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store.

        Wu added that Shin Kong would continue to develop computer networks for these subsidiaries, in order to provide the most efficient possible service for their clients.  (Kevin Liu)

Mercuries & Associates Jumps on E-Commerce Bandwagon    

        Taipei, February 10 (InfoTimes) – Local department stores have fallen under the spell of the joys of electronic commerce, fuelling a “.com” mania similar to that which has swept through America in recent years.

        Mercuries & Associates Ltd has already stolen a march with its e-trade experiment. Other local counterparts such as President Chain Store Corp and Test-Rite International Co Ltd are expected to follow suit sometime between this April and May.

        As part of its e-commerce promotion hype, Mercuries recently launched a programme dubbed “e-shopping”, under which customers can order goods and have them delivered to their homes from any one of Mercuries’ 380 allies across the island.

        The commodities eligible for Mercuries’ e-commerce programme include a wide range of daily necessities, and items such as computer software and hardware, pizzas, footwear, and life insurance services.

        In the first stage of its e-trade agenda, Mercuries will work to integrate e-commerce systems among its affiliates and allies. At a later stage the department store plans to spin off a “.com” business and form a large-scale e-commerce joint venture with its computer unit.

        Mercuries estimated its pretax profits at NT$1.5 billion this year, equivalent to more than NT$3 per share.  (Kevin Liu)

Acer Group to Put on xC Fair       

        Taipei, February 10 (InfoTimes) – Acer Group is preparing to promote its xComputer (xC) project with an xC exhibition in its Aspire Park in mid-April this year.

        Telecommunications concerns, Internet service providers (ISPs), computer and domestic appliance producers in Asia – mostly from mainland China – have been invited to the fair. The group hopes that the exhibition will help it develop its information appliance (IA) business through partnerships with mainland counterparts.

        According to the latest reports from International Data Co (IDC), deliveries of IA products will overtake PC deliveries in the United States in 2002. IDC’s figure broadly tallies with local systems suppliers’ predictions, and is also in line with Acer Group’s own xC promotion hype.

        Stan Shih, Acer Group chairman and CEO, unveiled his xC ideas for the first time at the end of 1998 during a speech in the US. Back then Shih forecast that the xC market would be ten times bigger than the PC market within five to ten years – roughly in line with IDC’s recent forecast. (Kevin Liu)

Mosel Heads Toward Transforming into SOC Titan    

        Taipei, February 10 (InfoTimes) – Mosel Vitelic Inc is working to transform itself into a systems-on-a-chip (SOC) powerhouse. In order to achieve the goal, Mosel is currently integrating all the resources of its dozen or so US-based IC-units.

        In the initial stage, Mosel plans to raise its profile in the manufacture of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and dynamic random-access memory (DRAM), both of which are regarded as surefire segment busters in the computer industry by the company.

        Mosel stands to allocate provision of NT$2.7 billion for the depreciation of its six-inch wafer fab this year. However, the company still believes that the fab will generate profits of NT$2.7 billion or more, enough to break even with the depreciation losses.

        Mosel estimated its pretax profits at NT$3.8 billion last year, or NT$1.74 in EPS after tax. Based on the current prosperity of the DRAM industry, the company expects to make higher profits this year than in 1999.

        The stock price of Mosel soared to NT$64.5 per share, its daily upper limit, shortly after taking off in the Taipei bourse yesterday in the first trading session after the Lunar New Year holidays. The figure marked a two-year record high.   (Kevin Liu)

B-to-B E-Commerce Giant Established       

        Taipei, February 10 (InfoTimes) – Taiwan’s largest B-to-B electronic commerce company will shortly be established. This ambitious project will emerge as a joint venture between computer titan Compaq Computer Corp, Commerce One Inc of the US, and local traditional-industry enterprises including Far Eastern Group, Yulon Group, and Walsin Lihwa Group.

        Coming with a capitalisation of over NT$2 billion, the startup is also looking for other local partners in conventional industries, such as Shin Kong Group. Lite-On Group is among a handful of the consortium’s allies with a high-tech background.

        This Taiwan-US linkup speaks volumes for the advent of an “e”-era on the island. In order to cash in on that trend, a number of local traditional-industry participants are currently stepping up their efforts to introduce e-commerce systems, including related software and hardware.

        The startup is expected to start its business with industrial portal sites, with a view to providing first-rate B-to-B services for its clients and help them minimise production costs.  (Kevin Liu)

SCP To Become Pharmaceutical Giant 

        Taipei, February 11 (InfoTimes) – Standard Chemical & Pharmaceutical (SCP) is planning an aggressive overhaul, by integrating its own operations and those of its current eight affiliates and subsidiaries to form a single pharmaceutical conglomerate. SCP aims at sales of NT$1.5 billion this year after the project is achieved.

        According to J C Fan, the president of SCP, the project was conceived mainly because his company’s affiliates and subsidiaries – including US-based Stason Pharmaceuticals, Inc – have already either launched production or made profits. The need to optimise their resources to achieve economies of scale – by vertical integration in this case – has become increasingly urgent.

        SCP ranks as one of Taiwan’s three leading pharmaceutical enterprises, along with Yung Shin Pharmaceutical and China Chemical. The company reported sales of NT$1.09 billion and pretax profits of NT$163 million last year.

        Upon the completion of the project, SPC’s pharmaceutical empire is expected to include businesses ranging from raw medical materials and specialty generics to herbs, animal-use medicines, and health food.   (Kevin Liu)

Chung Hwa’s ADSL Procurement Bids Draw Eager Response   

        Taipei, February 11 (InfoTimes) – Chung Hwa Telecom Ltd invited a tender yesterday for its Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Loop (ADSL) procurement project, which came with purchase value of more than NT$2 billion.

        Such a high-volume business drew an eager response both locally and abroad. Six local and foreign telecom operators – including Lucent Technologies Taiwan Telecommunications Co, Ltd and Alcatel Taiwan Co, took part in the bid.

        Chung Hwa is planning to purchase 240,000 units of ADSL equipment via the tender, in response to increasing demand . Earlier, it bought more than ten thousand units from First International Computer Inc. However, supply still cannot meet demand from fast-growing Net users, especially after Chung Hwa rolled out its broadband Internet-access project “Hifly”.

        The state-run operator will review and assess the prices submitted by the six bidders yesterday, and publicise the bid winner within the next two months.

        Chung Hwa has been stepping up its ADSL efforts mainly in response to broadband Internet-access programmes recently launched by the cable-TV operators as Eastern Broadband Telecommunications Co., Ltd and Hoshin Gigamedia Center Inc. (Kevin Liu)

Science Parks To Be Expanded    

        Taipei, February 14 (InfoTimes) – The Science-Based Industrial Parks in northern and southern Taiwan will be expanded, in line with the government project to turn Taiwan into a “technological island”.

        The Executive Yuan’s National Science Council (NSC) plans to double the areas of both Parks within the next four years, to 3,100 hectares in total. After the completion of the project, these Parks are expected to generate a production value of more than NT$1 trillion annually.

    Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) will speed up plans to establish 21 intelligent industrial zones across the island. In addition, the agency will work to expand the current eligibility for plants applying for land in industrial areas.

        To prevent the intelligent industrial zone project from generating any offset effects on the Parks, the former will be dedicated to the development of such newly emerging industries as biotechnology and micromachining.

        The need to enlarge the Science-Based Parks and industrial zones has become increasingly urgent. Several of Taiwan’s high-tech sectors have made a robust recovery since the second half of last year, and are now growing fast. All the land in the expanded Tainan Science-Based Industrial Park has already been allocated.

   According to the survey conducted by the NSC last month, regions such as Hsinchu, Tainan, and Taichung have great potential for the development of Science-Based Parks.   (Kevin Liu)

Motherboard Makers Expect Growth In Revenues

   Taipei,  February  14  (InfoTimes)  -  Spring is in the air for local leading motherboard  producers,  who greeted the millennium year with optimistic outlook toward revenues in January.

   A  senior  official of Asustek Computer Inc, the island's largest motherboard maker,  said his company aimed to reap revenues of NT$100 billion this year. The production  volume  of motherboards was projected at 18 million units this year, up 55% from 1999.

   Its  arch  rival Giga-Byte Technology Co expected its revenues to grow by 30% this  year.  Currently,  Giga-Byte's  motherboard  capacity  stands  at around 6 million  units  annually,  with  gross profitability of about 16%. Its local new plant  is  slated to start launching production in the second half of this year, with a maximum monthly capacity of 600,000 units.

   The  table  below shows the estimated revenue of local motherboard makers in January. (Kevin Liu)

Name of Company	Estimated Revenues (NT$ Bln)		Year-on-Year Change (%)
Asustek	5		56
Giga-Byte	1.4		40
Micro-Star	1.1		20
Universal Scientific	3		40
Biostar Microtech		4.0~6.0	-
Elitegroup	1.3		160
Procomp Informatics	0.406		90.55
Diamond Flower	0.337		6.04

Source:  Commercial Times

Semiconductor Industry Gets On Right Track

   Taipei,  February  14  (InfoTimes)  -  The  resurgent  semiconductor industry greeted the millenium year, as expected, with rising revenues.

   Taiwan  Semiconductor  Manufacturing  Corp (TSMC) and United Microelectronics Corp (UMC), two wafer-foundry giants with a local and international reputation, set record highs in revenues  last  month. IC-packing concerns such as ASE, Siliconware Precision Industries  Co,  and Orient Semiconductor Electronics saw their January revenues drop from last December, but still grow sharply from the same period of 1999.

   The  following  table  shows the estimated revenues of local semiconductor participants in January.  (Kevin Liu)

Name of Company	Estimated Revenues (NT$)	Year-on-Year Change (%)
TSMC	9.00 Bln	Record High
UMC	6.085 Bln	Record High
Winbond Electronics	3.5~4.0 Bln	--
Mosel Vitelic	2.64 Bln	--
Macronix Int'l	1.741 Bln	--
SiS	508 Mln	15%
VIA Tech	1.613 Bln	Unchanged
Realtek Semiconductor	320 Mln	Unchanged
Sunplus Tech	340 Mln	Unchanged
ASE	1.80 Bln	Moderate Growth
Silicon Precision	1.20 Bln	Moderate Growth
Orient Semiconductor	944 Mln	Moderate Growth
Ling Sen	215 Mln	Moderate Growth

Source:  Commercial Times

Taiwan Joins Online Learning Craze    

        Taipei, February 14 (InfoTimes) – Taiwan has begun to respond to the global craze for online learning. In an attempt to cash in on the trend, a number of related concerns are forcing their way into this fledging market, widely regarded as a surefire road to profits in the “e” era.

        According to the estimate of the Market Intelligence Center (MIC), the online learning market could be worth as much as NT$130 million this year, up 40% from 1999. In the next few years its value is expected to grow rapidly.

         The Institute for Information Industry, a nursery for information experts, is currently training 15,000 people for the information industry annually. The institute recently rolled out an online-learning website dubbed “Good2u.com” (www.good2u.com.tw), with a view to educating 20,000 information experts this year.

        Acer Group is not far behind. Apart from establishing an intranet to help it train and deploy its staff more effectively, the local computer giant has also built a website known as “1to80.com” (http://www.1to80.com.tw). The website was planned to promote the “life learning” concept for Net users, with the aim of becoming a portal site for online learning.

        InterServ International Inc, a software reinvestment of Acer Group, is also working to diversify into this field.  The company has already launched a website called “HRinTouch” (http://www.hrintouch.com.tw) dedicated to allocating human resources for corporations, and is now planning to introduce an online-learning website dubbed “Pospo.com”.

        Other local parties believed to be jumping on the online-learning bandwagon include GrandTech C G Systems Inc, Web Trans Software Development Co, Ltd (http://webtrans.com.tw), and Wits Technology Corp (http://www.wits.com.tw).   (Kevin Liu)

Marine-Cable Operation Market To Be Opened Up

        Taipei, February 14 (InfoTimes) – Chunghwa Telecom Ltd will shortly lose its monopoly in marine-cable operations. The Executive Yuan has given the green light to foreign marine-cable operators to conduct their business in Taiwan without the need to obtain a licence.

        Senior officials of the Ministry of Transportation & Communications (MOTC) said the Executive Yuan’s decision was made against the background of persistent bids from foreign cable participants in recent years. However, they added, some restrictions will be imposed, to prevent these overseas businesses’ participation from eroding local fixed-line network operators’ profits.

        Foreign businesses will be prohibited from laying cables beyond the “landing point”. In addition, they will be only allowed to lease their cables to local first-tier telecom operators, and will have to lease their cables “directly” to second-tier operators and other interested consumers.

        As a move to shake up the whole competitive landscape of the domestic marine-cable industry, this liberalisation is expected to offer long-distance call operators more options, help them reduce operation expenses, and lower the price of long-distance calls.

        The MOTC is preparing the relevant regulations, which are likely to be submitted to the Executive Yuan for approval this summer. The first applications are likely to come before the Executive Yuan for consideration immediately afterwards. (Kevin Liu)

Taiwan Producers Prepare To Dominate Global Car-TV LCD Market       

        Taipei, February 15 (InfoTimes) – Taiwan stands to become the world’s leading production hub of thin-film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCDs) specially designed for car TVs, as demand from global auto manufacturers for these products soars and the withdrawal of Japan and South Korea from this market leaves a gap ready for the island to fill.

        Currently, car TVs are already regarded as a standard accessory for first-rate auto models around the world. In turn, this trend has tempted more down-market models to follow suit, sending the demand for small-to-medium-sized TFT-LCDs soaring. The local producers Prime View International Co Ltd and Unipac Optoelectronics Corp have been hard put recently to fill the growing flow of orders.

        In response to such hectic demand, Prime View is working to expand capacity and raise its monthly production volume. With the 370mm-x-470mm glass substrates it currently adopts for display production, it can cut out nine units of 6.4-inch TFT-LCD or 15 units of 5-inch TFT-LCD from each substrate.

        Unipac has recently landed large orders for 6.8-inch car-TV TFT-LCDs, at a unit price of more than US$170. With its current 320mm-x-400mm TFT-LCD capacity Unipac can satisfy only 60% of these orders. In order to overcome this bottleneck, the company is working to coordinate its large-sized TFT-LCD production lines for these orders.

        Local display participants indicated that their counterparts in Japan and S. Korea were currently focusing on the production of large-sized 12.1-inch TFT-LCDs for notebook computers, LCD monitors, and TFT-LCD TVs. Their absence from the small-to-medium-sized display market should give Taiwan a chance to become the world’s most important supplier of car-TV TFT-LCDs.  (Kevin Liu)

Chunghwa Set To Slash Mobile-Phone Communication Fees     

        Taipei, February 15 (InfoTimes) – Chunghwa Telecom Ltd plans to cut its various communication fees next month, including those of long-distance calls, mobile-phone calls, and its Internet service provider (ISP) HiNet.

        Assuming it receives approval from the Directorate General of Telecommunications, Chunghwa plans to cut its mobile-phone communication fees sharply by between 30% and 50%, a move expected to boost the number of mobile-phone users by more than 90% to 20 million.  However, a price cut of this size is likely to arouse fierce protests from private cellular operators, and it is not certain whether approval will be given.

        Chunghwa also plans to cut the cost of long-distance calls by as much as 50%. The cost of its Internet-access service, provided by its ISP arm HiNet, is likely to fall by 30%.

        In an attempt to get a good lead on its rivals from the private sector, Chunghwa is slated to roll out a wireless-Internet-access programme in March. It is believed that the programme will adopt the gateway provided by US-based Soft Launch. In the initial stage, Chunghwa will invite applications to use the programme from a limited pool of 5,000 users. (Kevin Liu)

DVD Player Sales Forecast To Double This Year 

        Taipei, February 15 (InfoTimes) – A continuing fall in the price of digital versatile disc (DVD) players generated healthy sales last year. Prices are expected to continue to fall this year, and sales are forecast to double.

        DVD-player prices have been falling continuously since mid-1998, and in 1999 the average price dropped to as low as NT$15,000 a unit. By the end of l999, the unit price fell to NT$9,900. In turn, full-year sales soared to 170,000 units, a dramatic year-on-year rise of 120%. This year prices are expected to fall even further, and sales of DVD-players sales are widely expected to rise to 400,000 units.

        Besides lower prices, greater consumer choice as the number of own-brand players in the market continues to grow was another key factor behind the soaring sales of DVD players last year. As the number of suppliers grows – Sampo Corp, Royal Information Electronics Co, and Afreey Inc have now entered the market – , prices will remain under pressure to fall further.

        DVD players were first introduced into Taiwan in 1997, and prices initially hovered in a range between NT$25,000 and NT$30,000. Prices began to fall in mid-1998, when the first locally-made products began to challenge the dominance of the overseas products. With their entry into the market, prices fell to below NT$20,000 by the end of 1998.

        Better production-cost control gave local DVD-player producers a distinct advantage over their offshore counterparts. In 1999 the local industry drove prices down to below NT$15,000 a unit, raising demand for their products accordingly. By the end of the year the price had fallen to NT$9,900.

        As prices continue to fall, DVD players in a price range between NT$15,000 and NT$9,000 stand to become the market mainstream this year.   (Kevin Liu)

Lite-On Group Works Its Way Into Net Biz 

        Taipei, February 15 (InfoTimes) – Lite-On Group will form a holding company next month, in an effort to integrate all of its current resources for its Net-biz development projects. In addition, the conglomerate plans to join US-based Compaq Computer Corp in an e-commerce portal site venture.

        G Y Sung, the group’s president, revealed the holding-company project in a press conference yesterday on the Compaq liaison. Sung said his enterprise would invest between NT$2 billion and NT$3 billion in the establishment of a holding company this March. The startup will be built mainly to help the group integrate its current resources, making inroads into various Net-related businesses.

        Meanwhile, Lite-On and Compaq will jointly form a portal site for providing e-commerce services, with Lite-On’s current suppliers of computer parts and components especially listed as the most important clients at the initial stage. The startup will also be responsible for coordinating the group’s resources for the portal site.

        Walsin Lihwa, another local partner of Compaq in the e-commerce project, is expected eventually to use the portal site to transact all of its overseas procurements from abroad, now worth about NT$70 billion a year. In addition, the company plans to link up its 4,000 suppliers to form another e-commerce portal site in the near future.   (Kevin Liu)

Four Local Groups Join Compaq In E-Commerce Venture 

        Taipei, February 15 (InfoTimes) – Compaq Computer Corp’s Taiwan unit announced yesterday that it would join four local conglomerates –Walsin Lihwa Group, Far Eastern Group, Yulon Group, and Lite-On Group – in an e-commerce portal site venture.

        W L Ho, the general manager of Compaq’s Taiwan unit, indicated that the portal site, known as “com2 Business”, was aimed at generating a transaction value equivalent to one tenth of Taiwan’s gross domestic product (GDP). In addition, she said, that the portal site would become one of Compaq’s 12 related sites around the world, including the US and Japan, forming a “World Trade Organisation” in the e-commerce market.

        The project will be opened to more prospective partners, and its total capitalisation and the ratio of stocks among shareholders have yet to be confirmed. However, the e-commerce portal site is generally expected to come with a capitalisation of over NT$1 billion, with each shareholder owning less than a 20% stake of the startup.

        Meanwhile, the four groups mentioned above will form their individual “commercial service provider” (CSP) units either by themselves or through joint ventures. These CSP units will be established to offer vertical-integration services for these groups’ own industry continuum, in an effort to enhance efficiency and lower production expenses.  (Kevin Liu)

MND’s Cyberwar Project A Goldmine For Information, Communications Sectors

        Taipei, February 16 (InfoTimes) – The Ministry of National Defense (MND) is going ahead with a programme to develop an Information War defence, a project with huge business opportunities for local information and communications companies.

        MND will launch the project on 1 January 2001, by which time the government is expected to have earmarked the necessary funds out of its annual budget.

        According to MND officials familiar with the project, the agency will concentrate on the development of “information utilisation” and related strategies, requiring the construction of a vast information infrastructure including fibre-optics networks, multimedia, and digital microwave communications equipment.

        The business opportunities from the project will probably include the development, design, and integration of related application systems, such as global positioning systems, geographic information systems, and personal digital assistants.

        The project will bring the public and private sectors into a partnership on a scale not seen since the government began shifting the national-defense industry to the private sector ten years ago.  (Kevin Liu)

Intel Microprocessor Shortage Crimps Sales Of Local Computer Makers

        Taipei, February 16 (InfoTimes) – Local computer makers, thirsting to make up sales after a dip at the end of 1999 on millennium-related fears, have now been let down by Intel Corp’s unexpected failure to supply sufficient Celeron™ microprocessors to meet demand.

        The local PC market witnessed a sales slump in November and December 1999, as most potential consumers deferred their shopping schedule in view of the looming millennium bug.

Local PC producers were therefore optimistic about the prospects for shipments and sales in the first quarter of this year. Compal’s general manager, for example, expected his company’s deliveries to grow by at least 20% from final quarter 1999.

        With Intel’s failure to deliver its promised shipments, Acer Inc and First International Computer Inc, both PC makers with high ratios of low-end computer production, saw their deliveries shrink by more than 40,000 units and 20,000 units respectively. Compal and Arima Computer Corp, with a smaller proportion of low-end production, escaped more lightly.

        According to an Intel spokesman, the supply gap will not be closed until the second quarter of this year.

(Kevin Liu)

III Takes Countermeasures Against DoS Attacks       

        Taipei, February 16 (InfoTimes) – Following the recent spate of “denial of service” (DoS) attacks against popular dot.com companies, the Institute for Information Industry (III) announced yesterday that it would set up a laboratory in April to develop countermeasures.

        Kuo Yun, the III’s president, said his institute would work with local related businesses and also seek help from the domestic information-security market. The market potential of this field is generally estimated at NT$1 billion in value.

        The aim of the proposed lab will be to urgently develop and provide network security services for Taiwan’s industrial sector, much of which has already adopted e-commerce practices.

        III has already established a network-security ad hoc committee, whose members are mostly involved in the development of Net-usage monitoring and security software, such as firewalls.

        According to a survey conducted by Taiwan Computer Emergency Response Team (TW-CERT), Taiwan had 380,000 Web servers in August 1999, of which fewer than half (47.14%) were likely to survive a DoS attack.   (Kevin Liu)

EPoX, Dynalab Jointly Launch “WebTV”     

        Taipei, February 16 (InfoTimes) – EPoX Computer Co Ltd and Dynalab Inc jointly introduced yesterday a “Web TV”, enabling users to explore cyberspace from their TV sets instead of their computers.

        In line with the current trend for motherboard makers to move into the information appliance (IA) market, EPoX hopes that its innovation will open new doors for its motherboard business. Y X Hou, EPoX’s general manager, indicated that his company also intended to cash in on the current vogue for e-commerce by moving into the production of related Internet-access devices.

        The introduction of WebTV underlines the wasted effort spent trying to develop the so-called “Set Top Box” (STB). The STB was intended to be a user-friendly system for the millions of TV watchers who were terrified of computers, enabling them to surf the net on their TV screens. The concept was ingenious, but could not be successfully developed because the current resolution level of TV screens did not allow Internet characters and pictures to be displayed sufficiently clearly and sharply for users’ comfort.

        The innovative solution pioneered by EPoX and Dynalab will provide a better alternative for technophobe couch potatoes. The duo’s WebTV comes with Dynalab’s “TV Font” skill, the company’s patented technology specifically developed to enable Internet characters and pictures to be displayed brightly and clearly on the TV screen.

        According to a forecast made by Market Intelligence Center, Taiwan’s IA market value could grow by a compound rate of 81% annually, from 1999’s US$235 million to US$1.394 billion in 2002. (Kevin Liu)

API Takes Over Bri-Link for Wideband Operation     

        Taipei, February 17 (InfoTimes) – Acer Peripherals Inc (API) announced yesterday that it had taken over Bri-Link Technologies Co Ltd, paving the way for it to make inroads into the wideband system market.

        The merger formed part of API’s “WWW” (Web; Wireless communications; Wideband) development strategy. It took API NT$400 million to acquire a 100% stake of Bri-Link, which was founded only four months ago. Along with API’s current wireless-handset and Internet handset production lines, the acquisition of Bri-Link’s wideband operations will significantly complement API’s Net-biz investments.

        K Y Lee, API’s general manager, said that the merger would enable the company to diversify from its current cellular handset and terminal operations into central office terminal (COT) production. As such, Lee added, API could expand its scope for vertical integration and obtain more quickly the latest wireless communications specifications through liaison with COT suppliers such as Cisco Systems Inc and Lucent Technologies Inc.

        The latter, in particular, would be a key for the development of fresh cellular phone models, generating the synergy of vertical integration. Lee believed that the wideband-based switch market could hold 80% of entire switch markets in the year 2005, growing sharply from Taiwan’s current 10%.

        After the merger, Lee said this company would continue investing between NT$100 million and NT$200 million annually in recruitment, training, and R&D. He expected the wideband operation to contribute sales of up to NT$10 billion within the next three to five years.   (Kevin Liu)

Government Works to Turn Taiwan Into Global Logistics Centre      

        Taipei, February 19 (InfoTimes) – The Executive Yuan vowed to step up its efforts to establish network infrastructure, as part of its efforts to turn the island into a global logistics centre with the advent of an “Internet era”.

        Premier Vincent Siew revealed the project yesterday, when he gave the last administration report in front of legislators before the expiration of his term of office. Siew stressed that the twenty-first century would be an “Internet era”. Therefore, he said, Taiwan should speed up the establishment of network infrastructure on its existing utilities, at much lower costs and with more user-friendly network environment.

        The Executive Yuan’s “Net” program will include digitalising the government and turning the local population into “Internet citizens”. As for the latter, the Cabinet will aim to achieve the goals in the fiscal 2003 that “there are computers in every class” and thus “every student can gain access to the Internet”.

        Siew pointed out that even since pushing forward the Asia-Pacific Regional Operations Center (APROC) project, the government has thus far drawn investments amounting to NT$1.24 trillion and created job opportunities for 400,000 people. Now, with the advent of a new economic era, the government will work to transform Taiwan into a “global logistics centre”. That project was lined up with a view to making Taiwan a global hub for international trade and order flows, fostering the island’s economic and trade development.  (Kevin Liu)

Proview Group Takes Helm of MAG   

       Taipei, February 21 (InfoTimes) – After being the centre of a buzz of rumours of an overhaul in its board of directors recently, MAG Technology has at last clarified the position after a final-round negotiation over the past two days.

        MAG was slated to hold a board meeting today, during which its directors would be re-elected. According to a preliminary accord, representatives of Hong Kong-based Proview Group will take five out of nine seats of MAG’s directors, allowing Proview in effect to slip behind the wheel at MAG.

        At the same time Main Plastic Co Ltd, MAG’s former leading shareholder, will take a back seat and begin fading out of MAG’s management. R S Yang, Proview Group’s incumbent president, will act as MAG’s new president.

        As the parent company of Proview International Holdings, a publicly-listed company in Hong Kong, Proview Group owns a range of monitor production lines in mainland China and has strong presence in retail sales and distribution channels around the world. The conglomerate cranked out nearly 4.5 million units of Proview monitors last year, ranking itself among the world’s fifth largest own-brand monitor producer.

MAG has also gained a foothold in the wholesale markets of Japan and the US with its own-brand models. The company delivered 1.8 million units of monitors in 1999. Adding the production volumes of the two, the sum will reach 6.3 million units – exceeding the shipment goals of local powerhouses such as Acer Peripherals Inc and Lite-On Technology.

        Upon the completion of the merger with MAG, Proview will become the largest monitor producer on the island, which stands to shake up the competitive landscape across the industry here. (Kevin Liu)

Local Telecom Carriers Fall Under Marine Cable Spell      

        Taipei, February 22 (InfoTimes) – Marine-cable mania has begun sweeping across the island, thanks to the government’s various telecommunications-liberalisation projects.

        Earlier, Microelectronics Technology bet on Global Crossing Ltd, a foreign provider of global internet and long distance telecom facilities and services utilising a network of undersea digital fiber-optic systems and associated terrestrial backhaul capacity.

To climb on this marine-cable trend, Koo’s Group has also showed a keen interest in making an investment in AboveNet Communications (http://www.abovenet.com/), a wholly owned subsidiary of Metromedia Fiber Network. As the architect of a global one-hop network, AboveNet brings together Internet service providers (ISPs) and Internet content providers (ICPs) for maximum Internet performance.

        Taiwan Fixed Network Co Ltd is in talks with HTP, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co (PLDT), on the feasibility of investments in undersea cables.

        These concerns are all trying to cash in on the sky-rocketing demand for marine cables, as the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) announced that it would open “landing points” for foreign companies’ undersea cables. The cable demand is generally expected to grow by more than ten-fold after the liberalisation.  (Kevin Liu)

MOEA Forms IA Association       

        Taipei, Feb 24 (InfoTimes) – An Information-Appliance (IA) Association was established yesterday, as part of efforts of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) to sharpen the competitive edge of the high-tech sector with the advent of the “post-PC” era.

        Wang Ya-kang (Director General of Industrial Development Bureau), F Q Miao (President of MiTAC Group) and J Y Chang (President of National Chiao Tung University) act as conveners for the IA association, representing the government, industry, and academics respectively. The members of the association include Taipei City Computer Association, Taipei County Computer Association, Kaohsiung Computer Association, and Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association.

        Yin Chi-ming, Administrative Vice-Minister of Economic Affairs, boasted that the local IA industry was already well developed, and the time was ripe for sharing all relevant experience to help the sector prosper further.

        Yin added that the aim of the association was to foster new-product development projects specifically intended for industrial needs. In order to achieve this goal, the league will form eight operation-system task forces dedicated to wireless application protocol (WAP), WinCE, PalmOS, AVIS, Linux, EPOC, Game Console, and Screen Phone. If funds ran short, Yin said, the association would approach the central government for assistance.

        The government expects the IA sector to grow dramatically in the years ahead. Its production value is forecast to reach NT$15.85 billion this year, up a sharp 112.8% from 1999, and may even top US$6.4 billion in 2005, accounting for 35% of the global market and making Taiwan a leading global IA production hub. In the next five years, the sector is forecast to grow on average by 76% annually.   (Kevin Liu)

Asustek Invades China, Seizes System-Assembling Bridgehead

        Taipei, Feb 24 (InfoTimes) – Asustek Computer Inc is stepping up its mainland-bound investment projects, as part of its efforts to establish its own global logistics system.

        In the second half of last year Asustek began to build plants in mainland China for the manufacture of printed circuits boards (PCB), computer cases, power supplies, and connectors. These plants are expected to start production around the end of this year.

        Mr Jonney Shih, Asustek’s President, said that these China projects would help his company to move into the system-assembling market, a battlefield already hotly-contested by the industrial giants Acer Inc, First International Computer Inc, and MiTAC International.

        Asustek believes that production of servers offers the most lucrative business opportunities in this market, and has confirmed that it has landed OEM orders for servers from Hewlett-Packard Co (H-P).

        In a press conference held by Asustek yesterday to launch its latest notebook model, Shih revealed his company’s operational blueprint for the year 2000. He said his company would aim to deliver 1 million notebook units this year, and hoped to achieve its revenue goal of NT$100 billion.  (Kevin Liu)

Chung Hwa To Become Third-Largest Global TFT-LCD Maker       

        Taipei, Feb 24 (InfoTimes) – Chung Hwa Picture Tubes Ltd is expected to become the world’s third largest producer of thin-film transistor liquid crystal displays (TFT-LCDs), once it completes its capacity-expansion project for its second TFT-LCD plant.

        The plant will begin running at full capacity around February next year, enabling Chung Hwa to produce five million units of TFT-LCDs annually.

        Z Y Lin, Chung Hwa’s President, indicated yesterday that the glass-substrate capacity of his second display plant would be raised from the present 60,000 units to 75,000 units on completion of the expansion plan. Taking its existing production capacity in its first display plant into account as well, Chung Hwa is expected to produce 5 million display units next year, the third highest global production level.

        Chung Hwa will invest up to NT$23.8 billion in the capacity-expansion project for its second plant, which will be dedicated to the production of 680mm-x-880mm glass substrates.

Chung Hwa also intends to expand the range of its TFT-LCD production lines. It plans to build a third display plant as part of its aim of moving into large-sized panel (1,000mm x 1,000mm) production. Around the end of the year Chung Hwa will begin production of 14.1-inch and 15-inch TFT-LCDs, and will launch pilot production of 12.1-inch, 17-inch, 18-inch, and 20-inch TFT-LCDs.   (Kevin Liu)

Great Sun Eclipsed In Cyber-Squatting Case       

        Taipei, February 25 (InfoTimes) – The Executive Yuan’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has recently ruled that Great Sun Technology Corp’s registered domain name “www.carrefour.com.tw” had inconvenienced Carrefour’s mega-store business and confused Carrefour’s prospective consumers. The agency has banned Great Sun from continuing to use this domain name.

        Although court disputes over accusations of “cyber-squatting” are becoming increasingly common abroad, Taiwan has so far been spared.  The FTC’s ruling is therefore significant, highlighting Taiwan’s first case of cyber-squatting.

        According to FTC’s data, Carrefour applied to the Taiwan Network Information Center (TWNIC) last year to use “www.carrefour.com.tw” as its website address, only to find that the domain name had already been registered by Great Sun in the second half of 1996. Concerned that consumers would be confused by Great Sun’s domain name and that its own mega-store business would in turn suffer, Carrefour filed a cyber-squatting complaint to the FTC.

        After investigation, the agency determined that the core business of Great Sun included the trading and repair of computer hardware, and the performance of contracts for software designing and development, activities completely different to Carrefour’s mega-store business.  The FTC ruled that in its choice of domain name, Great Sun was attempting to capitalise on Carrefour’s established reputation, and found that its action constituted a violation of fair trade.

        In an attempt to prevent local dot.com businesses from being annoyed by cyber-squatters, TWNIC plans to establish an ad hoc committee to regulate and oversee the Internet’s domain name system. The task force will also study countermeasures against cyber-squatting.  (Kevin Liu)

Acer Acquires 30% Stake In Onking   

        Taipei, Feb 25 (InfoTimes) – Acer Group announced yesterday that it would acquire a 30% stake of Onking Chain-Store Co Ltd for NT$938 million. The deal will mark the group’s first investment in a 3C (consumer electronics, computers, communications) distributor, and pave the way for the two parties to offer the best Internet-related products and services for local users. 

        Acer Group will take two seats on Onking’s board of directors and one seat on its board of supervisors. Acer Sertec Inc (ASI) will hold 19% of the total 30% stake, and Acer Digital Services Corp (ADSC) the remaining 11%.

        Z T Wang, ASI’s president, said the acquisition basically reflected the two parties’ belief that the integration of “realistic distributors” and “virtual distributors” would be a winning partnership in the e-commerce era. The president cited the merger between America Online Inc and Time Warner Inc in support of this viewpoint.

        Wang stressed that Onking would continue to conduct its own 3C business independently after the equity deal. Acer Group will use its new partnership to launch several experimental projects through Onking’s islandwide units.

Onking also has plans to purchase an interest in Acer Group, especially in ADSC, said C M Lin, Onking’s president, but they are still under discussion. (Kevin Liu)

Yulon Sizes Up Marine-Cable Business       

        Taipei, Feb 25 (InfoTimes) – Yulon Group’s management is set to meet Minister of Transportation & Communications Fong-cheng Lin today, to gain a better understanding of the regulations governing the marine-cable operation ahead of its imminent liberalisation.

        The Executive Yuan has recently decided to open up “landing points” to foreign undersea-cable operators, and is to begin accepting related applications this July.

     Eager to diversify into the high-tech sector from its current automobile business, Yulon Group has showed keen interest in marine-cable projects. In line with its diversification projects, the conglomerate has also joined Compaq Computer Corp in an e-commerce venture called “com2 Business” recently.

    According to a senior Yulon executive, the auto conglomerate believes that the liberalisation of undersea-cable business will be a certain money-spinner, as it will expand the demand for fibre-optic networks from local fixed-line network operators.

        The telecommunications market is now widely regarded as a gold mine by both traditional and high-tech industries. Many are seeking suitable partnerships to position themselves for a flying start in this sector. (Kevin Liu)

Taiwan To Be Examined Under Annual “Special 301” Review

        Taipei, Feb 29 (InfoTimes) – United States Trade Representative (USTR) is about to carry out its annual review on the so-called “Special 301” List. Since Taiwan is a member of the list, officials of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) will meet in a few days with Wang Chin-kang, Minister of Economic Affairs, to consider several issues under the list.

        AIT officials will first ask the local agency to clarify and specify the so-called “POA” system, which Taiwan is working to establish, as they feel there are still many doubtful points there. Meanwhile, they will check Taiwan’s progress on adding  the SID code on CDs, VCDs, and DVDs. They will also look into the island’s efforts to implement chip marking, a procedure designed for intellectual property rights management.

        Officials of MOEA indicated that the officials concerned would visit them early next month, instead of late this month as had been scheduled.

        Taiwan has been on the “Special 301” watch list since September 1998. As the results of the annual review of the list are announced in late April every year, AIT officials are slated to meet Wang, to try to gain a better understanding of how much effort Taiwan has spent over the past year to protect the IPR. If the result is satisfactory, Taiwan will be removed from the list.  (Kevin Liu)

Taiwan Attracts Foreign Net-Biz   

        Taipei, Feb 29 (InfoTimes) – Taiwan’s prosperous Internet market and its plethora of venture capital firms awash with cash have prompted a number of overseas websites to establish websites or divisions on the island.

        The Hong Kong-based portal site OutBlaze (http://www.outblaze.com/), has plans to do both in the near future. Siew Yi, OutBlaze’s CEO, arrived in Taiwan a few days ago to attend a seminar on Internet business. Based on an expectation that Taiwan will become a heavyweight Net-biz presence in the Asia-Pacific region, Siew is set to raise his portal’s presence in Taiwan.

        According to Siew, OutBlaze established a headquarters in Hong Kong last year.  Its shareholders include SoftBank of Japan, Pacific Century Group of Hong Kong, and Lotus Development Corp. Its capitalisation currently stands at US$10 million, and it employs 60 staff members.

        As a portal site, OutBlaze provides a range of services from community solutions and Internet access, assist clients in building websites and help them team up with other websites, to free e-mails, message boards, online chats, and online calendars. OutBlaze’s principle source of income is leasing spaces for online ads.

        A Shanghai-based software company has also showed keen interest in setting up divisions on the island. Founded in 1993 in Shanghai, the software company’s capitalisation currently stands at US$41 million, after launching a rights issue by its new shareholder, a US-based venture capital company. (Kevin Liu)

Venture Capital Firms Still Betting On Net  

        Taipei, March 1 (InfoTimes) – Several venture capital firms are set to increase their Internet-related investments, with the present love affair with the Net showing no sign of cooling.

        HoTung Venture Capital Corp reviews more than 20 Net-biz investment projects nearly every month, before deciding which ones to include in its portfolio. X C Hong, HoTung’s general manager, pointed out that his company makes Net-biz investments because they have huge market potential and promote professional skills and efficient management.

        Infopro.com, a local blue-blood media company, began placing Net-biz stakes several years ago, through personal investments made by its president C L Wu. Recently the media powerhouse has transformed into an “e” conglomerate, expanding its Net-biz investments through venture-capital.

        A senior Infopro executive said his company was concentrating on investments in the Asia-Pacific region and the United States. Besides Internet-related concerns, the company has also heavily invested in the semiconductor-design industry, particularly the design of semiconductors for wireless communications products.

        Several local venture-capital conglomerates which staked out their own Net-related businesses much earlier now enjoy enviable rates of return, in some cases as high as several hundred percent. Their legendary successes have encouraged a number of their counterparts to join this game. (Kevin Liu)

UMC Works To Boost Its Wafer-Foundry Profile Overseas       

        Taipei, 2 Mar (InfoTimes) – Taiwan powerhouse United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) is set to team up with US and Japanese partners to develop state-of-the-art technologies for its wafer lines, and will work to raise its wafer-foundry profile in the Japanese market.

        These goals are part of UMC’s efforts to fortify itself against its arch-rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC). F T Liu, a senior UMC executive, believed that in the next few years the strategy would enable his company to expand its capacity by over 30% a year, and improve its profitability by over 40% a year. UMC also plans to upgrade its wafer-manufacturing skills beyond the capabilities of integrated device manufacturers (IDMs).

        The local chip-making powerhouse announced early this year technological partnerships with US IBM Corp and Germany’s Infineon Technologies AG, to develop mutually-compatible technical platforms as a springboard for the three companies to expand their presence in the global system-on-a-chip (SOC) market.

        UMC is also exploring partnership opportunities with a number of US-based IC-designing companies, to exploit the soaring demand for wafer-foundry services from Japan and Europe.

        In a successful effort to gain a foothold in Japan’s microelectronics market, UMC has taken over NPNX, a Japan-based semiconductor manufacturer, and renamed it Nippon Foundry Inc. UMC has also joined Hitachi Ltd in a 12-inch wafer fab venture.

        “Orders from Japan have increased by over 10% recently,” Liu said. “Japan IDMs are willing to contract out more OEM orders to our company, which enables us to improve our market share there.” (Kevin Liu)

Arima Arms To March Into China

Taipei, 3 Mar (InfoTimes) – Arima Computer Corp, the fifth largest local notebook powerhouse in Taiwan, is pushing forward its mainland-bound investment projects in a bid to narrow the lead of its competitors.

Arima announced yesterday that it would hold a regular shareholders meeting on 27 April, which is expected to authorise its board to invest in mainland China under the right conditions. Arima will submit specific investment proposals for official approval immediately afterwards, and go ahead as soon as it gets permission.

Arima and Quanta Computer Co Ltd are the two local personal computer conglomerates without a foothold in mainland China, and Arima will probably set up in Suzhou (Jiangsu province).

Jiangsu, part of the so-called “greater Shanghai region”, is already host to several Taiwanese computer firms, who carry out part and component assembling in the province. Compal Electronics Inc, Acer Peripherals Inc, Tatung Corp, Inventec Corp, and Asustek Computer Inc all have large-scale investment projects in Shanghai. A senior Tatung executive said they had chosen Jiangsu because it had a good supply of high-tech experts.

As a dedicated OEM notebook producer for overseas partners, including Compaq Computer Corp and NEC Corp, Arima has also begun to receive outsourcing orders from its local counterpart LEO Systems Inc. (Kevin Liu)

UMC Allies With Hoshin Gigamedia, Eastern Multimedia

Taipei, 3 Mar (InfoTimes) – UMC Magnetics Group has confirmed that it will enter a partnership with Hoshin Gigamedia Center Inc and Eastern Multimedia Co to jointly tap the broadband-network service market.

The alliance will establish a new firm to develop video-on-demand (VOD) technologies and provide related services. M X Weng, the incumbent president of UMC, will act as the startup’s president.

The project is part of the group’s effort to expand its present role as an Internet content provider (ICP) by becoming an Internet service provider (ISP) and developing broadband-network services. UMC is counting on the partnerships with Hoshin and Eastern, two local leading broadband network operators, to enable it to develop wideband ISP services and related technologies.

The three parties are expected to announce the partnerships later this month. In addition, UMC plans to join with other enterprises to build a website “Taiwanet.com”, which will act as a domestic portal for its ICP business.

Initially a CD-ROM maker, UMC began moving into the Net-biz field four years ago, and by 1999 had investments in over 300 Internet companies. UMC aims to invest in a further 800 Net firms this year, and plans to establish 50 spin-offs from its new Internet empire. (Kevin Liu)

Tecom, Lucent Win Chunghwa's ADSL Procurement Project     

Taipei, 4 Mar (InfoTimes) - Lucent Technologies Inc and Tecom bid successfully yesterday for Chunghwa Telecom Ltd’s Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Loop (ADSL) procurement project.

This is Chunghwa's second project of this kind, and forms part of the government's policy of establishing a broadband network system which can handle 3 million Net users. The state-run telecom operator earlier bought a system capable of  handling 20,000 phone lines from Cisco Systems Inc, and this second procurement will give it a capacity of  just under 244,000 phone lines.

Chunghwa's latest tender came with a bid price nearly 50% lower than in its previous tender. Under the terms of the bid, Lucent will supply two-thirds of Chunghwa's ADSL systems for Chunghwa, at a cost of around NT$1.2 billion, and Tecom for the remaining third, at a cost of NT$560 million. Chunghwa presently provides ADSL services mainly through the "HiFly" network of its ISP arm HiNet, and expects to finish first-stage construction of its ADSL project by mid-May this year.

ADSL's great attraction is that it offers users an economical means of substantially increasing bandwidth at home and in small offices. Users love its fast download speeds and permanent connectivity, and many also appreciate being able to use the telephone and PC simultaneously without a second line. Moreover, when compared to cable modems, The ADSL per subscriber line service also provides more security than shared cable modems, an important consideration for services like online banking. These characteristics favour applications such as interactive games, telework, and distance learning, which also increases the system's attractions.   (Kevin Liu)

 

Micron Alleges Unfair Trading Practices Against Taiwan

Taipei,  6  Mar  (InfoTimes)  - US-based Micron Technology Inc recently filed charges  with the concerned authorities in the US against various alleged unfair trading  practices  from  Taiwan,  and  called for the authorities to list these practices into the reports on trading barriers to be released by the authorities this month.

The  reports will act as a reference for the US 301 Watch List, which will be made public next month.

The  Ministry  of  Finance  (MOF)  is watching closely the development of the charge,  but  officials  concerned pointed out that there was a slim charge that

Taiwan would be listed into the 301 Watch List due to the charge, or the report.

Meanwhile,  the  Ministry  of  Economic  Affairs  (MOEA)  will  call  for the Directorate  General  of  Customs  to  hold  a  meeting  to  decide  whether  to continue levying anti-dumping duties on Micron.

MOF  officials  stressed that Micron's charge against Taiwan and the island’s charge  against  Micron  would  be  regarded  as two different cases and thus be processed separately.

Last  year  local  semiconductor  producers  filed complaints to MOEA against Micron’s  dumping  its  dynamic random-access memory (DRAM) on the island. After investigation  the  agency  established  the  charge  and  began imposing 61.85% anti-dumping duties on Micron from 11 December 1999.  (Kevin Liu)

CBC To Simplify Forex Settlement Procedures   

Taipei, 6 Mar (InfoTimes)– Much of the infuriating paperwork involved in changing money at Taiwan’s airports will soon be a distant memory. The Central Bank of China (CBC) is set to simplify related procedures for settlements of below US$5,000 at the airport branches of the Bank of Taiwan and the International Commercial Bank of China.

The CBCs forex officials confirmed the plan yesterday. After its introduction, travellers will only need their departure registrations to make a foreign exchange settlement of below US$5,000, and will no longer have to fill in their ID number, nationality, and nature of their forex settlement.

The two banks’ airport units will also be exempt from restrictions on general banks’ opening hours. The airport bank branches will be able to continue provide services on Saturday morning even if other banks are required to close for two days a week under a proposal now under consideration.

The two banks’ airport branches gave customers a foretaste of the joys to come during this year’s Lunar New Year holidays. While all other local financial institutes closed on the eve of the holiday for four days, the airport branches continued to provide various forex services for travellers from 6:30 am to 12:00 am every day.  (Kevin Liu)