Business and Finance

Qualcomm fine will hurt Taiwan: Shen

LONG-TERM EFFECT:While firms have orders for the next two years, Shen Jong-chin said the question is what happens later, and industrial development should be a priority

Taipei Times
Date: Nov 02, 2017
By: Lauly Li  /  Staff reporter

The Fair Trade Commission’s fine on Qualcomm Inc is likely to have substantial impact on Taiwanese brands and semiconductor companies in the long term, Minister of Economic Affairs Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) told lawmakers yesterday.

“Qualcomm has already placed orders for Taiwan’s semiconductor firms for next year and 2019, so we forecast the impact might emerge two years from now, in the worst-case scenario,” Shen said during a question-and-answer session at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee.

The commission on Oct. 11 fined Qualcomm NT$23.4 billion (US$775.5 million), saying that the world’s largest smartphone chip supplier had unfairly manipulated prices and hurt market competition.

The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) on Wednesday last week confirmed that it received a verbal notice from Qualcomm that the US firm was stopping talks on collaboration on 5G technology.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan falls four spots in World Bank’s ‘Doing Business’ rankings

The China Post
Date: November 1, 2017
By: Rita Cheng, Liao Yu-yang, Chen Cheng-wei and Frances Huang

TAIPEI (CNA) – Taiwan has placed 15th among 190 economies in the World Bank’s

In this Oct. 6., 2017 file photo, Pepper, the humanoid robot by French robotics company Aldebaran Robotics, is seen at an undetermined location of Taishin International Bank (台新銀行). According to the World Bank, Taiwan has placed 15th among 190 economies in the “Doing Business 2018” rankings, down four notches from a year earlier. (CNA)

“Doing Business 2018” rankings, down four notches from a year earlier, according to the international economic organization.

Taiwan received a score of 80.07 points, up 0.41 points from a year earlier, but it still fell in the rankings after being surpassed by other countries that made progress at a faster pace, according to the report, which was issued on Tuesday.

In the Asia-Pacific region, Taiwan finished sixth for the ease of doing business, behind New Zealand (No. 1 in the world with 86.55 points), Singapore (No. 2; 84.57), South Korea (No. 4; 83.72), Hong Kong (No. 5; 83.44) and Australia (No. 14; 80.14), the report said.

The Doing Business report focuses on 10 areas to assess a country’s business environment: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency.

Among the 10 criteria in the World Bank’s report, Taiwan improved in three of them this year. It finished 55th for trading across borders, up from 68th a year ago, 10th for enforcing contracts, up from 14th, and 16th for starting a business, up three notches from last year, according to the World Bank.

The report praised Taiwan for making “exporting easier by allowing different organizations to electronically issue certificates of origins” and making “enforcing contracts easier by introducing an electronic billing system.” Taiwan performed the best in the category of getting electricity, ranking third in the world, though that was down one spot from a year earlier, according to the report.    [FULL  STORY]

Agricultural machinery show sees record attendance

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/30
By: Yeh Tze-kung and Ko Lin 

Taipei, Oct. 30 (CNA) The three-day agricultural machinery exhibition that wrapped up Monday in Yunlin County drew more than 430,000 visitors, its highest attendance ever, the county government said.

The International Agricultural Machinery and Materials Exhibition also gathered 396 local and foreign exhibitors in the county, said Yunlin County Deputy Magistrate Ting Yen-che (丁彥哲).

The event provided a great platform for local and foreign companies to showcase their latest technology and gave Yunlin the chance to present itself as a leading agricultural county in Taiwan, Ting said.

The show also served as an excellent venue for Yunlin to push for more eco-friendly agriculture, he added.    [FULL  STORY]

Uber partners with local taxi operators

FREEBIES:The company said it was providing its app to three local taxi operators free of charge for three months, adding that Taipei cabs had a 30 percent utilization rate

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 31, 2017
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

US-based ride-hailing service Uber Technologies Inc yesterday announced partnerships

Uber Asia Pacific chief business officer Brooks Entwistle, center, promotes the launch of UberTAXI, a partnership between Uber Taiwan and local taxi companies, at a news conference in Taipei yesterday, accompanied by Q Taxi chief of operations Lin Chen-lun, left, and Q Taxi CEO Hua Kuan-fu, second left, Asia Pacific Taxi Co CEO Chen Hsin-jun, right, and Crown Taxi Co CEO Wu Chun-te, second right.  Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times

with three small-scale Taipei taxi operators to set up its UberTaxi service, in its latest efforts to secure a licensed operation.

Uber Taiwan, a local arm of Uber Technologies, is transforming itself into a taxi-hailing platform from a vehicle-sharing service by collaborating with licensed cab drivers, as it faces mounting pressure from local regulators to exit Taiwan.

Since making a comeback in mid-April, Uber Taiwan has teamed up with more than 100 local car rental companies, which provide licensed drivers and cars.

“We do this in complete cooperation and working with local governments,” said Brooks Entwistle, the firm’s new chief business officer for the Asia-Pacific region, at a news conference in Taipei. “This is what we want to do and what we are doing going forward.”
[FULL  STORY]

CPC to raise fuel prices for coming week

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/29
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, Oct. 29 (CNA) State-owned oil refiner CPC Corp., Taiwan (中油)
announced Sunday that it will increase domestic gasoline and diesel prices by NT$0.2 (US$0.0066) and NT$0.1, respectively, per liter, starting at midnight.

After the adjustment, prices at CPC gas stations nationwide will be NT$23 per liter for super diesel, NT$25.3 per liter for 92 octane unleaded, NT$26.8 per liter for 95 unleaded and NT$28.8 per liter for 98 unleaded, the company said.

CPC said that international oil prices increased over the past week due to a supply drop in Iraq and major oil exporter Saudi Arabia’s declared support for an extension of an output reduction agreement between the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC producers.
[FULL  STORY]

ASE sees net profit shrink 19% in Q3

SLUGGISH PIckup:Despite lower than expected Q3 demand in the communications segment, Advanced Semiconductor Engineering expects to earn steady Q4 revenue

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 30, 2017
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, said quarter-on-quarter net profit shrank 19 percent last quarter due to a slower-than-expected pickup in the communications segment.

On a consolidated basis, net profit declined to NT$6.34 billion (US$209 million) from NT$ 7.85 billion in the second quarter, ASE said.

Gross margin inched up to 18.7 percent form 18.4 percent, thanks to higher factory utilization, it said.

The Kaohsiung-based company expects to see a steady fourth-quarter as revenue and gross margin from its core chip testing and packaging businesses are to retain last quarter’s levels. The core business revenue grew 7 percent to NT$41.85 billion last quarter, while gross margin improved to 25.1 percent from 23.1 percent.    [FULL  STORY]

Manufacturing sector output estimated to grow over 3% in 2018: IEK

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/28
By: Huang Ya-chuan and Frances Huang

Taipei, Oct. 28 (CNA) Production value of the local manufacturing sector is

CNA file photo

expected to grow more than 3 percent in 2018, marking the second consecutive year in which the sector’s output has moved higher, according to the Industrial Economics and Knowledge Center (IEK).

The IEK, which is under the government-sponsored Industrial Technology Research Institute, said that output of the local manufacturing sector is estimated to total NT$18.15 trillion (US$599 billion) in 2018, up 3.25 percent from 2017.

The expected growth for 2018 follows another IEK expectation that Taiwan’s manufacturing sector will see its output growing 4.04 percent year-on-year in 2017, an upgrade of 0.17 percentage points from the research group’s earlier estimate, the IEK said.    [FULL  STORY]

TSMC, financial firms close up as wider marker dips

CURRENCY WINDFALL:The strength of the greenback and an upward swing on Wall Street after solid US corporate earnings pushed up major markets across Asia

Taipei Times
Date: Oct 29, 2017
By: Staff writer, with CNA and AFP

Shares in Taiwan on Friday closed lower after investors locked in gains amid concerns that a move by the European Central Bank (ECB) to cut their purchases of bonds in half will hurt foreign fund flows, dealers said.

Selling in the stock market focused on many large-cap electronics stocks, although Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished in positive territory, but the financial sector was resilient, keeping the broader market from falling further, they said.

The TAIEX on Friday closed down 25.65 points, or 0.24 percent, at 10,709.11, after moving between 10,701.08 and 10,803.60 on turnover of NT$146.37 billion (US$4.83 billion). That was a decrease of 0.18 percent from a close of 10,728.88 on Oct. 20.

The market on Friday opened up 0.21 percent and moved higher to breach the 10,800-point mark midway through the morning as investors responded to a 0.31 percent increase in the Dow Jones Industrial Average and a 0.13 percent rise in the S&P 500 overnight on strong corporate earnings, dealers said.
[FULL  STORY]

Morris Chang, Terry Gou and Luis Ko top dream employers for Taiwan grads

New Taiwanese graduates admire the three business leaders for their management philosophies and achievements

Taiwan News 
Date: 2017/10/24
By: Matthew Strong, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (台積電) founder

Hon Hai Precision Industry Chairman Terry Gou.

Morris Chang (張忠謀), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (鴻海精密) founder Terry Gou (郭台銘) and I-Mei Foods Co. (義美食品) CEO Luis Ko (高志明) are the favorite employers of Taiwan graduates, a survey by 1111 Job Bank found.

When asked by the survey which business manager the new graduates were most interested in working for, almost half picked Chang, who just celebrated the 30th anniversary of his company Monday but who is retiring next year. He received 47.8 percent of the votes.

Gou, whose company is one of the top suppliers of products for Apple Inc., came second with 29.3 percent, while Ko finished a close third with 27.2 percent of the votes. Throughout the food scandals of the past five years, I-Mei has built up the reputation of a conscientious, healthy and environment-friendly food producer.

In the distance behind Ko came Hsu Wen-lung (許文龍), founder of the Chi Mei Group (奇美集團), in fourth place with 14.3 percent, and food group Uni-President Enterprises Chairman (統一集團) Alex Lo (羅智先) in fifth place with 12.5 percent.   [FULL  STORY]

Singaporean Internet company to make investment in Taiwan

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/10/24
By: Romulo Huang

Taipei, Oct. 24 (CNA) The chief executive of a Singapore-based Internet company has

Photo courtesy of Sea Limited

confirmed that it plans to make a long-term investment in Taiwan, citing the country’s thriving Internet industry.

In a meeting with senior Taiwanese government officials, including Ho Mei-yuei (何美玥), advisor to the Presidential Office and Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫), deputy economics minister, Monday in Taipei, Nick Nash, president of Sea Limited, a leading Internet company in Southeast Asia, said that small- and medium-sized enterprises in Taiwan have a proven entrepreneurship track record.

“We are excited about committing ourselves to the market for the long run,” he said, adding that his company has hired more than 500 people in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]