Taipei, Nov. 11, 2011 (CENS)--Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) scored unconsolidated net sales of NT$37.25 billion (US$1.2 billion at US$1:NT$30) in October, increasing 13.3% over the previous month but inching down 0.3% from a year earlier. Industry executives ascribed the robust growth mostly to rush orders from chip vendors adept at devices for tablet PCs and smartphones, inc...

An all-foldable fabric ultra-capacitor developed by the non-profit Taiwan Textile Research Institute (TTRI) with support from the Economic Ministry’s Department of Industrial Technology has taken a “2011 R&D 100” award presented by the prestigious American magazine R&D. TTRI says that it spent five years developing the all-foldable fabric ultra-capacitor that won it Taiwan’s first-ever “R...

Slowing consumer demand in recent years has sapped growth in global shipments of personal computers (PCs), whose long-term growth however, due to some positive signs ahead, is expected to be double digits, according to International Data Corporation's (IDC) latest report. The Massachusetts-based provider of market intelligence and advisory services for the information technology, telecommunica...

Amid the still uncertain outcome of the European debt crisis and high unemployment in the U.S. as well as high inflation in India and China, which has been impacting the multimedia consumer-electronics market, some new products are still predicted for high growth, such as the media tablet with innovative user interfaces and strong support from service platforms, according to the Market Intelligen...

The Industrial Economic & Knowledge Center (IEK) under Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute recently commented on the formation of a joint venture by four Japanese companies engaged in small- and medium-sized liquid crystal display (LCD) panel business, saying the venture implies the importance of benefit-sharing—not only in market and customers, but also synergistic integration of...

The electronic component industry in Taiwan turned out US$7.42 billion of products in the second quarter of 2011, a 7.6% quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) and 0.7% year-on-year (YoY) growth, according to the government-backed IEK-ITIS (Industry & Technology Intelligence Services) in Taiwan. Impacted by an array of negative factors, including the sovereign debt issues in Spain, Italy, Greece and Ireland...

The market for smart TVs is expected to experience soaring growth in 2011 and 2012, and the latest technology shift to smart mobile terminals will sooner or later extend into this new market segment, according to the Topology Research Institute (TRi). TRi, the largest private market research firm in Taiwan, recently noted that some 7.04 million smart TVs were sold globally in 2010 and predicte...

Tech-fans and geeks believe the ultimate technological and innovative achievement is to win the R&D 100 Awards, selected by an independent judging panel and editors of R&D Magazine published in the U.S. As such and once again, the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), generally seen as the hotbed of technological invention and innovation in Taiwan, deserves a degree of respect for winn...

The jury of the iF Communication Design Awards 2011 bestowed 231 designs, including 10 from Taiwan, with the iF outstanding design label, with the top 30 honored with the iF gold award, none of which went to designers from Taiwan, according to the Taiwan branch of the Germany-based iF International Forum Design. A total of 861 submits from 27 nations were received this year, which were catego...

A crucial decision made three years ago by James Wang, president of the SerComm Corp., boosted the company's chances of becoming the world's No.1 supplier of femtocells--small cellular base stations typically designed for use in a home or small business--and integrated access devices (IADs) this year. Unlike his domestic counterparts, Wang chose to bet on femtocell technology instead of delvi...