Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/03
By: Jeffrey Wu

Taipei, Sept. 3 (CNA) Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp. (宏達電) on

Thursday reported its lowest monthly revenue in more than eight years, citing a product transition period and business realignment program.

The Taoyuan-based company reported consolidated revenue of NT$6.89 billion (US$212 million) for August, the lowest since it posted NT$6.59 billion in February 2007.

On Aug. 13, HTC said it was planning to cut its global workforce by 15 percent — around 2,300 jobs — as part of a business realignment plan to seek “significant profitable growth with a leaner and more agile operating model.”     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-03
By: CNA

HTC’s long-rumored smartphone dubbed “Aero” could finally debut this weekend

after the Taiwanese company set Sept. 6 as the date for the product launch.

The HTC event was confirmed on Tuesday via the company’s official Weibo microblog account in China, with an image showing the outline of a smartphone.

Earlier media reports said the new HTC smartphone is expected to sport a 10-core processor from Taiwan’s MediaTek, 4GB of RAM and an improved camera capable of taking uncompressed RAW-quality photos.

A RAW format contains all the image information captured by the camera’s sensor, allowing for good quality and flexible image processing.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/02
By: Jackson Chang, Jalen Chung and Frances Huang

Taipei, Sept. 2 (CNA) The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said Wednesday that Taiwan’s semiconductor sector will record a higher growth rate than the global industry this year and contribute significantly to the domestic economy.

Taiwan’s integrated circuit business is expected to post NT$2.259 trillion (US$69.08 billion) in sales this year, an annual increase of 5.5 percent and a higher growth rate than the global IC industry, said Deputy Economics Minister Shen Jong-chin (沈榮津) at the opening of SEMICON Taiwan, a leading global semiconductor trade exhibition.

He however did not give a projection for the growth of the global semiconductor sector.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-02
By: CNA

Taiwan will become one of the first countries to sell the successors to Apple’s

iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The so-called iPhone 6S will go on sale in Taiwan Sept. 18 following the smartphone’s expected launch at an Apple press event Sept. 9 in California, the source told CNA on condition of anonymity.

If true, it will be the first time Taiwan has been listed among the initial wave of new iPhone availability. The country reached the second wave of iPhone 6 availability in September last year, alongside 16 other markets.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/09/01
By: Zoe Wei and Evelyn Kao

Taipei, Sept. 1 (CNA) Work force demand in Taiwan is expected to rise by 26,802 between August and October, which represents a seven-year low for that three-month period, due mainly to a slowing global economy, according to a survey published Tuesday by the Ministry of Labor (MOL).

The survey of businesses with 30 or more employees found that 20.36 percent of employers would be willing to increase their workforce by the end of October, while 5.56 percent plan to reduce hiring of new employees, compared with the previous three months.

The total manpower demand from August to October is estimated at 43,900 workers, but demand for new employees will drop by 17,100, which means there is likely to be a net increase of 26,800 workers, according to the poll.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-09-01
By: CNA

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC will cut 400 jobs at its Taoyuan factory by the

end of October as part of its efforts to reduce costs, the Taoyuan city government confirmed on Monday.

The layoff plan, which was sent to the local government on Aug. 28, would affect around 5% of the nearly 9,000 employees at HTC’s Taoyuan factory, according to local media reports.

HTC declined to comment and reiterated its earlier announcement that the company plans to cut 15% of its global workforce as part of a business realignment plan.

The program includes the establishment of new business units to create profitable growth in the company’s key areas of premium smartphones, virtual reality and connected lifestyle products, HTC said.