Exhibitors were unified yesterday in applauding the decision to cancel June's Computex Taipei computer show, saying the meet will fare better after fears about the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) have abated.
"We think it's a good decision to postpone Computex," said Alan Pan (
Tatung normally books a large exhibition space on the ground floor of the Taipei International Convention Center.
The show was axed Wednesday after a poll by the organizers, the China External Trade Development Council (CETRA) and the Taipei Computer Association, showed that less than 10 percent of exhibitors were in favor of going ahead with this year's show. And with SARS fears going well beyond exhibition halls, manufacturers heaved a sigh of relief.
"We're concerned about the public's health, so we support this decision," said Stephanie Tsai (蔡瓊文), senior public relations manager at computer-display maker ViewSonic International Corp.
"We originally wanted to take part in Computex, but when surveyed we suggested that CETRA cancel this year's show," said Alex Hsieh (謝博明), a marketing manager at industrial computer manufacturer ICP Electronics Inc (威達電).
Companies yesterday played down potential losses as a result of the rescheduling of Asia's largest computer trade show.
"The impact on our business operations will be minimal [as a result of the postponement] as our customer base has been established for a long time and we are using videoconferencing, which our customers feel is a good contingency plan," Pan said.
Computex normally offers Tatung strong product exposure with potential new clients from overseas and if it took place at the beginning of next month as planned, fears over SARS would seriously reduce the number of foreign visitors.
"In the present climate, Computex would not be a very good marketing prospect," Pan said.
"This impacts all businesses, not just ours," said Tsai. "We had some special offers that we wanted to introduce to our channels at Computex. We will still offer them, but directly now."
Visitors from China were expected to make up a large part of the overseas visitors to Computex this year, many looking to tie up with Taiwanese companies in manufacturing ventures across the Taiwan Strait.
A compulsory 10-day quarantine imposed on visitors from seriously affected SARS areas like China and Hong Kong would have hampered Computex, leading to the decision to put off this year's show. Companies like industrial computer maker ICP are not dependent on buyers.
"We will feel very little impact from the decision to postpone Computex as our manufacturing is here in Taiwan and all our customers are in Europe and America," said Hsieh.
The Board of Foreign Trade has suggested companies burn their most recent catalogs onto disks and send them to potential customers after the show was canceled. In addition, local telecommunications provider, Chunghwa Telecom (
Exhibitors scorned the idea yesterday.
"The quality, not the cost, of conference calls, is important," Pan said. "We'll pay for a premium service."
The government decision was nothing new, Hsieh said. "We already send our catalogs on disk to clients and use e-mail and telephone calls as much as possible," said Hsieh. "This is not a new suggestion."
Delaying Computex until fall may lead to companies bailing out of the show altogether.
"A show in September or October is too close to Comdex Fall in Las Vegas," Pansaid . "We might decide not to go to Computex in that case."
Comdex Fall is held annually in Las Vegas in November.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last