A week in tech, May 22-26

Taiwan
Internet
• Soft-World International, an online game producer and service provider in Taiwan, introduced its first free online game Ghost developed by South Korea-based NNG, for launch in the Taiwan market, with open beta test (OB) expected to begin late next month for 60 days. The company said Ghost would be operated by Game Flier International, Soft-World's wholly owned subsidiary, for the markets in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao. The game is expected to attract 100,000 simultaneous players during the 60-day OB in Taiwan. This is the first game for Soft-World to enter the field of item mall online games, that is, free gaming services with revenue coming from sales of virtual items in the game. Soft-World said Game Flier will focus its business operations on free online gamer services this year. Ghost is an RPG (role-playing game


Hardware
• Toppoly Optoelectronics, the mobile device display unit of Compal Electronics, announced that it has received approval from the Taiwan government to invest $21 million in the Shanghai arm of a subsidiary it recently acquired from Philips Electronics. Under the deal, Toppoly would hold a 100-percent stake after the investment. Toppoly is seen as investing over NT$10 billion ($313.2 million) in high-value-added manufacturing technology in 2007-2009 in Taiwan. Upon completion of the merger, Toppoly is expected to increase its global market share in small panels to 10 percent.


Semiconductors
• Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) announced the revamp it made in its board of directors, which saw the unanimous re-election of Morris Chang to the chairman post. Re-elected, as vice-chairman was FC Tseng. In a separate development, the company said its board has approved the capital allocation of $966.3 million for the expansion of the company’s Fab 14 facility. The company said the expansion is expected to boost its capacity for 65 and 90-nanometer production. TSMC said it is setting aside a further $242.1 million in order to expand the capacity of its six- and eight-inch wafer fabs. In a separate report, the company predicted its capital expenditure for this year to be from $2.6 billion to $2.8 billion.
• ProMOS Technologies announced that it is scheduled to start building a new 12-inch-wafer fabrication plant valued at some $2.5 billion. The company said the construction of the new 12-inch-wafer plant in the country’s central science park would be in June or July, with monthly capacity of 40,000 wafers. The plant is the third for the manufacturer of DRAM (dynamic random access memory) he said. ProMOS said it is set to upgrade its eight-inch-wafer fab in northern Taiwan to a 12-inch facility, even as it waits for government approval of its 2004 application to relocate machinery to a yet-to-be-built plant in the mainland.

Hong Kong
Telecommunications
• Hutchison Telecommunications International (HTIL) announced that its first-quarter net loss narrowed to HK$24 million ($3 million) from some HK$100 million ($12.8 million) a year ago, with the company ascribing the results to the growth its number of subscribers from its two biggest markets, India and Israel. The company explained that the growth more than offset lower per customer spending.


Mobile/Wireless
• PCCW Mobile, one of the brands under Hong Kong-listed PCCW, announced that it is set to receive a license for mobile TV from telecom vendor Huawei Technologies, with its Cell Multimedia Broadcast (CMB). The new mobile technology is expected to compete with existing standards such as Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld (DVB-H) in the US and Europe. CMB requires only a network upgrade, which means that its CMB technology would cost less to use than DVB-H, which requires a new slice of spectrum. The service is expected to be available for trial in Hong Kong by the end of this month.


Hardware
• Nam Tai Electronics posted a 9.4-percent decline in its net profits for the first quarter to $12.5 million; compared to the $13.8 million it reported in 2005. The Hong Kong based company said its revenues for the quarter went up by 33 percent to $208.4 million from $157 million year-on-year. Nam Tai said it continued to outperform its industry peers by achieving industry leading gross profit margins of 10.1 percent and operating profit margins of 6.0 percent in the first quarter of 2006. The company attributed its first-quarter results to growth in its high-tech subassemblies of telecom products and the restructuring of its Hong Kong operations in 2005. Nam Tai manufactures electronic parts.

Singapore/Malaysia/Philippines/Indonesia
Telecommunications
• Telekom Malaysia, the country’s largest telecommunications provider, announced a 34-percent rise in its first-quarter profit to M$518.9 million ($143.7 million). The figure includes gains from its Indonesian mobile subsidiary Excelcomindo Pratama, which the company said contributed most of the increases in its mobile segment. The company posted an 11-percent gain in its revenue to M$3.8 billion ($1 billion). Telekom Malaysia holds a 56.9-percent stake in Excelcomindo. Telekom Malaysia said the domestic mobile business would remain still competitive even as it would focus on improving revenue through better product offerings for both voice and data services. The company looks to overseas operations as an important area as it aims to boost its South Asian presence, with presence in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

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