Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/08/01
By: Pan Chi-i and Frances Huang

Taipei, Aug. 1 (CNA) Shipments of Taiwan-made liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs fell more than 8 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier as Chinese TV brand Haier cut orders placed to Taiwanese contract makers, according to Taipei-based Digitimes Research.

In a research report, Digitimes Research said that Taiwanese contract maker Compal Electronics Inc. (仁寶) witnessed its shipments fall as its clients entered a product transition period.

But, an increase in shipments to South Korean buyer LG Electronics Co. and to China’s Xiaomi lent some support to Taiwanese LCD TV sales in the quarter to some extent, the report said.      [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/31
By: Chen Cheng-wei, Tsai Yi-chu and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 31 (CNA) The National Development Council (NDC) said Friday that although Taiwan’s economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace in the second quarter, local demand remained strong.

The NDC said that weaker-than-expected exports in the three- month period was responsible for the weaker economic growth, but higher-than-expected domestic demand still pushed the local economy ahead.

The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) released its advance estimate Friday, reporting that Taiwan’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew only 0.64 percent year-on-year in the second quarter, far behind an earlier forecast of a 3.05 percent increase.

The DGBAS cited a year-on-year contraction of 1.30 percent in merchandise and services exports as the reason for the disappointing GDP growth in the second quarter.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/30
By: Han Ting-ting and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 30 (CNA) Intel Corp., the world’s largest chip maker, will issue bonds in Taiwan in a bid to finance an acquisition of U.S.-based programmable logic semiconductor supplier Altera, the Taipei Exchange (TPEx) said Thursday.

The TPEx, which runs the local bond trading platform, said that Intel is scheduled to issue US$1.007 billion or about NT$30 billion worth of bonds on Aug. 11.

After the Intel bond sale news surfaced in the local media Thursday morning, Lee Chi-hsien (李啟賢), president of the TPEx, confirmed that the U.S. chip giant is expected to file its application with the exchange for the bond sale soon.

According to the TPEx, the Intel bond sale will be the third largest bond sale denominated in U.S. dollars in Taiwan, only trailing U.S.-based telecom operator AT&T’s two previous bond sale deals here.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-07-30
By: CNA

Taiwan issued licenses Wednesday to 14 insurance companies to run offshore insurance units

(OIUs), and Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) chairman Tseng Ming-chung said that the license issuance will help Taiwan move closer to transforming itself into an asset management hub in the Asia-Pacific region.

Tseng said that the issuance of the OIU licenses are a follow-up to Taiwan’s efforts to set its sights on the growing asset management business in the region after the country allowed securities companies to conduct offshore securities business last year.

The 14 insurers that secured the OIU licenses are 12 life insurers and two general insurers, including Cathay Life Insurance, Fubon Life Insurance, China Life Insurance, Nanshan Life Insurance, Taiwan Life Insurance and Fubon Insurance, according to the FSC.

Tseng cited a recent estimate by foreign banks as saying that the value of assets held by ethnic Chinese in overseas markets surpasses US$200 billion, which provides insurers in the region with plenty of business opportunities.     [FULL  STORY]

‘MIXED MESSAGES’:The world’s largest chip packager and tester posted net income of NT$3.7 billion, down 18 percent quarter-on-quarter and 28.5 percent year-on-year

Taipei Times
Date: Jul 31, 2015
By: Ted Chen  /  Staff reporter

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE, 日月光), the world’s largest chip packager and

tester, yesterday said its revenue growth momentum would likely be restrained this quarter.

“At best, the situation in the first half can be described as an environment filled with mixed messages,” ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu (吳田玉) said, citing a downturn in the PC industry and tight inventory controls in the semiconductor supply chain.

The company’s third-quarter guidance foresees flat or limited growth of between 1 percent and 5 percent at its core integrated circuit assembly, test and material (IC ATM) business, but it expects gross margin to remain relatively unchanged from the first quarter.

This quarter, the company’s electronic manufacturing service (EMS) unit should see revenue grow by between 7 and 8 percent from the previous quarter to approach the levels seen in the fourth quarter last year, but the unit’s gross margin would likely decline slightly, the company told a press conference.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/29
By: Chen Cheng-wei and Christie Chen

Taipei, July 29 (CNA) Coloring books for adults have been selling like hot cakes in Taiwan, accounting for half of the top 10 titles on the bestselling list of the country’s largest online bookstore last week.

The Chinese version of Scottish illustrator Johanna Basford’s coloring book “Secret Garden” has been No. 1 on the bestselling list of Chinese books on books.com.tw for the past four weeks, according to the latest information on the company’s website.

In the period July 19-25, five of the 10 bestselling titles on the list were coloring books for adults.

Last week, a copy of “Secret Garden” was being sold every 30 seconds on the online bookstore, and over 1,000 pre-orders for Basford’s coloring book “Enchanted Forest” were placed within three hours after pre-orders went live this month.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-07-29
By: CNA

Taiwan’s outbound investment approved by the government in July reached nearly US$3

billion after Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing applied to send a large sum overseas, according to the country’s Investment Commission.

The commission approved three applications in a monthly review meeting held Monday and the three, including the one submitted by TSMC to remit US$2 billion as an overseas investment, totaled US$2.78 billion.

The commission said TSMC wanted to boost the capital of its subsidiary — TSMC Global — located in the British Virgin Islands for financial investment purposes.

Market sources said TSMC is scheduled to hold a board meeting in early August to finalize the plan. It will be the second time TSMC is remitting US$2 billion to TSMC Global after having made a similar remittance in the second half of last year.     [FULL  STORY]