Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/28
By: Jeffrey Wu

Taipei, June 28 (CNA) Taiwanese integrated circuit designer ASMedia Technology Inc. (祥

碩), a subsidiary of computer vendor Asustek Computer Inc. (華碩), is forecast to benefit from broader adoption of the USB3.1 port and increasing chipset orders.

Sales and earnings of ASMedia, which designs data storage controller chips, are expected to increase, with compound annual growth rates of 68 percent and 94 percent, respectively, from 2014 to 2017, according to a U.S.-based brokerage.

The growth will be driven by rising adoption of USB3.1/Type-C connector standard and chipset orders from Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (AMD), “with ASMedia leveraging its technology leadership, strong IP portfolios, solid customer relationships and competitive cost structure,” the brokerage wrote in a June 25 note to clients.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-06-28
By: Staff Reporter

Terry Gou, chair and president of Foxconn, the world’s largest OEM supplier of consumer

electronics, announced at its shareholders’ meeting that the company is considering hold an IPO in China within three to five years, reports the Beijing News.

Foxconn is the trading name of the Taiwan-headquartered Hon Hai Precision Industry. It is best known as Apple’s chief manufacturing partner for its iPhone and iPad at its plants in China.

Gou said the quality of Foxconn’s China business will be better after the stock launch. Foxconn has already been making plans to expand into India and the IPO won’t minimize the company’s production numbers in China as the market there is booming, he said.

Foxconn Technology Group mainly produces computers, communication products and consumer electronics. The company began investing in China in 1988 and now employs over 1.2 million people. Foxconn brings in 3.5% of China’s import and export total value.     [FULL  STORY]

Seven people and organizations in total were placed under Seoul’s new financial sanctions.

UPI
Date: June 26, 2015
By: Elizabeth Shim

SEOUL, June 26 (UPI) — Taiwanese businesses with ties to North Korea were placed under

South Korea financial sanctions on Friday.

Seoul’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Taiwanese firms Global Interface Co. Inc., Trans Merits and Trans Multi Mechanics Co. Ltd., as well as a handful of Taiwanese people were banned from normal trade with South Korea entities, Yonhap reported.
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Taiwanese businessman Tsai Hsien-tai of Global Interface was charged with selling precision machine tools to North Korea – equipment that could be refurbished as weapons. Tsai has been charged in a northern Illinois U.S. court for selling the weapons, and was sentenced to two years in prison last March.

The North Korea entity Tsai dealt with, Korea Mining Development Trading Corp., has been under U.S. Treasury sanctions since January 2009. KOMIC is also under U.N. sanctions.

South Korea’s Friday announcement marks the first time Seoul is taking action against third-party nationals and businesses for their links to North Korea.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/06/27
By: Lo Hsiu-wen and Frances Huang

Taipei, June 27 (CNA) A foreign brokerage has cut its target price on shares of Taiwan-based

PC vendor Acer Inc. (宏碁) amid lingering concerns over its bottom line this year.

The European brokerage, which declined to be named, said that Acer is wary of the possibility of its falling into the red in the second quarter of this year and has been tightening its grip on its inventory.

Such control could lead to Acer to record lower-than-expected shipments and sales for the April-June period and eventually hurt its profitability, the brokerage said. The brokerage has lowered its forecast of Acer’s second-quarter sales by 25 percent to NT$57.4 billion (US$1.85 billion).     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-06-27
By: CNA

The Taiwan unit of Yahoo announced Friday that its News and Super Mall apps will support

the Apple Watch in Taiwan to cash in on a market where smartwatch ownership ranks the seven-highest in the world.

The two apps are revamped with more visualized designs for notifications and location-based services, such as pushing promotional messages of local stores close to the wearer’s location, according to Yahoo Taiwan.

Around 12% of Taiwanese consumers own a smartwatch, ranking the country seventh in the world in terms of smartwatch ownership rate behind India, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam, Yahoo Taiwan said, citing the results of a study conducted earlier this year by research firm GlobalWebIndex.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-06-26
By: Liu Pei-chen

China’s electronic components and parts industry has been developing by leaps and

bounds in recent years, giving rise to the nickname of the “red supply chain” to be feared by Taiwan’s electronics industry, which accounted for 29.92% of the country’s overall exports in 2014.

As a result, orders for Taiwanese electronic components have begun to decrease from November last year, overshadowing the country’s economic outlook. Taiwan’s IC industry is at the forefront facing the onset of the red supply chain.

Industry insiders note that Taiwanese makers of mobile phone chips and second-tier testing and assembly firms will face especially strong competition from across the Taiwan Strait, as mainland counterparts have slashed their prices thanks to government subsidies. IC producer Spreadtrum, for instance, slashed prices of 3G mobile phone chips by 40% in the first quarter, which in addition to its maturing technological level and service, has enabled it to land orders from domestic and Indian customers, including some first-tier brands. Spreadtrum made considerable gains in market share in the first halfat the expense of MediaTek, Taiwan’s leading fabless IC firm.     [FULL  STORY]