Business and Finance

Apple ranks as top smartphone vendor in Taiwan in November

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/12/26
By: Esme Jiang and Frances Huang

Taipei, Dec. 26 (CNA) Apple Inc. took the title of the largest smartphone 201512260028t0001vendor in Taiwan in November since the U.S. consumer electronics giant unveiled its latest iPhone models, industry sources said Saturday.

On the back of the presence of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6s and 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus, Apple took a 63.4 percent share of Taiwan’s smartphone market in terms of sales value, the sources said.

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co. came in second with a 12.2 percent share in terms of sales value, ahead of Japan’s Sony Corp. with 8.3 percent, Taiwan’s HTC Corp. (宏達電) with 8.1 percent, and Asustek Computer Inc. (華碩) with 4.7 percent.     [FULL  STORY]

Luxury tax sees NT$12.5 billion in revenues from land, housing sales

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-12-25
By: Wei Shu and Elaine Hou, Central News Agency

A total of NT$12.5 billion (US$ 379.87 million) in tax revenues has been collected from land and housing transactions under the luxury tax, since it was introduced in 2011, according to government statistics released Friday.

Over the past five years, 2013 and 2014 saw higher luxury tax revenues, which recorded NT$3.6 billion and NT$3.18 billion, respectively, in tax revenues collected from land and housing transactions, the statistics showed.

The goal of the luxury tax is to cap market speculation, and it has helped stabilize the housing market, said Tseng Ching-der, a manager at Sinyi Realty Inc.’s research department.

The luxury tax will be removed next year, when a new tax will go into effect. Introduced in 2011 in an attempt to keep housing prices in check, the luxury tax levies a 15 percent sales tax on second homes sold within one year of purchase and a 10 percent tax on properties sold between one and two years after they were bought.    [FULL  STORY]

Manufacturing, services firms’ sentiment weakens: survey

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/12/25
By: Chiu Po-sheng and Frances Huang

Taipei, Dec. 25 (CNA) Taiwanese manufacturers and service providers were 201512250022t0001less optimistic in November than a month earlier about their future prospects amid a weakening global economy, a survey released by the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) showed Friday.

The TIER’s manufacturing composite index for November fell 0.06 points from a month earlier to 91.24, and the service composite index dropped 0.48 points to 80.58.

Taiwan’s economy has showed signs of weakening, hit hard by a sustained decline in exports, which account for 60-70 percent of the country’s total gross domestic product.     [FULL  STORY]

Tycoon flees to avoid conviction

TIPPED OFF:Media reports said that Chen Wu-hsiung left Taiwan for China after finding out that he would likely be sentenced to at least seven years in prison

Taipei Times
Date:  Dec 26, 2015
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

The nation’s judicial agencies came under fresh public scrutiny yesterday, as petrochemical tycoon Chen Wu-hsiung (陳武雄) reportedly fled overseas while the Supreme Court was processing a petition on his conviction for an insider trading offense.

It is the second time in the past few weeks a major white-collar crime felon eluded the law by fleeing Taiwan following the escape of convicted former prosecutor Ching Tien-po (井天博).

Chen, 73, is the founder of Taipei-based Ho Tung Chemical Corp (和桐化學) and is the honorary chairman of local manufacturing business association the Chinese National Federation of Industries. Chen is also a former chairman of the Petrochemical Industry Association of Taiwan.

He was found guilty of fraud, insider trading and manipulating the shares of the Tainan-based optoelectronic company HannsTouch Solution Inc (和鑫光電) and was sentenced to 30 months in prison by the Taiwan High Court, along with a fine of NT$2 million (US$60,596) in July.     [FULL  STORY]

Academia Sinica cuts GDP growth forecast for 2015 to 0.75% (update)

Taiwan News
Date: 2015-12-24
By: Central News Agency

Taipei, Dec. 24 (CNA) Academia Sinica, Taiwan’s top academic research institution, said Thursday that it has cut its forecast for the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) for 2015, citing poor export performance and a sluggish global economy.

The flat economic growth for the year showed the fragile nature of Taiwan’s industrial structure, which makes the country vulnerable to changes in the regional trade, said Ray Yeutien Chou, a research fellow at Academia Sinica. He predicted that 2016 will also be a tough year.

Academia Sinica said it has downgraded Taiwan’s 2015 GDP growth forecast to 0.75 percent from an earlier estimate of a 3.24 percent rise made in July, joining several other local think tanks in holding a downbeat mood for the export-oriented economy.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s 2015 housing transactions forecast at 14-year low

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/12/24
By: Wei Shu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Dec. 24 (CNA) Transactions of residential and commercial 201512240026t0001properties in Taiwan are likely to register the lowest number since 2001, a real estate agency said Thursday, citing a sluggish domestic economy and dampened sentiment toward the property market.

Chinatrust Real Estate Co. (中信房屋), one of Taiwan’s leading realtors, forecast that transactions of homes, offices and shops in Taiwan for this year will register 271,000 units, compared with 320,598 units last year.

The 2015 figure will be the lowest since 2001, when housing transactions stood at 259,494 units, the real estate agency said.

Sigurd makes offer for Test-Serv

ON THE LOOKOUT:Sigurd Microelectronics Corp chairman Sidney Huang said the company would continue to seek more M&A opportunities to accelerate its growth

Taipei Times
Date:  Dec 25, 2015
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Local chip testing and packaging service provider Sigurd Microelectronics Corp (矽格) yesterday said it would launch a tender offer to fully acquire smaller rival Test-Serv Inc (誠遠科技) in a sign of continued consolidation in the nation’s semiconductor industry.

The NT$1.4 billion (US$42.42 million) deal also marks the latest merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the chip testing and packaging sector.

Sigurd plans to buy all 80.2 million shares of Test-Serv at NT$17.5 per share, representing a 19.86 percent premium compared with the stock’s closing price of NT$14.6 yesterday.

“Sigurd believes this strategic alliance will help boost our market share, allowing the company to become the nation’s No. 1 or No. 2 player in the power management IC testing market,” Sigurd chairman Sidney Huang (黃興陽) told a media briefing.     [FULL  STORY]

Industry calls for completing cross-strait trade-in-goods talks

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/12/23
By: Huang Chiao-wen and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Dec. 23 (CNA) Taiwan’s petrochemical industry urged the

CNA file photo

CNA file photo

government Wednesday to complete negotiations and the inking of a trade-in-goods agreement with China as soon as possible, given that most of Taiwan’s plastic and chemical products are sold there.

Establishing such a cross-strait trade deal is even more vital for the industry than joining the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade pact, Chen Bao-lang (陳寶郎), chairman of the Petrochemical Industry Association of Taiwan, said at a seminar on the impact and challenges posed by the TPP to Taiwan that was organized by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and was attended by representatives from the petrochemical and plastic raw material industries.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan’s GDP growth set to top 2 percent in 2016

Taiwan Today
Date: December 23, 2015

Taiwan’s gross domestic product will increase between 2.1 percent and

Taiwan’s GDP growth target of more than 2.1 percent for 2016 is unveiled Dec. 21 by the National Development Council. (Courtesy of Ministry of Economic Affairs)

Taiwan’s GDP growth target of more than 2.1 percent for 2016 is unveiled Dec. 21 by the National Development Council. (Courtesy of Ministry of Economic Affairs)

2.7 percent in 2016, with consumer price rises capped at 2 percent and unemployment hovering between 3.7 percent and 3.9 percent, according to the National Development Council.

These macroeconomic goals are based on projections released in November by the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics, an NDC official said Dec. 21, adding that they also take into accounts various factors at home and abroad.

“While most international think tanks predict a rosier outlook for next year, uncertainties still remain that may slow the pace of recovery in major economies,” the official said.

Such downside risks include fluctuations in global raw material prices, decelerating growth in mainland China, the impact of mainland China’s homegrown supply chain and U.S. interest rate hikes.

“As well as tackling these challenges, the government will continue enhancing the local business environment through industry transformation, regulatory easing and talent cultivation,” the official added.

Industrial production falls 4.94 percent

MANUFACTURING:The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Yang Kuei-hsien said that the manufacturing sector’s inventory was down on weak demand for smartphone chips

Taipei Times
Date:  Dec 24, 2015
By: Lauly Li  /  Staff reporter

Industrial production dropped 4.94 percent annually last month, mainly because of soft demand for consumer electronics, which stalled production in the electronic components industry, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

Last month’s industrial production marked the seventh consecutive month of annual declines, the ministry said.

The government’s industrial production gauge measures output in five major industries: manufacturing, mining and quarrying, electricity and gas supply, water supply and architectural engineering.

The latest production gauge showed that output from the manufacturing sector — which accounts for more than 90 percent of industrial output — dropped 5.03 percent last month from the same period last year.     [FULL  STORY]