Focus Taiwan
Date: 08/21/2020
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Aug. 21 (CNA) Border controls resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic caused Taiwan's travel income and expenses to plunge for the second quarter of this year to a new low since the data started to be collated in 1984, according to the central bank.

In the April-June period, travel income fell from US$1.435 billion in the first quarter to a new low of US$94 million, while travel expenses also dropped from the first quarter's US$2.253 billion to a record low of US$193 million, data released on Thursday by the central bank showed.

Fears over the COVID-19 spread brought the global tourism industry to a virtual standstill, the central bank said, so that Taiwan posted a travel service deficit of about US$100 million in travel services, the smallest deficit since the first quarter of 2016, when the figure stood at NT$342 million.

Due to the border controls imposed in mid-March, the number of outbound travelers from Taiwan plunged by 98.9 percent from a quarter earlier to only 47,000, while the number of travelers to Taiwan also tumbled by 99.6 percent to about 13,000, the central bank said.
[FULL  STORY]

President Tsai encourages domestic travel and spending in order to mitigate economic hit from coronavirus

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/08/20
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A third phase of relief measures with a budget of NT$210 billion (US$7.13 billion) and added investment totaling NT$6 trillion should help Taiwan recover from the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Thursday (Aug. 20).

The new programs arrive on top of previous packages totaling NT$1.05 trillion to help enterprises and workers through the impact of the virus. It forms the largest economic aid program in Taiwan's history, CNA quoted Tsai as saying.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 08/20/2020
By: intern Tzeng Yi-ning

Taipei, Aug. 20 (CNA) The majority of Taiwan consumers are not inclined to switch to 5G mobile phone service within the next six months, as most of them are waiting for the cost to drop, according to an online poll released on Thursday.

With the launch of 5G services by Taiwan's three major telecom companies over the past two months, the average cost of a monthly data plan is NT$1,399 (US$47.55), almost twice as much as the average NT$703 most consumers are prepared to pay, the poll found.

The survey, conducted by 1111 Job Bank, found that 52.8 percent of consumers are not considering applying for 5G service in the near future, with 31 percent of them listing cost as the main deterrent.

People are also not motivated to switch to 5G services because they think 4G is adequate for their personal use (24.9 percent), they are concerned that 5G base stations may not have wide enough coverage (21.0 percent), and the devices they have do not support 5G (18.8 percent), according to the poll.   [FULL  STORY]

Simplehuman's Frank Yang was envisioning intuitive, design-centric home products long before they became instrumental in saving lives.

Entrepreneur
Date: August 19, 2020
By: Frances Dodds

Before the pandemic made “touchless” technology a matter of life and death, it was a matter of convenience. But convenience is something that Frank Yang, the founder and CEO of Simplehuman, takes very seriously. Yang, 48, immigrated from Taiwan with his parents in 1981, and started the Los Angeles-based company in 2000. Over the past two decades, Simplehuman has developed a reputation as the “Apple of Housewares” because its designs operate on the principle that technology should enable human behavior intuitively — and look good while doing it. The brand’s star product is its voice-activated trash can, which you can ask to “open” — or “stay open” — from six feet away. 

In March, Simplehuman’s touch-free wares were “nice-to-haves” that became “must-haves.” Sales soared, and Yang quickly realized the role that touchless soap dispensers and trash cans could play in keeping families and frontline workers safe. So he marked down prices on all the touchless products and began donating products to healthcare workers.

Yang’s vision for intuitively touch-free, design-centric environments has proven prescient, which is why we included him as one of 137 inspiring entrepreneurs on our July/August cover. You can read all about it in Jason Feifer’s editor letter. But since the issue came out, we’ve been catching up with our cover stars to hear a little more about how this unprecedented year has played out for them. We spoke with Yang about what he did or didn’t see coming, how the company handled the surge in demand, and all the places he envisions Simplehuman products becoming a staple in everyday life, post-pandemic.     [FULL  STORY]

Shops facing closure located in Taipei Railway Station, Neihu, Sogo Zhongli

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/08/19
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Celebrated bookstore chain Eslite will close three more outlets before the 2020 following six closures earlier in the year, reports said Wednesday (Aug. 19).

In May, Eslite shuttered the world’s first 24-hour bookshop in Taipei City, transferring its round-the-clock opening hours to the third floor of its much larger and newer outlet in the fashionable Xinyi District.

The three stores facing closure over the next few months are located in Taipei Railway Station, the Taipei district of Neihu, and a Sogo department store in Taoyuan's Zhongli District, CNA reported.

The Zhongli shop, located on one of the top floors of the department store, was scheduled to close on Aug. 23, the Taipei Railway Station shop before the end of August; and the Donghu store in Neihu in late October. Even after the closures, book lovers passing through the train station will still have a larger store to visit in the underground “K” area, the company said.
[FULL  STORY]

LOOKING AHEAD: Rick Hsu said that rush orders to meet demand during the COVID-19 pandemic would come to an end this quarter, making the fourth quarter a challenge

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 20, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

Leading industrialists yesterday called on the government to keep relief and stimulus measures alive, saying that tough times lie ahead as local tech firms would be digesting rush orders toward the end of this quarter, because of remote working and telecommuting trends.

Rick Hsu (許勝雄), chairman of the Third Wednesday Club (三三會), whose membership is limited to the top 100 firms in each business sector, spoke to reporters prior to a meeting with President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in Taipei.

“The government had better prepare an extended version of relief and stimulus measures, as the industry will need it after fulfilling orders” to make chips for electronic parts used in laptops, desktops, TVs and other products, Hsu said.

Local technology firms have benefited from a surge in demand for devices that have enabled companies and schools around the world to operate, despite travel inconveniences and social distancing, said Hsu, who is chairman of contract notebook maker Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶電腦).    [FULL  STORY]