Business and Finance

Auto parts exhibition scale hits high

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/08
By: Jalen Chung and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 8 (CNA) The size of the annual Taipei International Auto Parts & Accessories 201504080024t0001Show (Taipei AMPA, 台北國際汽車零件配件展) hit a new high this year as the exhibition has taken place in conjunction with other four related trade fairs, boosting its visibility, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) said Wednesday.

The Taipei AMPA, which kicked off at Exhibition Hall 1 and the Nangang Exhibition Hall of the Taipei World Trade Center that day and will run through April 11, has teamed up with four other exhibitions to expand the scale of the trade show to that of a “mega show” this year, TAITRA said.

The four other exhibitions are the Taipei International Automobile Electronics Show (台北國際車用電子展), the Taiwan International Motorcycle Show (台灣國際機車零配件展), the Taiwan International Electric Vehicle Show (台灣國際電動車展) and the Tuning & Car Care Taiwan Show (台灣國際改裝車暨車身美容保養展).     [FULL  STORY]

XYZprinting’s latest 3D printer aimed at schools

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 09, 2015
By: Lisa Wang  /  Staff reporter

Local 3D printer manufacturer XYZprinting Inc (三緯) yesterday launched its first entry-level

A model stands next to XYZprinting’s newest 3D printer, the da Vinci Jr 1.0, at a news conference in Taipei yesterday as debuts in the local market. Photo: CNA

A model stands next to XYZprinting’s newest 3D printer, the da Vinci Jr 1.0, at a news conference in Taipei yesterday as debuts in the local market. Photo: CNA

model for students, hoping to see shipments quadruple to 120,000 units this year.

Last year, XYZprinting sold more than 30,000 3D printers, mostly for household use and designers, a company executive said.

With such growth, XYZprinting will turn a profit this year, chairman Simon Shen (沈軾榮) said on the sidelines of a news conference.

Broadening its product lineup, the company plans to roll out its first 3D food printer and a commercial model by the end of this year, Shen said.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan invests US$47 million in Vietnam in Q1

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/07
By: Fan Ching-yi and Y.F. Low

Hanoi, Vietnam, April 7 (CNA) Taiwanese businesses invested US$47 million in Vietnam in the first quarter of this year, Vietnamese government statistics show.

The investments involved 14 new projects and five business expansion projects, according to data compiled by Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment.

As of the end of March, Taiwan had invested US$28.5 billion in 2,401 projects in Vietnam since statistics were first kept in 1988, making it the fourth largest foreign investor in the Southeast Asian country.     [FULL  STORY]

Luxury home sales slow

NO BUYERS:With higher-end property sales dropping, the central bank has called for property tax reform as the only effective and fair way to regulate the market

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 08, 2015
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

The nation’s luxury housing market is drying up as holding tax hikes, selective credit controls and a proposed property gains levy scare away potential buyers, government data show.

The official real-price registration Web site has seen just 17 deals valued at NT$60 million (US$1.92 million) or more so far this year, plunging 91 percent from 187 during the same period last year and 205 in 2013.     [FULL  STORY]

HTC touches low end of first quarter sales forecast

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/07
By: Jeffrey Wu

Taipei, April 7 (CNA) Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp. (宏達電) said Tuesday it SONY DSCtouched the low end of its quarterly revenue forecast for the first three months of 2015 as its sales surged in March.

The Taoyuan-based company reported unaudited consolidated revenue of NT$41.52 billion (US$1.34 billion) for the first quarter, in line with its estimate of between NT$41.5 billion and NT$45 billion that was set on Feb. 6.

The figure represented a 13 percent sequential decline from the fourth-quarter revenue of NT$47.9 billion amid a slow season for consumer electronics.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan probes foreign bond sales

Reuters
Date: Apr 5, 2015
By: Spencer Anderson

HONG KONG, April 6 (IFR) – Taiwan’s Financial Supervisory Commission is toughening its stance on foreign banks marketing offshore securities in the country, after some tried to operate there without onshore licences.

According to bankers from foreign firms active in the country, the FSC has taken a noticeably stricter stance in recent months and suggested that a number of foreign banks could be fined soon.

The clampdown follows a surge in Taiwan-targeted debt offerings from overseas entities, with firms from Goldman Sachs to Air Liquide issuing Formosa bonds in recent months.

Under Taiwanese regulations, bankers without onshore licences are not allowed to market overseas financial products in the country. Some firms had enlisted domestic bookrunners in order to appear to comply, but, in reality, foreign banks had been managing transactions. For a while, the FSC is said to have turned a blind eye to the practice, but it appears this is changing.     [FULL  STORY]

FEATURE: Asustek bullish on smartphone sales to China

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 07, 2015
By: Lauly Li  /  Staff reporter

Like most of its global competitors, such as Apple Inc, Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) is also counting on China to grow its new smartphone business and to hit its ambitious shipment target of 30 million units this year, more than tripling last year’s 8.5 million units.

Ahead of its official launch in Beijing today, the PC maker has about 2 million pre-sale orders for its latest flagship Zenfone 2 in China. That is a huge step for Asustek, which only sold between 600,000 and 700,000 smartphones in China last year.

“We hope the contribution from China will rise from last year’s 7 to 8 percent to 30 percent of total smartphone shipments this year,” Asustek chief executive Jerry Shen (沈振來) told reporters before a product launch in Beijing on March 27.     [FULL  STORY]

17-year low in March property sales

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/05
By: Wei Shu and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, April 5 (CNA) Transactions of residential and commercial properties in Taiwan’s six 201504050015t0001major municipalities all fell in March amid government efforts to curb housing prices, according to statistics compiled by the Ministry of the Interior.

The March transaction number in Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung totaled 16,485, up by 37.3 percent from February but down by 21.1 percent from a year earlier, ministry tallies show.

New Taipei and Taoyuan in the north saw 3,815 and 2,846 units transfered for the month, respectively, a year-on-year decrease of 26 percent and 24 percent, which is a new low for New Taipei since 1999, when record-keeping began, and a new low for Taoyuan since 2009.     [FULL  STORY]

12-inch MacBook gains approval for sale in Taiwan

Want China Times
Date: 2015-04-06
By: CNA

Apple’s new 12-inch MacBook has received a green light from Taiwan’s communications

A gold MacBook. (Photo/Apple)

A gold MacBook. (Photo/Apple)

regulator, the National Communications Commission (NCC), to be sold in the country.

The approval notice, published April 2 on the NCC’s website, means that the ultra-thin notebook computer could be available in local stores in the coming weeks.

But the official website of Apple Taiwan still labels the laptop as “coming soon” because it has not yet received local approval for electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing. Taiwan is currently in the middle of the April 3-6 Tomb Sweeping holiday.

The 12-inch MacBook will start from NT$41,900 (US$1,350) for a model with 256 GB of flash storage and NT$51,900 (US$1,700) for a 512 GB model, the website said.     [FULL  STORY]

Most think home prices unreasonable

UNAFFORDABLE:Housing transactions shrank 34 percent in the fourth quarter of last year and are likely to fall further as home-buying interest drops to a five-year low

Taipei Times
Date: Apr 07, 2015
By: Crystal Hsu  /  Staff reporter

Nearly 60 percent of Taiwanese consider housing prices unreasonable, with the discontent ranking highest in Kaohsiung, a survey by the Ministry of the Interior showed.

The quarterly survey showed that 42 percent of respondents found housing prices unreasonable, while 17.4 percent said they were “extremely unreasonable.”     [FULL  STORY]