Shanghai authorities released nine other Taiwanese on bail

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/13
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – China has detained three financial analysts from Taiwan and released nine others in a suspected fraud case, the Liberty Times reported Saturday (July 13).

On July 9, local police raided an investment firm in Shanghai known to employ many financial experts from Taiwan, the report said. A total of 12 Taiwanese citizens were initially detained, but nine of them were later released on bail awaiting trial. However, they would not be allowed to leave China and return home.

The Straits Exchange Foundation said it was closely monitoring developments and would provide the necessary legal assistance to the Taiwanese nationals. A name list of the group had not been made available yet, reports said.   [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/13
By: Tsai Peng-min and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 13 (CNA) About 54 percent of employers in Taiwan are planning to raise wages in the second half of the year, with the average wage hike expected to hit 3.5 percent, according to a survey by online job bank yes123.

Citing two surveys conducted from June 13 to 25, yes123 said the 3.5 percent average raise was below the expectations of employees, who are hoping for a roughly 6 percent salary increase of NT$2,477 (US$79.39) per month based on the average regular wage of NT$41,767 in April, according to Taiwan's statistics bureau.

The survey targeting employers found about 54.4 percent of respondents saying they are planning to raise wages in the second half of the year, down from 57.4 percent in a similar survey conducted a year earlier.

Of the 54.4 percent, just over four in five (82.4 percent) said they will raise salaries based on employees' performance, while under one in five (17.6 percent) said they will increase wages for all employees regardless of performance, down considerably from a year earlier, the survey found.
[FULL  STORY]

Factory will help Pegatron avoid U.S. tariffs targeting imports from China

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/12
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwanese iPhone assembler Pegatron Corporation (和碩聯合科技) is

recruiting 1,800 workers for a new factory on the Indonesian island of Batam in order to avoid fallout from the trade war between China and the United States, reports said Friday (July 12).

The factory, which was officially opened on July 9, will produce non-iPhone items such as set-top boxes, wifi routers and smart devices for export to the U.S., and is Pegatron’s first manufacturing plant in Southeast Asia.

The company said it had so far invested US$10 milllion (NT$310 million) in the Batam project, but was not willing to comment on media reports the total amount would reach four times as much, the Central News Agency said.

Pegatron was reportedly also considering Vietnam as a production base, due to the presence of South Korea’s Samsung assembling smartphones in the north of the country. The Southeast Asian factories will allow Pegatron products to avoid U.S. tariffs targeting imports from China.6
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/12
By: Chang Chien-chung and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 12 (CNA) Acer Inc. and Asustek Computer Inc. were the fifth and sixth largest global PC suppliers, respectively, in the second quarter of this year, according to global market information advisory firm Gartner Inc.

In a research report dated July 11 on its website, Gartner said Acer replaced Asustek as the No. 5 PC supplier in the April-June period compared with the January-March period.

Data compiled by Gartner showed Acer shipped about 3.40 million PCs, down 14.4 percent from a year earlier, and took a 5.4 percent share of the global market, compared with a 6.4 percent share over the same period of last year.

Asustek saw its ranking fall one notch from the first quarter to sixth in the second quarter after its shipments fell 9.9 percent from a year earlier to 3.10 million units during the April-June period, representing a 4.9 percent share of the global market, down from 5.5 percent a year earlier, the data indicated.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan set to dethrone S. Korea as largest, fastest-growing semiconductor manufacturing equipment market in world

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/11
By: Keoni Everington, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan is set to surpass South Korea as the largest and fastest-growing semiconductor manufacturing equipment market in the world with a growth rate of 21.1 percent this year, according to SEMI.

In its latest report, SEMI predicts that only Taiwan and North America will see growth in the semiconductor manufacturing market this year, while the markets in South Korea, China, Japan, and Europe will decline. Taiwan is set to become the largest and fastest growing semiconductor equipment maker in the world by increasing by 21.1 percent to reach US$12.31 billion.

Due in part to geopolitical tensions, SEMI forecasts downward adjustments to capital expenditures in the semiconductor industry as a whole. SEMI predicts that the global semiconductor manufacturing market will slip to US$52.7 billion this year, a drop of 18.4 percent from last year, which saw an all-time high of US$64.5 billion last year.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/07/11
By: Liao Yu-yang and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, July 11 (CNA) The Ministry of Economic Affairs said Thursday that it has approved applications from five firms to invest in Taiwan under a plan launched by the government to encourage overseas Taiwanese businesses to invest at home.

It is estimated the five companies will invest more than NT$9.5 billion which could create nearly 900 new jobs, increasing total investment approved to NT$444.1 billion (US$14.31 billion) and boosting potential new jobs to more than 40,000 since the program was launched in January, according to a MOEA office that assists overseas businesses invest in Taiwan.

The biggest investor among the five is an unnamed listed company that produces key panel materials and plans to invest more than NT$4.5 billion building a factory in Yunlin County and recruiting 200 workers, according to the MOEA "Invest Taiwan" office.

Textile and garment manufacturer Eclat Textile Co. decided to invest NT$1.02 billion to build a digital fabric printing and textile factory in Miaoli County producing high-value added printed fabric, and is looking to hire 60 technicians.    [FULL  STORY]

Next May, only 1,500 employees are expected instead of 1,800: Evers

Taiwan News
Date: 2019/07/10
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Foxconn Group might only employ 1,500 people when its new plant in

Wisconsin starts operations next May, the state’s governor told CNBC Tuesday (July 9).

The company’s founder, Kuomintang presidential contender Terry Gou (郭台銘), once promised at least 1,800 jobs by the end of 2020 and eventually 13,000 in return for US$4 billion worth of incentives.

Gou made the promises before he had resigned the chairmanship of his company and when a Republican, Scott Walker, was still governor of Wisconsin.

The new governor, Democrat Tony Evers, told CNBC in an exclusive interview that the Taiwanese company was once again likely to miss its targets. He also revealed that he had visited the factory site near the town of Racine in late June.    [FULL  STORY]