INCENTIVES:A lack of new ‘green’ policies in Europe and the US, and uncertainty about China’s energy policy is likely to see the photovoltaics downtrend continue, analysts said

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 13, 2016
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

Prices of solar cells last week continued to spiral to approach cost-level and the decline is expected to accelerate due to a supply glut, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said.

TrendForce attributed the slump to sagging demand amid uncertainty about Beijing’s new “green” energy policy and subsidy measures, the Taipei-based researcher said in a statement released on Tuesday last week.

Demand from the US and Europe are likely to be lukewarm as no new subsidy programs are available to drive solar system installations, the researcher said.

Solar power companies are expected to take a wait-and-see approach to placing new orders for next quarter, given the current price downtrend, it said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date; 2016/06/11
By: Huang Chiao-wen and Frances Huang

Taipei, June 11 (CNA) The local service sector remained weak in April, with an index that gauges the climate of the sector pointing to a slowdown, as exports continued to falter amid slow global demand, according to the Commerce Development Research Institute (CDRI).

In its most recent monthly report, the think tank said the index of service industry (ISI) stood at 95 points, down three points from a month earlier, flashing a “yellow-blue” light for the third consecutive month.

The CDRI attributed the yellow-blue light in April to a poor export performance, a drop in the number of Chinese tourists to Taiwan, and the approach of the tax season, which usually affects domestic consumption as people try to keep some cash in hand.

The CDRI uses a five-color coded system, coupled with the ISI, to describe the climate of the local service sector, focusing on three major segments — securities trading, the labor market and wages, and business operations.     [FULL  STORY]

METICULOUS:It would be crucial for Netflix to collaborate with Taiwanese system-on-a-chip suppliers, as they pay more attention to smart TV chips, a company officer said

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 11, 2016
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

The US’ biggest online video-on-demand provider Netflix Inc said it is collaborating with Taiwanese chipmakers, including MediaTek Inc (聯發科), to develop smart TV chips.

The partnership with local firms to produce ultra-high-definition videos is part of the “Netflix Recommended TV” program, which was launched in the US last year and is to be extended globally this year to help consumers identify TVs that offer better performance.

“With smart TVs gaining traction, consumers prefer to stream Netflix’s ultra-high-definition 4K and high-dynamic-range videos on larger screens [TVs, over mobile phones and PCs],” Netflix international development officer Greg Peters said in a statement on Tuesday.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-10
By: Central News Agency

Revenue generated from personal income taxes for 2015 rose more than 20 percent from a year earlier partly due to measures that increased the tax burdens of stockholders and high income earners, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Friday.

Citing preliminary statistics, the ministry said revenue from personal income taxes on 2015 income totaled NT$143.24 billion (US$4.43 billion), up NT$25.2 billion, or 21.37 percent, from a year earlier.

One of the two tax measures that took effect on income earned in 2015 was an increase in the highest marginal income tax rate to 45 percent from 40 percent, assessed on taxable income above NT$10 million a year.

The previous government under President Ma Ying-jeou made the move to narrow a widening wealth gap in Taiwan, and an estimated 9,500 taxpayers were expected to be subject to the higher tax rate in 2015.     [FULL  STORY]

PESSIMISTIC VIEW:The findings reflect a bleak sentiment about the economic outlook and cross-strait relations, JPMorgan Taiwan vice president Alex Chio said

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 11, 2016
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

The nation’s investor confidence fell to a record low this quarter, lower than the level during the 2008 global financial crisis, as unease intensified over the economy, cross-strait relations and capital markets, a survey by JPMorgan Asset Management Taiwan Ltd (摩根資產管理) showed.

The investor confidence gauge compiled by the local unit of the US fund house fell to 80.1 this quarter, down 5.7 points from the previous poll conducted in January and lower than the 81.8 points recorded in 2008, as local investors grew pessimistic about the political and economic scene at home, the survey said.

“The findings reflect a bleak sentiment about the economic outlook and cross-strait relations,” JPMorgan Taiwan vice president Alex Chio (邱亮士) said.     [FULL  STORY]

STRONG PERFORMANCE:Inventec Corp said it is expecting strong shipments this month as one of its clients is set to introduce its first-ever notebook, without specifying the client

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

Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), the world’s largest contract notebook computer maker, has revised upward its shipment guidance for this quarter, after seeing stronger-than-expected shipments last month.

“We previously estimated that this quarter’s notebook shipments would grow about 10 percent from last quarter’s [8.4 million units]. Now we think shipments are likely to grow 20 percent quarter-on-quarter,” a Quanta investor relations official said by telephone on Wednesday.

The notebook computer business accounted for about 50 percent of Quanta’s total revenue last quarter, while other products such as cloud servers, all-in-one PCs, tablets and wearable devices accounted for the other 50 percent.

The official said notebook shipments jumped 27.58 percent to 3.7 million units last month from a month earlier.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-06-09
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, June 9 (CNA) Budget carrier Tigerair Taiwan, a joint venture between Taiwan’s China Airlines (CAL) and Singapore’s Tiger Airways, said Thursday that it has been offering deep discounts to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival. Between noon and 2 p.m. Thursday and Friday, consumers are able to log onto Tigerair’s website to book the super-cheap one-way tickets, which will cover all of the Tigerair Taiwan destinations, the carrier said.

The tickets sold during the promotion will be valid between June 9 and Sept. 11, Tigerair said.

Currently, Tigerair flies to a total of 13 destinations in the region, most of which are in Japan, including Tokyo, Sendai, Nagoya, Osaka, Fukuoka and Okinawa. Starting from July 14, the carrier will start offering three round-trip flights to Okayama, located in western Honshu, bringing the number of Japanese destinations to nine.

In addition to Japan, Tigerair also provides services to Daegu in South Korea, Zhangjiajie in China, Macau, and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia’s Sabah, as well as Bangkok and Singapore.     [FULL  STORY]

QUITE A PROPOSAL:Hon Hai is to soon decide on whether to approve a cash dividend, which would see distribution of NT$62.55bn in its biggest-ever payout

Taipei Times
Date: Jun 10, 2016
By: Staff writer, with CNA

Slow season effects are expected to continue affecting Hon Hai Precision Industry Co’s (鴻海精密) shipments in the second quarter of this year, analysts said yesterday.

Hon Hai, the world’s largest contract electronics maker, could see its revenue for the April-to-June period fall below the NT$957.9 billion (US$29.73 billion) it recorded in the first quarter by a single-digit percentage, they said.

The analysts’ remarks came after Hon Hai on Wednesday reported weaker sales for last month, as the lingering slow season effects put a dent in the firm’s shipments of consumer electronics devices, although shipments of computing and communications devices remained little changed.

Consolidated sales declined 8.37 percent to NT$295.41 billion from the previous month and fell 2.05 percent from the previous year, the assembler of iPhones and iPads for Apple Inc said in a statement.     [FULL  STORY]