Business and Finance

Taiwan shares end down 0.61%, remain above 10,000 points

The China Post
Date: May 31, 2017
By: CNA

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Shares in Taiwan closed lower but remained above the 10,000-point mark on Wednesday as the market resumed trading following the four-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday.

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange ended the day down 61.23 points, or 0.61 percent, at 10,040.72 before moving between 10,025.88 and 10,116.13 on turnover of NT$122.579 billion (US$4.06 billion).

The market opened down 6 points at 10,095.95 on thin turnover amid sluggish trading in the bellwether electronics sector as investors expressed concern over the outlook for the economy, but the main index then rose before pulling back from a session high and into negative territory.

Shares in Taiwan moved higher for four consecutive sessions last week to remain above the 10,000-point mark, before edging lower last Friday ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday.    [FULL  STORY]

Banks report NT$1.72bn profits from Southbound countries

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-05-30

Taiwanese banks have reported a combined NT$1.72 billion (US$57 million) in first quarter profits from countries covered under the government’s New Southbound policy. That’s according to figures released by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) on Tuesday.

The New Southbound policy aims to create closer ties with the countries of South and Southeast Asia as well as Australia and New Zealand. The FSC has worked to promote closer financial links with these countries.

Earlier in the year, the FSC gave Taiwanese banks permission to set up branches and offices at ten places in target countries. It has also increased financing, guarantees, and insurance for banks already active in these areas. At the same time, it is encouraging banks to expand credit for Taiwanese companies that do business in New Southbound policy countries and for locally-based Taiwanese businesspeople.

The additional revenue from countries covered under the New Southbound policy has made the first quarter the most profitable for banks since the government rolled out the policy last year.    [SOURCE]

Why has IoT gained traction over the last six years?

Andy Rhodes from Dell notes four key technology developments that propelled IoT trends.

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/05/30
By: Judy Lin,Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)— For the non-tech savvy population, it might appear as if the

A concept image of Internet of Things. (Courtesy of Pixabay user Jeferrb)

term Internet of Things (IoT) popped out of nowhere in recent years, and nearly every company is advocating that its product has caught onto the latest technology trend. But why now?

IoT is not a new technology terminology, in fact, it has been around for 18 years, said Dell IoT President Andy Rhodes during the “Future Technology Trends” forum on Tuesday.

Kevin Ashton, a British man working for Procter & Gamble became the first to coin the term IoT in 1999, but the term only gained stardom in the technology industry over the last six years.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan banks’ overseas earnings boosted by New Southbound policy

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/05/30
By: Tsai Yi-chu and Frances Huang

Taipei, May 30 (CNA) Overseas earnings of Taiwanese banks got a boost from the government’s New Southbound policy, seeing their first-quarter incomes raked in from the countries covered by the policy hitting a new high since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office on May 20, 2016, according to data released Tuesday by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC).

In the first quarter, banks’ earnings posted in the countries targeted by the policy hit the highest level of NT$1.72 billion (US$56.95 million) since the policy was unveiled.

The initiative aims to forge closer economic ties with the 10 nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), along with South Asia, Australia and New Zealand, to lower economic dependence on China by diversifying investment and trade.    [FULL  STORY]

CEO says Acer to focus on VR, gaming

FAST-GROWING BUSINESS:The company did not disclose exact figures, but it said that shipments of its gaming PCs last year jumped an annual 64 percent

Taipei Times
Date: May 31, 2017
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Taiwanese PC vendor Acer Inc (宏碁) plans to focus on developing gaming PCs and commercial virtual-reality (VR) applications in the next few years, a top executive said yesterday.

“The priority of Acer’s corporate transformation is clear. We want to gradually shift our focus from PCs to gaming PCs, commercial VR and artificial intelligence [AI] in the coming years,” Acer chief executive officer Jason Chen (陳俊聖) told reporters at the company’s booth at the Computex Taipei fair in the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center.

It is important for Acer to build stronger computing power and accumulate experience before taking the next step, Chen said, adding that gaming is a fast-growing business for the company.

The firm has been allocating research and development (R&D) resources on increasing the performance of its gaming products — such as raising the quality of cooling systems — in a bid to increase its popularity among gamers.
{FULL  STORY]

Cigarette tax to increase by NT$20 per pack on June 12

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-05-29

Smokers will soon be paying more for their cigarettes in Taiwan. That’s after the

legislature increased cigarette taxes to help pay for a nationwide long-term health care plan that was rolled out in January.

The new tax, set to go into effect on June 12, will increase the price per pack by NT$20 (about US$0.66). The finance ministry says this will bring in NT$23.3 billion (more than US$770 million) in revenues that can help build the nation’s long-term care infrastructure. Changes to the inheritance tax will bring in another NT$6.3 billion (nearly US$210 million) to help fund the plan.

Finance Minister Sheu Yu-jer said Monday that although the tax increase will begin on June 12, it could be late June by the time that the more expensive cigarettes hit the shelves. He addressed concerns about the possibility of stockpiling, saying that cigarettes only stay fresh for half a year, and companies may be put off by the costs associated with storing cigarettes.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan entrepreneur taps into booming Chinese drone market

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/05/29
By: Central News Agency

Eyeing China’s fast-growing drone industry, Feng Po (馮渤), a Taiwanese industry leader, is seeking opportunities for business cooperation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait with the aim of helping Taiwanese companies to develop and promote their own unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) businesses.

Currently, about 30 percent of spare parts and components used by a Chinese drone maker — Shenzhen-based Da-Jiang Innovations (DJI) Technology Co., which accounts for 52 percent of the global consumer drone market — are sourced from Taiwan, according to Feng, who founded Taiwan UAS Development Association (TWUAS) in May last year and is now its president.

Feng, an operator in the Internet app and mobile phone industries who moved to China in 2000 and has lived in Beijing for 15 years, said he has been exploring opportunities in China for Taiwanese businesses and is familiar with the businesses and industries across the strait.    [FULL  STORY]

EPA drafts subsidy plan to phase out older diesel trucks

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/05/29
By: Wu Hsin-yun and Ko Lin

Taipei, May 29 (CNA) The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) has drafted

(CNA file photo)

a plan to use subsidies to phase out one of the country’s major mobile air pollution sources — older diesel trucks — from public roads in Taiwan.

The plan, once finalized, would give private diesel truck owners up to NT$400,000 (US$13,285) if they agree to have their old trucks scrapped and terminated.

The subsidy program would target Category 1 diesel trucks, manufactured prior to June 30, 1993, and Category 2 diesel trucks produced between July 1, 1993 and June 30, 1999.

Owners who apply to have their Category 1 trucks terminated prior to December 10, 2018 are entitled to a subsidy of between NT$50,000 and NT$300,000, while Category 2 vehicle owners would get NT$100,000 to NT$400,000.    [FULL  STORY]

Asustek disappoints with no ZenFone 4

GAME FACE:The company’s operations are expected to rebound next quarter, supported by its new notebooks and Republic of Games branded hardware

Taipei Times
Date: May 30, 2017
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday introduced new notebook computers, but not its promised new ZenFone 4 series, casting a cloud on the outlook for its smartphone business this year.

“We will host a product event for ZenFone 4 sometime in June,” Asustek chief financial officer and spokesman Nick Wu (吳長榮) told reporters after a pre-show news conference in Taipei, ahead of the opening of Computex Taipei today.

Asustek CEO Jerry Shen (沈振來) on May 11 said the company would introduce its latest ZenFone 4 series during the pre-show conference and would start shipping the new models next month at the earliest.

It was not the first time Asustek has delayed the introduction of its flagship ZenFone 4.    [FULL  STORY]

Young Chinese in the red as easy credit drives debt

Taipei Times
Date: May 29, 2017
By: AFP, BEIJING

When Wu Qi and her husband traded in their Mazda 3 for a more

Charlie Liu poses on Saturday in her apartment in Beijing, China. Photo: AFP

expensive Mercedes Benz sedan, they applied for a 200,000 yuan (US$29,173) bank loan to help pay for it.

They got the money in minutes.

Quick and easy access to credit has encouraged many young Chinese to go into the red to buy cars and apartments they could not otherwise afford.

They are the faces of China’s growing addiction to debt, which along with government and corporate borrowing, has raised fears of a looming crisis and prompted ratings agency Moody’s Investors’ Service to slash the nation’s credit score last week for the first time in nearly three decades.    [FULL  STORY]