Hoping to capitalize on the growing demand for information technology services among small and medium-sized businesses (SMB), Hewlett-Packard Co yesterday launched its "Smart Office" initiative in Taiwan.
"I believe our service can fulfill the different needs of companies through the integration of our complete product line and the advanced service network provided by our distributors in the nation," Jason Juang (
Through this initiative, HP will provide access to the right expertise, which will lead to the smart technology decisions that simplify the whole process of buying, using and owning HP products and solutions, said Clarence Cho (
Charges for the packages, including hardware and technique consultation and support services, range from NT$30,000 to more than NT$170,000 depending on the demand for equipment and services that companies require, Cho said. To strengthen its solution services, HP worked with 500 distributors, he said.
Small and medium-sized companies usually have small IT budgets compared to large enterprises, but the market is full of potential, as Taiwan has 1.1 million such businesses, accounting for 98.18 percent of all enterprises in the nation, said Steven Hu (
Citing statistics from the international research agency IDC, Hu said small and medium-sized businesses in the Asia-Pacific region will spend US$91 billion on their IT systems this year, climbing to US$141 billion in 2006.
However, according to a poll released by the Chinese-language TechVantage Magazine (e
The survey is good news for HP, as companies are realizing that they can solve their IT problems through purchasing the package, or even outsourcing their IT division to the company, Cho said.
Rival IBM Corp said although the company provides some IT equipment, namely desktop computers and notebook computers, its full-blown services still make the company the largest IT service vendor in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as in Taiwan, said Emma Chung (
According to a report released by IDC last week, IBM is the No. 1 vendor in the region excluding Japan. For the first six months of this year, its total revenue in the region was US$1.08 billion, up 10.3 percent from the second half of last year, the report said. HP was second with US$678 million, 6.5 percent more than last year, the report said.
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
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”