Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/07/02
By: Frances Huang

Taipei, July 2 (CNA) Innolux Corp., one of the leading flat panel suppliers in Taiwan, took second spot in TV shipments worldwide in May, trailing only China’s BOE Technology Group, according to Taipei-based market information advisory firm TrendForce Corp.

In a research paper, TrendForce said Innolux shipped 3.82 million TV flat screens in May, up 42.5 percent from a month earlier. The growth was the largest among the top six TV suppliers in the world for the month.

TrendForce said the significant growth enjoyed by Innolux came after the company came up with special price packages to lower inventories of its 39.5-inch and 50-inch TV screens. As a result, inventories of 39.5-inch TV panels were reduced by almost 40 percent.

BOE took the top spot after shipping 4.77 million units in May, up 19 percent from a month earlier as the Chinese firm applied similar preferential price packages as Innolux to cut its inventory of 32-inch TV panels in the month, TrendForce said.    [FULL  STORY]

The top 50 best-paying companies traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) and the Taipei Exchange (TPEx) include Foxconn, TSMC, and Largan. 

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/06/30
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan Stock Exchange Corp. (TWSE) announced Friday a list of the top 50 best-paying TWSE/TPEx-listed companies of 2017, which not surprisingly included the country’s tech giants MediaTek, Foxconn, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., and Largan Precision.

To address the low-pay epidemic in Taiwan, the country’s financial authorities are planning to reveal names of the worst-paying listed companies in 2019. On Friday, a list of the top 50 best-paying companies was announced, as a precursor to a string of the government’s wage increase initiatives.

The low-pay issue has been one of the biggest problems facing the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen. The Cabinet touted near-term and long-term solutions in May, including increasing the minimum wage for the lowest-paid public sector employees and contractors to NT$30,000 (US$1,008) per month “progressively. The Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) is also rolling out measures to boost salary transparency and push listed companies to share earnings with their staff.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/06/30
By: Wei Shu and Frances Huang

Taipei, June 30 (CNA) Taiwan was ranked 15th in a report on ultra-rich people by

country in 2017, with the number up 26 percent from the previous year, according to property market consulting firm REPro Knight Frank.

In its latest wealth report, the number of individuals with US$50 million or more in net assets, defined as ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWIs), in Taiwan was 2,010 in 2017, up 420 or 26 percent from a year earlier, REPro Knight Frank said.

Taiwan’s growth rate in super rich individuals was the third highest in the world, trailing only Brazil’s 28 percent and Russia’s 27 percent, REPro Knight Frank added.

Taiwan also ranked sixth in the number of ultra-rich people in Asia after Japan (9,960), China (8,800), Hong Kong (5,140), India (2,920) and South Korea (2,610), the consulting firm said.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2018-06-29

The world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, Foxconn, has broken ground

on a US$10 billion display panel plant in the US state of Wisconsin.

Owned by Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry Company, Foxconn counts Apple among its major clients. Chair and CEO Terry Gou said Foxconn intends to create a “Wisconn Valley” around its factory complex. Gou said the project will bring high tech, high income, high potential and high values to Wisconsin.

The new plant is in line with US President Donald Trump’s policy to bring manufacturing jobs back from Asia.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump, Foxconn chair Terry Gou, Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan attended a ground-breaking ceremony for Foxconn’s new Wisconsin plant.    [FULL  STORY]

New York wealthiest city in world, Singapore wealthiest city in Asia according to REPro Frank Knight

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/06/29
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taipei is the 43rd wealthiest city in the world, with New York retaining the mantle as the world’s richest city according to a report published by REPro Frank Knight today.

This year’s report saw a significant change in methodology, which saw Taipei’s ranking plummet from 15 to 43.

New York took top spot, followed by London, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Asia’s top representative, Singapore, ranked fifth followed by Tokyo and Hong Kong, which ranked eighth and ninth respectively.

Andy Huang(黃舒衛), Director of Research at REPro Frank Knight said that lack of foreign investment and low turnover of commercial real estate were factors limiting Taipei’s ranking, in an interview with UDN.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2018/06/29
By: Pan Tzi-yu and Ko Lin

Taipei, June 29 (CNA) The Taiwan Research Institute, a leading economic think tank,

on Friday raised its forecast for the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth for 2018, citing strong export performance amid the strengthening global economic recovery.

The forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year has been revised to 2.62 percent, up 0.31 percentage points from the previous forecast of 2.31 percent in December last year, according to the think tank.

The institute’s 2018 GDP growth forecast was more upbeat than the government’s projection, which was also raised in May from 2.42 percent to 2.6 percent.

The revised forecast was made as a result of a stronger-than-expected global economic recovery, which aided the country’s export performance in the first half of this year, the institute said.    [FULL  STORY]

Electrify is using AI and Blockchain to drastically reduce electricity costs

Taiwan News
Date: 2018/06/28
By: Scott Morgan, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Singapore’s Electrify is helping companies save big money

on their electricity bills through their online transaction platform that better links consumers to electricity provides through the Blockchain.

The transaction platform is more efficiently pairing consumers and producers of electricity and passing a 30 percent discount to consumers through “smart” contracts which are written on the Blockchain, taking lawyers and accountants out of the process.

Electrify works in the other direction too, allowing consumers to sell surplus electricity from domestic sources like solar panels to others.

Benson Wang, a tapas restaurant owner has saved SGD$900 (US$658) over the past three months since using the new service.    [FULL  STORY]