Business and Finance

IT Month in Taipei attracts 950,000 visitors

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/11
By: Jalen Chung and Frances Huang

Taipei, Dec. 11 (CNA) The nine-day 2016 IT Month, one of Taiwan’s largest 3C product exhibitions, ending in Taipei on Sunday, attracted about 950,000 visitors, little changed from a year earlier, according to the organizer Taipei Computer Association (TCA, 台北市電腦公會).

The TCA said that the high number of visitors to the 3C trade fair showed that consumers here remained highly interested in electronics gadgets with buying focusing on notebook computers and PC peripheral products.

After the trade show ended in Taipei, the IT Month will continue in Taichung during Dec. 16-21, in Kaohsiung during Dec. 29-Jan. 3, 2017, and in Tainan during Jan. 6, 2017-Jan. 11, 2017, which is expected to spark further buying in high-tech devices provided by international brands, the organizer said.

The TCA said that notebook computers became the most popular products in the Taipei event as consumers turned more interested in gaming PCs and mid- to high-end models to boost sales.    [FULL  STORY]

Central bank bullish in face of Fed rise

COMPETITIVE DEVALUATION?The Ministry of Economic Affairs said it is to keep a close watch on currencies in the region, and advised exporters to prepare for currency volatility

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 12, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

The central bank is confident it can keep the New Taiwan dollar stable even if the US Federal Reserve raises its key interest rates at a meeting scheduled for tomorrow and Wednesday.

The bank said yesterday that a stronger US dollar resulting from a rate hike by the Fed has more or less been factored in by global financial markets, but it would monitor the markets’ response to the Fed’s decision.

While the value of the NT dollar is determined by the market, the bank said it is capable of maintaining the stability of the currency.

On Friday, the NT dollar closed at NT$31.86 against the US dollar, marking a 1.57 percent drop since the beginning of October, as foreign investors continued to repatriate funds based on the strength of the greenback.    [FULL  STORY]

TSMC November sales hit 2nd-highest level

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/09
By: Jackson Chang, Huang Li-yun and Frances Huang

Taipei, Dec. 9 (CNA) Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chip maker, said that its sales for November hit the second-largest level in the company’s history, with market analysts attributing the strong data to solid global smartphone demand.

In a statement, TSMC said that it posted NT$93.03 billion (US$2.92 billion) in consolidated sales in November, up 2.1 percent from a month earlier, to rank second-highest, behind only NT$94.31 billion recorded in August.

On the back of strong global demand for smartphones, in particular high-end models, TSMC’s November sales rose 46.7 percent from a year earlier, the company data shows.

In addition to the solid high-end smartphone sales, analysts said, TSMC has also benefited from an increase in orders placed by Chinese smartphone vendors during the month, which pushed its sales higher.    [FULL  STORY]

Tax revenue to exceed target: MOF

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 10, 2016
By: Kuo Chia-erh / Staff reporter

Total tax revenue from January through last month rose 4.6 percent year-on-year to NT$2.86 trillion (US$89.8 billion), after last month’s tax revenue rose 9.4 percent year-on-year to NT$207.1 billion, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said yesterday.

“The result was due to higher revenue from taxes on business income and land,” Statistics Department Deputy Director Hsu Ray-lin (許瑞琳) told a news conference in Taipei.

Business income tax revenue climbed 10.1 percent from a year earlier to a record NT$500.9 billion in the first 11 months of the year, thanks to increasing tax revenue from corporations’ undistributed earnings.

During the same period, land tax revenue jumped 34.1 percent to NT$54.7 billion because of higher government assessed land values, the ministry said.    [FULL  STORY]

Hon Hai November sales hit high for this year

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/09
By: Jalen Chung and Frances Huang

Taipei, Dec. 9 (CNA) Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (鴻海), a major assembler of iPhones and iPads for Apple Inc., said Friday that its sales in November hit a high for this year, but marked a more than 7 percent drop compared to last year.

In a statement, Hon Hai said it posted NT$480.67 billion (US15.12 billion) in consolidated sales in November, up 1.85 percent from a month earlier, but down 7.12 percent from a year earlier.

Analysts said that Hon Hai has benefited from the debut of the 4.7-inch iPhone 7 and 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus, which went on global sale in September, although the latest iPhone models failed to top its predecessors launched last year in terms of sales.

The slump compared to last year was due largely to a global slowdown in consumer purchases of information communications technology products as many users feel satisfied with the quantity and quality of the computers and smartphones they already have.    [FULL  STORY]

Inventec shuttering all-in-one PC unit

FALLING BUSINESS:The company plans to dissolve and liquidate TPV-Inventa after completing its resources and employee reallocation next year, a spokesman said

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 10, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Contract electronics maker Inventec Corp (英業達) is laying off employees at its all-in-one (AIO) computer subsidiary TPV-Inventa Technology Co Ltd (英冠達) and plans to close the subsidiary next year at the earliest, following a drastic decline in orders, a company executive confirmed yesterday.

“We are downsizing at TPV-Inventa and moving all of its operations to Inventec,” Inventec spokesman Yu Chin-pao (游進寶) said by telephone.

Yu’s remarks came after the Chinese-language Apple Daily reported that Inventec is laying off 39 of its 59 remaining staff at TPV-Inventa before the end of this year, leaving only 20 employees at the unit’s financial department to settle the company’s accounts.

The report quoted a former employee, who was recently dismissed by the company, as saying that TPV-Inventa had more than 300 employees at the beginning of last year, but Inventec reallocated 60 of the firm’s headcount to other business units and began laying off workers in the second half of last year.    [FULL  STORY]

E Ink to expand into ‘smart’ tags for retail market

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 09, 2016
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

E Ink Holdings Inc (元太科技), which supplies e-paper displays for Rakuten Kobo Inc’s e-reader series, expects shipments of its “smart” tags to grow as fast as 30 percent annually next year, as more US and Chinese retailers are to use its e-tags for shelf labels.

E-paper displays used in e-tags for luggage and retailers shelf labels are to become the company’s growth drivers in the next few years, as E Ink is exiting the LCD market and needs a new source of revenue, it said.

From next year, all revenue is expected to come from e-paper displays, with 70 percent used in e-readers and 30 percent used in e-tags, wearable devices, mobile phones and digital signage, the company said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan farm industry seeks to appeal to young generation

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/12/08
By: Yang Shu-min and Frances Huang

Taipei, Dec. 8 (CNA) In a bid to rejuvenate the aging agricultural sector the government is planning to

Council of Agriculture (COA) head Tsao Chi-hung (曹啟鴻)

appeal to young people, Council of Agriculture (COA) Minister Tsao Chi-hung (曹啟鴻) said on Thursday.

Over the next 10 years, Tsao said, Taiwan wants to encourage 30,000 young people to enter the sector. In 2017, the first year of the 10-year plan, the government wants 3,000 young people to become involved in agricultural businesses.

In a report submitted to the Executive Yuan, the COA said the average age of workers in local agriculture is now 62, indicating that the sector is aging and needs to attract young blood to reverse the situation.

Tsao said that the move to encourage young people to take an interest in agriculture is expected to create more job opportunities and improve the local job market.    [FULL  STORY]

Paktor buys major stake in 17 Media

INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT:The live streaming and photo-sharing app offers its users up to US$100 in company shares if they can meet live audience targets

Taipei Times
Date: Dec 09, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

Taiwanese start-up 17 Media (17 直播), a photo-sharing and live streaming app that has more than 15 million users worldwide, yesterday said it had sold an unspecified controlling stake to Singapore-based dating app operator Paktor Group (拍拖) to expand its presence in Asia.

The investment marked the second cash injection into 17 Media this year, after the firm in May received 150 million yuan (US$21.8 million) from China’s LeTV Sports Culture Develop Venture Capital (樂視體育創投).

“The agreement with Paktor enables 17 Media to gain access to a platform with a large and growing consumer base within the Singapore-based company,” 17 Media founder Jeff Huang (黃立成) said in a joint news statement.    [FULL  STORY]

Hon Hai to make Sharp’s new touchscreen display

The China Post
Date: December 9, 2016
By: The China Post news staff

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn, is set to assemble subsidiary Sharp’s upcoming product, 40-inch touch screen displays, according to reports by Nikkei Asian Review on Thursday.

The report said Sharp has announced it will launch its 40-inch monitors next February, a product it said was developed in cooperation with Hon Hai. It said the parent company is in charge of production and cost control, and products will be made in Hon Hai’s factories in mainland China.

The product could be used as display monitors for electronic white boards.

Analysts believe there will be a synergy effect between the two companies, predicting the new touch screen product will be sold a price lower than 200,000 yen (US$1,764).    [FULL  STORY]