Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-04
By: Central News Agency

Households in the bottom 20 percent of the five income quintiles in Taiwan were not able to make ends meet in 2015, with the gap between their disposable income and consumption expenditure reaching an average NT$19,224 (US$607) that year, according to government statistics.

The average disposable income of the lowest 20 percent quintile was NT$320,312 last year, while its final consumption expenditure reached NT$339,536 on average, according to the data released by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) Aug. 19.

The figures show that each of the lowest 20 percent had a deficit of NT$19,244 for the year.

The “minus saving” condition first appeared in 2007, when the disposable income of the lowest 20 percent was NT$312,145, while its final consumption expenditure stood at NT$313,309, posing a deficit of NT$1,164 in income over expenditure, DGBAS data shows.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/09/05
By: Frances Huang

Taipei, Sept. 5 (CNA) The U.S. dollar was traded at NT$31.622 at 9:45 a.m. Monday on the Taipei Foreign Exchange, down NT$0.081 from the previous close.      [SOURCE]

FLAIR:Zentel ‘is good at developing niche memory chips for consumer electronics, networking devices and computer-related devices,’ AP Memory’s Brian Hsieh said

Taipeik Times
Date: Sep 05, 2016
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

Memorychip designer AP Memory Technology Corp (愛普科技) said it is to launch a NT$985 million (US$31.07 million) cash takeover bid for local rival Zentel Electronics Corp (力積電子) to expand into the Internet of Things (IoT) market.

The offer is the latest in a slew of mergers and acquisitions in the nation’s semiconductor industry, topped by a NT$128.7 billion acquisition bid by Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體) to absorb rival Siliconware Precision Industry Co (SPIL, 矽品精密).

AWAITING APPROVAL

ASE, the world’s largest chip tester and packager, is awaiting the approval of fair-trade authorities around the world before it can proceed with the transaction.

“AP Memory focuses on developing memory chips used in communications electronics, while Zentel has been good at developing niche memory chips for consumer electronics, networking devices and computer-related devices,” AP Memory chairman Brian Hsieh (謝再居) told a media briefing on Friday night.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: September 5, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI — The Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has scheduled a quarterly policymaking meeting for Sept. 29 to decide whether it will continue to cut its key interest rates.

Since September 2015, the central bank has launched a rate cut cycle. In a quarterly policymaking meeting held in late June, the bank cut interest rates by 0.125 percentage points, making the fourth consecutive quarter for a rate reduction, to bolster the local economy.

After the latest rate cut, the discount rate now stands at 1.375 percent, the rate of accommodations with collateral at 1.750 percent, and the rate of accommodations without collateral at 3.625 percent.

The current discount rate only trails a historic low of 1.250 percent seen in 2009, when a global financial crisis hit the local economy badly, prompting the central bank to significantly ease its monetary policy and push down interest rates.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-03
By: Sophia Yang, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Samsung Electronics has issued a global recall of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone over 35 reported cases of an exploding battery cell worldwide.

Samsung Taiwan announced on Friday to recall the problematic Note 7 and replace it with a new one unconditionally between mid-September and December 31, 2016.

The exploding battery issue was first reported by South Korean news agency Yonhap in mid-August. There have been 35 cases that have been reported as of September 1, according to the company. Samsung decided a recall was best. More details about return and exchange will come out in the coming weeks on the company’s website.

However, the recall is only applicable to the Note 7 sold from its authorized dealers in Taiwan. Buyers are also required to provide the box along with a “proof of purchase” such as a receipt. If it is missing, a personal identification document or the equivalent is required to present at the point of return.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-09-02
By: Central News Agency

The U.S. dollar fell against the Taiwan dollar Friday, shedding NT$0.033 to close at NT$31.703 after the United States reported weaker manufacturing activity, hurting the greenback, dealers said.

Foreign institutional investors shifted to the buy side on Taiwan’s equity market Friday, putting further pressure on the U.S. dollar in a session that saw only moderate turnover ahead of the release of U.S. job data later in the day, they said.

The greenback opened at NT$31.723, and moved between NT$31.683 and NT$31.733 before the close. Turnover totaled US$655 million during the trading session.     [FULL  STORY]