Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) on Thursday said it expects a stronger half-year on <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-uds-cse&amp;cx=006054055338965708568:09spwrlibei&amp;q=https://www.wionews.com/world/china-soon-to-issue-5g-license-as-it-enters-crucial-period-223979&amp;sa=U&amp;ved=2ahUKEwjzz7_2pr7jAhWKiXAKHdeuASUQFjAAegQIARAC&amp;usg=AOvVaw3Jz3ha5QNLHaEe2H2YzeoJ">5G telecoms</a> demand, and that a dispute over chip-making materials between Japan and South Korea in its most uncertain factor.

The world's largest contract chipmaker reported a decline in second-quarter profit but said demand is likely to recover during the rest of 2019 particularly from smartphone makers, hampered at present by the impact of a Sino-US&nbsp;trade war.

"Although our business continues to be impacted by a global slowing economy ... we have also passed the bottom of the cycle of our business and again began to see demand increasing," Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman Chung Ching Wei told analysts during an earnings briefing.

Taiwan's supply chain manufacturers have been navigating slowing global demand for smartphones - a primary source of revenue - as well as market disruption stemming from tit-for-tat import tariffs between China and the United States, plus the latter's ban on US companies doing business with Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd.

Adding to risk factors, Japan last week tightened curbs on exports of high-tech materials used in smartphone displays and chips to South Korea, home to the world's biggest memory chip makers, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, and SK Hynix Inc.

TSMC Chairman Mark Liu said the dispute is a major uncertainty for the coming months as it is likely to impact technology supply chains, as Japan dominates the market for the materials in question.

Earlier, TSMC, a proxy for technology demand as its clients include iPhone maker Apple and chip leader Qualcomm Inc, reported a 7.6% decline in April-June net profit at T$66.77 billion ($2.15 billion), meeting analyst estimates.

Revenue rose 3.3% to T$241 billion but fell 1.4% to $7.75 billion in US&nbsp;dollar terms - still topping both the firm's forecast and the average of 23 analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv.

Business in the third quarter will be driven by increased demand for fifth-generation telecommunications (5G) equipment as well as for smartphones spurred by new product launches, and the fourth quarter will be even stronger, Wei said.

TSMC forecast a gross profit margin of 46% to 48% for the third quarter, and an operating margin of 35% to 37%, compared with 47.4% and 36.6%, respectively, a year earlier.

The chipmaker also said it expected annual capital expenditure for the year to exceed the high end of its earlier forecast of $10 billion to $11 billion due to strong 5G demand.

Even so, analysts were cautious about TSMC's growth outlook for the coming months, citing a slower-than-expected introduction of 5G technology and still-tepid demand for smartphones, which they said accounted for nearly half of its first-quarter sales.

"With a still-slow demand recovery and excessive inventory, we think wafer orders from fabless companies might remain weak," Fubon Securities analyst Sherman Shang wrote in a research note prior to TSMC's earnings announcement.

TSMC's short-term downside, however, could be supported by "major customers' recovery in 2020 from a very low base in 2019, such as Apple," Shang wrote.

Indicating evolving market conditions, the spread of accelerating the spread of 5G networks helped Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML Holding NV, a supplier to TSMC, beat analysts' second-quarter earnings estimates on Wednesday.

Prior to TSMC's announcement, shares in the chipmaker closed up 0.8% versus a 0.25% fall in the wider market. The stock has risen around 13% so far this year.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) on Thursday said it expects a stronger half-year on 5G telecoms demand, and that a dispute over chip-making materials between Japan and South Korea in its most uncertain factor.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC) on Thursday said it expects a stronger half-year on 5G telecoms demand, and that a dispute over chip-making materials between Japan and South Korea in its most uncertain factor. The world's largest contract chipmaker reported a decline in second-quarter profit but said demand is likely to recover during the rest of 2019 particularly from smartphone makers, hampered at present by the impact of a Sino-US trade war. "Although our business continues to be impacted by a global slowing economy ... we have also passed the bottom of the cycle of our business and again began to see demand increasing," Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman Chung Ching Wei told analysts during an earnings briefing. Taiwan's supply chain manufacturers have been navigating slowing global demand for smartphones - a primary source of revenue - as well as market disruption stemming from tit-for-tat import tariffs between China and the United States, plus the latter's ban on US companies doing business with Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies Co Ltd. Adding to risk factors, Japan last week tightened curbs on exports of high-tech materials used in smartphone displays and chips to South Korea, home to the world's biggest memory chip makers, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, and SK Hynix Inc. TSMC Chairman Mark Liu said the dispute is a major uncertainty for the coming months as it is likely to impact technology supply chains, as Japan dominates the market for the materials in question. Earlier, TSMC, a proxy for technology demand as its clients include iPhone maker Apple and chip leader Qualcomm Inc, reported a 7.6% decline in April-June net profit at T$66.77 billion ($2.15 billion), meeting analyst estimates. Revenue rose 3.3% to T$241 billion but fell 1.4% to $7.75 billion in US dollar terms - still topping both the firm's forecast and the average of 23 analyst estimates compiled by Refinitiv. Business in the third quarter will be driven by increased demand for fifth-generation telecommunications (5G) equipment as well as for smartphones spurred by new product launches, and the fourth quarter will be even stronger, Wei said. TSMC forecast a gross profit margin of 46% to 48% for the third quarter, and an operating margin of 35% to 37%, compared with 47.4% and 36.6%, respectively, a year earlier. The chipmaker also said it expected annual capital expenditure for the year to exceed the high end of its earlier forecast of $10 billion to $11 billion due to strong 5G demand. Even so, analysts were cautious about TSMC's growth outlook for the coming months, citing a slower-than-expected introduction of 5G technology and still-tepid demand for smartphones, which they said accounted for nearly half of its first-quarter sales. "With a still-slow demand recovery and excessive inventory, we think wafer orders from fabless companies might remain weak," Fubon Securities analyst Sherman Shang wrote in a research note prior to TSMC's earnings announcement. TSMC's short-term downside, however, could be supported by "major customers' recovery in 2020 from a very low base in 2019, such as Apple," Shang wrote. Indicating evolving market conditions, the spread of accelerating the spread of 5G networks helped Dutch semiconductor equipment maker ASML Holding NV, a supplier to TSMC, beat analysts' second-quarter earnings estimates on Wednesday. Prior to TSMC's announcement, shares in the chipmaker closed up 0.8% versus a 0.25% fall in the wider market. The stock has risen around 13% so far this year.

TSMC expects 5G earnings boost, flags South Korea-Japan spat as risk

Samsung&nbsp;Electronics Co Ltd expects to invest $7 billion over the next three years to expand its NAND memory chip production in China&#39;s northwestern city of Xi&#39;an, the South Korean tech giant said on Monday.

In a regulatory filing, Samsung&nbsp;said it approved $2.3 billion of the expected investment of $7 billion on Monday.

In early July, when&nbsp;Samsung&nbsp;announced an investment of $18.6 billion in South Korea, it said it would add a production line at its NAND plant in Xi&#39;an, but did not set an investment amount.

A&nbsp;Samsung&nbsp;Electronics spokesman declined to comment on the amount of capacity to be added by the approved or planned investment.

The firm accounted for 38.3 percent of global NAND flash memory chip revenue in April-June, the latest data from researcher IHS showed.

China is trying to develop its own memory chip producers but it is likely to be several years before they can compete with existing makers, analysts said.

Samsung&nbsp;Electronics said a memory chip boom that propelled it to record profit in the second quarter was likely to continue in the July-to-September quarter.

Samsung said it approved $2.3 billion of the expected investment of $7 billion on Monday

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd expects to invest $7 billion over the next three years to expand its NAND memory chip production in China's northwestern city of Xi'an, the South Korean tech giant said on Monday. In a regulatory filing, Samsung said it approved $2.3 billion of the expected investment of $7 billion on Monday. In early July, when Samsung announced an investment of $18.6 billion in South Korea, it said it would add a production line at its NAND plant in Xi'an, but did not set an investment amount. A Samsung Electronics spokesman declined to comment on the amount of capacity to be added by the approved or planned investment. The firm accounted for 38.3 percent of global NAND flash memory chip revenue in April-June, the latest data from researcher IHS showed. China is trying to develop its own memory chip producers but it is likely to be several years before they can compete with existing makers, analysts said. Samsung Electronics said a memory chip boom that propelled it to record profit in the second quarter was likely to continue in the July-to-September quarter.

Samsung Elec to invest $7 billion to boost China NAND chip output

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Sunday it would launch an artificial intelligence digital assistant service for its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone, seeking to rebound from the Galaxy Note 7&#39;s collapse and differentiate its devices.

The world&#39;s top smartphone maker in October announced the acquisition of Viv Labs Inc, a firm run by a co-creator of Apple Inc&#39;s Siri voice assistant programme. Samsung plans to integrate the San Jose-based company&#39;s AI platform, called Viv, into the Galaxy smartphones and expand voice-assistant services to home appliances and wearable technology devices.

Samsung is counting on the Galaxy S8 to help revive smartphone momentum after scrapping the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7, which will hit its profit by $5.4 billion over three-quarters through the first quarter of 2017.

Investors and analysts say the Galaxy S8 must be a strong device in order for Samsung to win back customers and revive earnings momentum.

Samsung did not comment on what types of services would be offered through the AI assistant that will be launched on the Galaxy S8, which is expected to go on sale early next year. It said the AI assistant would allow customers to use third-party service seamlessly.

&quot;Developers can attach and upload services to our agent,&quot; said Samsung executive vice president Rhee Injong during a briefing, referring to its AI assistant.

&quot;Even if Samsung doesn&#39;t do anything on its own, the more services that get attached the smarter this agent will get, learn more new services and provide them to end-users with ease.&quot;

Technology firms are locked in an increasingly heated race to make AI good enough to let consumers interact with their devices more naturally, especially by voice.

Alphabet Inc&#39;s Google is widely considered to be the leader in AI, but others including Amazon.com, Apple and Microsoft Corp have launched their own offerings including voice-powered digital assistants.

Samsung also hopes to differentiate its devices, from phones to fridges, by incorporating AI. Competition from Google&#39;s new Pixel smartphones, armed with the US&nbsp;firm&#39;s voice-powered digital assistant, adds to the urgency.

The South Korean firm has said it plans more acquisitions to bolster its AI and other software capabilities.

&nbsp;

(Reuters)

Samsung also plans to integrate voice-assistant services to home appliances and wearable technology devices

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Sunday it would launch an artificial intelligence digital assistant service for its upcoming Galaxy S8 smartphone, seeking to rebound from the Galaxy Note 7's collapse and differentiate its devices. The world's top smartphone maker in October announced the acquisition of Viv Labs Inc, a firm run by a co-creator of Apple Inc's Siri voice assistant programme. Samsung plans to integrate the San Jose-based company's AI platform, called Viv, into the Galaxy smartphones and expand voice-assistant services to home appliances and wearable technology devices. Samsung is counting on the Galaxy S8 to help revive smartphone momentum after scrapping the fire-prone Galaxy Note 7, which will hit its profit by $5.4 billion over three-quarters through the first quarter of 2017. Investors and analysts say the Galaxy S8 must be a strong device in order for Samsung to win back customers and revive earnings momentum. Samsung did not comment on what types of services would be offered through the AI assistant that will be launched on the Galaxy S8, which is expected to go on sale early next year. It said the AI assistant would allow customers to use third-party service seamlessly. "Developers can attach and upload services to our agent," said Samsung executive vice president Rhee Injong during a briefing, referring to its AI assistant. "Even if Samsung doesn't do anything on its own, the more services that get attached the smarter this agent will get, learn more new services and provide them to end-users with ease." Technology firms are locked in an increasingly heated race to make AI good enough to let consumers interact with their devices more naturally, especially by voice. Alphabet Inc's Google is widely considered to be the leader in AI, but others including Amazon.com, Apple and Microsoft Corp have launched their own offerings including voice-powered digital assistants. Samsung also hopes to differentiate its devices, from phones to fridges, by incorporating AI. Competition from Google's new Pixel smartphones, armed with the US firm's voice-powered digital assistant, adds to the urgency. The South Korean firm has said it plans more acquisitions to bolster its AI and other software capabilities. (Reuters)

Samsung to launch Galaxy S8 with AI