Business and Finance

ASE makes plans to acquire rival SPIL

CORPORATE COOPERATION:ASE’s moves for SPIL shares ownership is not about business competition, but about fending off Chinese rivals,a spokesperson said

Taipei Times
Date: , Aug 22, 2015
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it plans to acquire a 25 percent share of its main local rival, Siliconware Precision Industries Co Ltd (SPIL, 矽品精密), for up to NT$35 billion (US$1.06 billion) in an effort to fend off growing competition from China.

The hostile takeover bid came as a bombshell to SPIL’s board, as it was not approached for a deal and the companies have been in a long-term race for industry leadership.

ASE said it plans to buy the maximum 779 million SPIL shares, combining common shares and SPIL’s American depositary receipts, at NT$45 per share, in cash.    [FULL  STORY]

Equity dive costs each investor NT$200,000 in losses in August

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/21
By: Tien Yu-pin, Han Ting-ting, Wei Shu and Frances Huang

Taipei, Aug. 21 (CNA) A plunge on the local equity market in recent sessions posted 201508210027t0001massive losses for investors, market statistics showed Friday. According to the data, equity investors in Taiwan have lost more than NT$200,000 on average so far this month.

The local equity market started a downtrend since late April and its downturn accelerated in August. So far this month, the weighted index of the Taiwan Stock Exchange fell more than 800 points or about 10 percent from a month earlier. That translated into a loss of more than NT$200,000 shouldered by each investor on average.

On Friday, the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed down 3.02 percent at the day’s low of 7,786.92 amid turmoil in the global equity markets stoked by concerns over weakening demand in the world. The losses sent the weighted index to a level below the 10-year moving average of 7,789 points, paving the path for further downturns, dealers said.     [FULL  STORY]

Investors worried over political uncertainty in Taiwan: poll

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/20
By: Tien Yu-pin and Frances Huang

Taipei, Aug. 20 (CNA) Uncertainty over Taiwan’s upcoming presidential election is 201508200012t0001affecting investor sentiment in the country as investors think the political situation is creating risks for the local economy, a survey on economic optimism in Taiwan showed Thursday.

Cathay Financial Holding Co. (國泰金), which conducted the survey earlier this month, said 35.2 percent investors think the January 2016 presidential election poses a threat to the domestic economy. Investors’ concern over the political uncertainty is greater than their worry about the debt problems in the eurozone (17.9 percent) and the pace of the economic recovery in emerging markets (17.2 percent), the poll indicated.

According to the survey, 16.5 percent of Taiwan investors fear that further volatility in China’s equity market will affect Taiwan’s economy, while 13.2 percent are apprehensive about a possible interest rate hike by the U.S. Federal Reserve later in the year.      [FULL  STORY]

Asustek to unveil ‘all-new’ Zen series, gaming devices at IFA show

Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-20
By: CNA

Taiwan-based PC and smartphone maker Asustek has sent out invitations to media

Asustek Chairman Jonney Shih displays the ZenFone 2 at a press event in Taipei, March 9. (File photo/Hung Hsi-lung)

Asustek Chairman Jonney Shih displays the ZenFone 2 at a press event in Taipei, March 9. (File photo/Hung Hsi-lung)

outlets for an event prior to the Sept. 4-9 IFA consumer electronics trade show in Germany, sparking speculations about the introduction of a new ZenFone.

The press conference will be hosted by Asustek chairman Jonney Shih on Sept. 2 in Berlin, where the company will unveil “an all-new lineup of Zen and ROG innovations designed to provide seamless connection and ground-breaking gaming excitement,” according to the invitation issued Tuesday.

ROG, also known as the Republic of Gamers, is an Asustek sub-brand established in 2006 to deliver innovative hardware for dedicated gamers.

In a pre-show video clip published on Asustek’s website, the company shows images that look like a monitor, a power button of a phone and a watch, but does not give any details.     [FULL  STORY]

Economic forecast discouraging: Cathay

BLEAK FUTURE?A financial survey shows little consumer confidence in the economy after the announcement of lowered GDP growth expectations and next year’s election

Taipei Times
Date:  Aug 21, 2015
By: Ted Chen  /  Staff reporter

Beset by discouraging economic data such as exports and manufacturing output, people have a dismal view of the nation’s economic prospects this month, compared with the generally neutral outlook of last month, according to a survey released yesterday by Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控).

About 30.8 percent of respondents said they expect the economy to see a moderate decline over the next six months and 18.9 percent said the economy would worsen seriously over the period, Cathay Financial said.

In this month’s survey, the economic optimism index dropped to minus-46.6, compared with minus-10.5 last month, while the index measuring economic optimism over the next six months slid from minus-10.5 to minus-33.3, representing the most severe decline since the capital gains tax on securities transactions was introduced in 2012.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwanese generally plan too late for retirement: survey

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/19
By: Tien Yu-pin and Lilian Wu

Taipei, Aug. 19 (CNA) Taiwanese on average wait until they are 36.6 years old to begin 201508190035t0001to planning for retirement, and 22 percent do not start until in their 40s, a survey by an asset management company revealed Wednesday.

“That’s far too late,” said Andrew Wang (王彥傑), chief investment officer of Manulife Asset Management (宏利投信).

Wang said that although people are likely to become more financially stable later in life, their retirement plans should not consist solely of waiting for a pension.     [FULL  STORY]

Asustek set for product launches

Taipei Times
Date: Aug 20, 2015
By: Lauly Li  /  Staff reporter

Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) is to launch the second generation of its ZenWatch and six smart home devices this quarter in a bid to expand the company’s reach in the Internet of Things (IoT) area, the company said yesterday.

“The global IoT market in still in its early stages, but Asustek sees great business potential in this area,” company spokesman Nick Wu (吳長榮) said by telephone.

Wu said the company had sold “a few hundred thousand” units of its first generation of ZenWatch since it was launched in December last year, while another production line, the VivoWatch, also shipped “a few hundred thousands” units since it hit the shelves in May.     [FULL  STORY]

AUO, Innolux TV panel shipments drop in July

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/18
By: Jeffrey Wu

Taipei, Aug. 18 (CNA) AU Optronics Corp. (AUO, 友達) and Innolux Corp. (群創),

Photo courtesy of AUO.

Photo courtesy of AUO.

Taiwan’s largest two flat-panel makers, saw their TV panel shipments drop in July due to limited capacity and slow orders, a local research firm said Tuesday.

WitsView, a division of Taipei-based research firm TrendForce Corp., said global TV panel shipments totaled 22.31 million units in July, down 1 percent from the previous month but up 7 percent from a year earlier.

Among the world’s top six panel makers, Samsung Display Co. benefitted considerably from returning orders for Samsung TV sets, and its monthly shipments grew 28 percent as a result.     [FULL  STORY]

Cheaper version of HTC One M9+ launched in Taiwan

Want China Times
Date: 2015-08-18
By: CNA

HTC unveiled a cheaper version of its One M9+ flagship smartphone in Taiwan on

The HTC One ME dual sim. (Photo/HTC)

The HTC One ME dual sim. (Photo/HTC)

Monday, hoping to regain momentum in its home market following the disappointing run of its three-month-old M9+ handset.

The One ME dual sim will go on sale Saturday through HTC’s online store in Taiwan at a starting price of NT$14,900 (US$460), 38% cheaper than the M9+ when it was launched locally in mid-May at NT$23,900 (US$735).

The ME dual sim, like the M9+, comes with a 5.2-inch 2K display with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels, a MediaTek Helio X10 octa-core 2.2GHz mobile processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage, a fingerprint scanner built into a home button on the front, a 20-megapixel main camera and support for up to 2TB of micro-SD external storage.     [FULL  STORY]

Five foreign firms to invest NT$11bn

R&D CENTERS:The US and Canadian companies cited Taiwan’s complete supply chains, industry clusters and pool of talent as incentives for investing, an official said

Taipei Times
Date:  Aug 19, 2015
By: Lauly Li  /  Staff reporter

Five foreign semiconductor and pharmaceutical companies are to invest more than NT$11 billion (US$336.9 million) in Taiwan in the next three years, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

To encourage more foreign companies to invest in Taiwan, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Bill Cho (卓士昭) led a delegation on a visit to 11 companies in the US and Canada from Aug. 8 to Tuesday last week.

“We inked letters of intent with five of the 11 companies, including semiconductor equipment manufacturer S-Cubed Inc and Pharmascience Inc,” Cho told a press conference in Taipei.     [FULL  STORY]