Japanese, followed by Malaysians, then Americans, comprise 49 percent of total foreign professionals in Taiwan

Taiwan News
Date:\ 2020/04/30
By: George Liao, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The latest statistics of foreign professionals in Taiwan released on Thursday (April 30) by the Ministry of Labor (MOL) showed that Malaysians have overtaken Americans as the second most numerous foreign professionals in Taiwan.

A total of 31,124 foreign professionals were legally hired in Taiwan at the end of 2019, the report said. In the past, Japanese usually accounted for the largest expatriate group in Taiwan, followed by Americans. The data showed that Malaysians have overtaken Americans for the first time.

MOL attributed the phenomenon to an increase in Malaysian students who stayed in Taiwan to work after completing their studies, according to the report.

Of the 31,124 foreign professionals working in Taiwan, 74.2 percent were male and 25.8 percent were female. In terms of nationality, Japanese led the pack, accounting for 23.5 percent of the foreign workforce, followed by Malaysians, who represented 13.5 percent, and finally, Americans, who made up 11.8 percent, the statistics showed.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/30/2020
By: Pan Tzu-yu and Joseph Yeh

Taipei, April. 30 (CNA) Taiwan's government on Thursday downgraded its forecast for gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the first quarter of 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said.

The DGBAS said it expects Taiwan's first-quarter GDP to grow by 1.54 percent from a year earlier, a downgrade from its earlier forecast of 1.8 percent made in February, noting that the spread of the coronavirus since the end of last year has introduced an element of uncertainty into the economy.
[FULL  STORY]

OPTIMISM: Increased public expenditure and a ‘mild’ COVID-19 outbreak that allowed companies to operate normally helped the economy grow last quarter, the DGBAS said

Taipei Times
Date: May 01, 2020
By: Crystal Hsu / Staff reporter

Taiwan’s economy expanded a mild 1.54 percent last quarter from a year earlier, thanks to government spending and private investment, as the COVID-19 pandemic affected consumer activity, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday.

The growth rate missed the agency’s forecast in February by 0.26 percentage points and was the lowest in 15 quarters, as Taiwan was not spared the impact of the pandemic, which has infected 3.2 million people globally and killed more than 228,000.

“The coronavirus has hurt the economy harder than expected after spreading across Europe and the US,” National Income Section head Yu Ming-chun (游敏君) said.

Asked about forecasts for full-year growth, Yu said the agency would give an update later this month.
[FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/29/2020
By: Wu Chia-jung and Elizabeth Hsu

Taipei, April 29 (CNA) Essential interaction between Taiwanese businesses and their foreign partners will be the first to recover from the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the heath minister said Wednesday, although he emphasized that this will not happen unless the pandemic control is well-executed.

Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) was speaking at the Legislative Yuan when questioned by a lawmaker when Taiwan will ease its ban on visits and transit stops by foreign travelers, while Japan has extended its ban on the entry of foreigners to the end of May due to the pandemic.

"Taiwan is an economy and trade-dominated country," Chen said at a joint hearing of six legislative committees that discussed the central government's additional budget bills for its COVID-19 bailout and revitalization plans.

The government could first ease restrictions on "necessary commercial behavior" and "important commercial interaction," the minister revealed, but "we must be well-prepared with epidemic prevention and control measures."    [FULL  STORY]

LOCKED DOWN: The company continues to see robust demand from tablets and notebooks aided by remote schooling and telecommuting, CEO Leo Hsieh said

Taipei Times
Date:  Apr 30, 2020
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

TPK Holding Co (宸鴻) last quarter swung back to profit from a loss in the previous quarter as remote learning and work-from-home practices boosted shipments of touch products for tablets and notebook computers in the slow season, the company said yesterday.

Net profit last quarter reached NT$40 million (US$1.34 million), compared with a loss of NT$98 million in the final quarter of last year, the firm said.

Last quarter’s profit nearly doubled from NT$24 million a year earlier, it added.

The supplier of touch sensors and modules attributed the results to “surprising” growth in shipments of laptops and tablets as more employees and students worldwide remain home for telecommuting and remote learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic.    [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/04/28
By:  prnasia.com

HSINCHU, Taiwan, April 28, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — MediaTek has announced it will enable YouTube video streams using the cutting-edge AV1 video codec on the MediaTek Dimensity 1000 5G SoC. The MediaTek Dimensity 1000 is the world's first smartphone SoC to integrate an AV1 hardware video decoder, enabling it to play back AV1 video streams up to 4K resolution at 60 fps. With its improved compression efficiency, AV1 gives users incredible visual quality and smoother video experiences, while using less data.

Video streaming is the number one activity in smartphone use, so by using the Dimensity 1000's more power efficient hardware-based AV1 video decoder, users can enjoy longer battery life while still streaming at the best quality settings. Combined with its ultra-fast 5G connectivity in a single chip, the Dimensity 1000 leads the industry in design and capability.

"MediaTek is engaged in consistently upgrading its offerings to enhance user experience, and AV1 technology is a prime example. Video is now the most used form of communication, with 70% of Millennials and Gen Z reportedly using streaming services," said Dr. Yenchi Lee, Assistant General Manager of MediaTek's Wireless Business Unit. "Industry reports state that the video streaming market is likely to expand at a CAGR of 19.6% and touch $124.57 billion by 2025, and it is one of the principle drivers of 5G services. MediaTek is leading the way in enabling effective video streaming with AV1."

The AV1 video codec is creating a landmark change in the video streaming industry. First released in 2018 by the Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia), AV1 is royalty-free, crafted to replace the VP9 codec and become the Internet Video Codec (NETVC) standard. AV1 is an ultra-high-performance video codec technology that delivers 30% more compression efficiency over existing VP9.    [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 04/28/2020
By: Wu Po-wei, Chen Yi-hsuan, Chen Wei-ting and Ko Lin

Taipei, April 28 (CNA) Taiwan could see its surgical face mask production top 19 million per day by mid-May after 22 additional production lines went into operation, Economic Affairs Minister Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) said Tuesday.

Speaking during a radio interview, he said that the 19 million daily output is only a conservative estimate, expressing optimism that the 22 additional production lines could exceed that number once they are running smoothly.

Taiwan currently produces 17 million masks a day on 92 lines, according to Shen.

Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, Taiwan was only capable of producing 1.8 million masks per day, but through the government's initiative to install additional machines needed to boost production, daily output has surpassed the 10 million mark after mid-March.    [FULL  STORY]

EXPECTATIONS: Gross margin is likely to improve to 31 to 33 percent this quarter, but chairman Fang Leuh said that the second half of the year remains very uncertain

Taipei Times
Date:  Apr 29, 2020
By: Lisa Wang / Staff reporter

Vanguard Semiconductor International Co (世界先進), which makes power management ICs and driver ICs for displays, yesterday said that net profit last quarter fell 1.4 percent from the previous quarter to NT$1.48 billion (US$49.27 million) as a newly acquired fab from GlobalFoundries Inc dragged down gross margin and prices.

Net profit was NT$1.5 billion in the fourth quarter of last year. Despite the quarterly decline, net profit rose 6.4 percent annually from NT$1.39 billion.

Earnings per share fell to NT$0.89 from NT$0.91 the previous quarter, but rose from NT$0.84 a year earlier.

Gross margin dipped to 31 percent last quarter from 36.1 percent the previous quarter, as well as in the first quarter of last year, the company said in a statement.    [FULL  STORY]