CHIP CHANGE:Asustek this year switched most of its smartphone internal hardware to Qualcomm chips, which has seen demand for the company’s handsets increase

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 04, 2016
By: Lauly Li / Staff reporter

HTC Corp’s (宏達電) smartphone shipments are this year expected to underperform Asustek Computer Inc’s (華碩) for the second consecutive year, which hardly makes HTC a major smartphone brand in the global market, analysts said.

Market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) last week forecast that Asustek’s smartphone shipments would grow 34 percent annually to 21.5 million this year, while HTC’s shipments could drop 27 percent year-on-year to 13 million units.

“We project shipments of HTC’s flagship model M10 will only be about 1 million this year… It is highly unlikely that HTC will be able to regain its past glory as a major brand in the market,” TrendForce analyst Avril Wu (吳雅婷) said in a report released on Thursday.

Asustek has become the leading Taiwanese smartphone brand, mainly because of its low-priced, high-performance handsets, Wu said.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-07-02
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, the most closely watched property market in Taiwan, took the lead over the other five special municipalities in the country in terms of residential and commercial housing transactions in June, according to statistics compiled by property sales agencies.

Citing the data, Tseng Ching-der (曾敬德), a research manager with Sinyi Realty Inc. (信義房屋), said that transactions of homes, shops and offices in Taipei for June rose 10.31 percent from a month earlier to 2,023 units, the highest monthly level so far this year, compared with a 3-9.83 percent month-on-month decline recorded in the five other major cities.

The five other special municipalities are New Taipei, Taoyuan in the north, Taichung in central Taiwan, and Tainan and Kaohsiung in the south.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/07/02
By: Tien Yu-pin and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 2 (CNA) The Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) has unveiled stewardship principles for institutional investors in a bid to boost the quality of the local capital market and raise shareholders’ value.

The stewardship principles designated for institutional investors came at a time when institutional investors have played a more important role in the local equity market by accounting for a higher share in turnover in the equities market here, the TWSE said.

Stewardship responsibility for institutional investors will require these investors to pay close attention to the operations of the listed companies they have invested in and attend the invested firms’ annual general meetings to cast a vote as a shareholder, the TWSE said.     [FULL  STORY]

The China Post
Date: July 3, 2016
By: CNA

TAIPEI — The average daily turnover of the local equity market for the first five months of this year fell more than 14 percent from a year earlier with many local major market players retreating from the trading floor, according to the government’s statistics.

Citing the data, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said that the combined average daily turnover of the local main board and the over-the-counter (OTC) market for the five-month period fell 14.2 percent from a year earlier to NT$96 billion (US$2.98 billion).

The statistics came in line with the data released recently by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) which said that only 530 major players participated in the local market in the first quarter of this year, down from 547 during the same period last year and the fewest in seven years, the FSC data showed.

A “major player” is defined in Taiwan as an investor who trades at least NT$500 million in shares in a single quarter, and their numbers serve as an important indicator of investor confidence in the country’s capital market.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-07-01
By: Central News Agency

The weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange opened at 8,692.48 today. After moving between 8,680.53 and 8,755.62, the index closed at 8,738.24 points, up 71.66. Turnover totaled NT$86.13 billion.

The weighted index, excluding the financial sector, closed at 7,460.74 points, up 67.15.

A total of 2,730 stocks closed up, and 2,449 ended down with 449 unchanged. The top 10 stocks in terms of trading volume were 00632R, 2409, 3481, 3474, 00637L, 2448, 2330, 00633L, 2498 and 2891.

The top 10 stocks in terms of trading value were 2330, 00632R, 2454, 2498, 2317, 0050, 3474, 2412, 2409 and 3008.

The top 10 stocks in terms of market capitalization were 2330, 2317, 2412, 6505, 1301, 1303, 1326, 2882, 2308 and 3008.     [FULL  STORY]

ACTING ON EXPECTATIONS:The rate of expansion last month was moderate. A report said the continued decline in the new orders sub-index shows the need for caution

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 02, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The Nikkei Taiwan Manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rebounded to 50.0 last month from 48.5 the previous month, signaling a marginal improvement in overall operating conditions due to better client demand expectations.

Purchasing activity rose slightly as companies increased production amid expectations of improving client demand, the monthly survey sponsored by the Japanese media organization showed.

“Driving the PMI higher was the first expansion of industrial output in three months, alongside a slightly faster pace of job creation, suggesting firms have become more optimistic towards their business outlook,” said Annabel Fiddes, London-based economist at Markit, a financial information services company that complies the survey.

PMI surveys aim to gauge the health of the manufacturing industry, with figures larger than 50 indicating expansion and values below the neutral mark suggesting contraction.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-30
By: Central News Agency

Chu Tzer-ming, Minister of the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), said Thursday that Taiwan’s economy is likely to return to growth in the second quarter of the year.

“The DGBAS’s forecast of a 0.48 percent growth target for the second quarter could be achieved,” taking into account the existing factors that affect the local economy, Chu said in a legislative hearing.

In late May, the DGBAS reported that Taiwan’s economy contracted 0.68 percent in the first quarter, the third consecutive year-on-year drop.

However, the DGBAS also forecast at the time that Taiwan’s GDP will grow 0.48 percent in the second quarter, 1.97 percent in the third quarter, and 2.37 percent in the fourth quarter.     [FULL  STORY]