Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/04/15
By: Tien Yu-pin and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 15 (CNA) Smartphone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co. (大立光) made a dramatic improvement in a 2016 corporate governance assessment of companies listed on the local main board and the over-the-counter market, according to the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).

Largan ranked in the top 36-50 percent of companies for corporate governance in 2016, jumping from the second 50 percent category a year earlier, the TWSE said.

The 2016 corporate governance assessment report covered a total of 843 firms listed on the main board and 653 listed on the OTC market and was divided into seven levels: the top 5 percent in terms of performance, 6-20 percent, 21-35 percent, 36-50 percent, 51-65 percent, 80-81 percent and 81-100 percent levels.    [FULL  STORY]

Radio Taiwan International
Date: 2017-04-14

The labor ministry says it has no plans to revise the Labor Standards

Act in June. That’s the word from Deputy Labor Minister Lin San-quei on Friday. Lin was speaking with representatives of business and industrial groups.

An amendment to the 1984 Labor Standards Act went into effect in December and has received a mixed response. The amendment is aimed at protecting labor rights by giving employees more overtime pay, longer vacations and two days off a week. However, the government has come under fire from employers and workers as well. That’s because some rules are hard to carry out and do not necessarily benefit staff.

Lin defended the government’s policy by saying that the labor ministry will give the public a clearer understanding of the amendment.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2017/04/14
By: Han Ting-ting and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 14 (CNA) A U.S.-based brokerage has raised its target price for shares of Taiwanese smartphone camera lens supplier Largan Precision Co. (大立光) to NT$6,060 (US$199), the highest level among the foreign securities houses that track the stock, after the manufacturer reported a new gross margin high for the first quarter of this year.

In a research note released on Friday, the U.S. brokerage said it expects Largan shares to challenge NT$6,060, an upgrade from an earlier estimate of NT$6,000, on the back of a higher-than- expected gross margin of 70.9 percent for the January-March period.

In an investor conference held a day earlier, Largan said that the first quarter’s gross margin — the difference between revenue and cost of goods sold — improved from the previous quarter’s 70.72 percent.    [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: April 15, 2017
By: CNA

TAIPEI — Taiwan-based smartscooter maker Gogoro Inc. unveiled plans Friday to

expand its network of battery-swapping stations into the country’s western regions, after installing 19 new stations in Kaohsiung and Tainan earlier this year.

In the second quarter of the year, Gogoro will set up stations for

the first time in Pingtung

County’s Donggang Township, downtown Pingtung, Nantou

County’s Caotun Township, downtown Nantou, and Changhua County’s Yunlin Township, said Alan Pan (潘璟倫), the company’s vice president for energy service.
[FULL  STORY]

Uber’s returns to Taiwan using its app for rental car businesses to connect with customers after talks with MOTC

Taiwan News
Date: 2017/04/13
By: Judy Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Reporter

TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—Uber announced its return to the Taiwan market with a new

business model, where it will take a step back as a technology company providing an app platform for local rental car businesses to connect with potential customers, said the company’s Asia regional general manager Michael Brown, Thursday.

The new business model and updated app launched today deconstructs Uber’s traditional operation structure, and will only be available in Taipei for the time being.
Uber encouraged reporters at the press conference to take photos with their logos and share the message of their return to Taiwan on social media platforms. (Taiwan News)

Previously, the company would directly manage and assign independent drivers to pick up passengers at designated locations, but under the new model in Taiwan management of drivers will be handed over to partnering local rental car businesses or taxi franchises.
[FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: April 14, 2017
By: Christine Choum

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract

chipmaker, said Thursday it was still location-hunting for its NT$500 billion 3-nanometer (nm) chip fab.

At a shareholder meeting, TSMC Co-CEO C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said the company was still considering all possibilities but added that setting up the fab in the U.S. was “still not a very optimal option.”

Wei was addressing news reports that the company had been considering building its most advanced plant yet in the U.S. rather than in Taiwan — a rumor that sent government officials scrambling for verification.

Technology Minister Chen Liang-gee (陳良基) later denied the report, saying TSMC management told him there were no plans to build the plant in the U.S.   [FULL  STORY]