A Singapore-based international bookstore has attracted the attention of local rivals with the soft opening this week of what it says is the largest bookstore in Taiwan.
Page One, established in 1983, made its debut in Taiwan on Monday on the fourth floor of the Taipei 101 Mall. With 720 ping of sales area, the company said it aims to become the largest international mega-bookstore in the country.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
"Taiwan is the place with the most vigorous growth in the world in the Chinese-book-trading market," said Dennis Liu (劉春豪), the bookstore's corporate affairs manager.
The Taipei 101 branch is Page One's 11th store, following expansion to Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong and Australia.
The company invested about NT$150 million in the new branch, which will stock 170,000 books in Chinese and 160,000 in English. It is particularly proud of the 20,000 books it will offer on art and design.
"Our huge selection of art and design books is our distinguishing feature from the competitors," Liu said. "The estimated 85,000 highly educated office workers in Taipei 101 will be the target customers for our numerous books in English."
Page One hopes to draw 5,000 visitors daily and expects to create sales of NT$35 million in its first year, Liu said.
Some booklovers praised Page One's interior design and ample space, as well as its plentiful supply of books in English.
"The new and big space is comfortable and the abundant selection of books offered can meet consumers' needs," said Sophia Su, a 30 year-old teacher.
Another customer agreed, saying the rest corners and lighted areas made customers feel respected.
"I think it makes the store more appealing than Eslite (
Eslite Co, the nation's largest bookstore chain with 50 outlets, denied Page One's claim of being Taiwan's largest, or even best, bookstore.
"Our flagship store [at the intersection of Jenai Rd. and Tunhua S. Rd.] measures 1,500 ping and has sales of more than NT$40 million per month," said Lee Yu-hwa (
In addition to the ample art and architecture books which draw lots of artists and architects, Eslite in 1999 started operating 24 hours a day at its flagship store, Lee said.
While welcoming the competition, Eslite said it expected to increase sales to NT$5.2 billion this year from NT$4 billion last year and open up to 10 more outlets.
"Our more than 80,000 loyal members that shop at least three times a month, spending an average of NT$1,000 every time, are our valuable asset and competitive edge," she said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, booked its first-ever profit from its Arizona subsidiary in the first half of this year, four years after operations began, a company financial statement showed. Wholly owned by TSMC, the Arizona unit contributed NT$4.52 billion (US$150.1 million) in net profit, compared with a loss of NT$4.34 billion a year earlier, the statement showed. The company attributed the turnaround to strong market demand and high factory utilization. The Arizona unit counts Apple Inc, Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc among its major customers. The firm’s first fab in Arizona began high-volume production
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: The Japanese company is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence linchpins Nvidia Corp and TSMC Softbank Group Corp agreed to buy US$2 billion of Intel Corp stock, a surprise deal to shore up a struggling US name while boosting its own chip ambitions. The Japanese company, which is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence (AI) linchpins Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), is to pay US$23 a share — a small discount to Intel’s last close. Shares of the US chipmaker, which would issue new stock to Softbank, surged more than 5 percent in after-hours trading. Softbank’s stock fell as much as 5.4 percent on Tuesday in Tokyo, its
COLLABORATION: Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture would make AI data center equipment, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) would operate a US factory owned by Softbank Group Corp, setting up what is in the running to be the first manufacturing site in the Japanese company’s US$500 billion Stargate venture with OpenAI and Oracle Corp. Softbank is acquiring Hon Hai’s electric-vehicle plant in Ohio, but the Taiwanese company would continue to run the complex after turning it into an artificial intelligence (AI) server production plant, Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said yesterday. Softbank would supply manufacturing gear to the factory, and a joint venture between the two companies would make AI data
DOLLAR SIGNS: The central bank rejected claims that the NT dollar had appreciated 10 percentage points more than the yen or the won against the greenback The New Taiwan dollar yesterday fell for a sixth day to its weakest level in three months, driven by equity-related outflows and reactions to an economics official’s exchange rate remarks. The NT dollar slid NT$0.197, or 0.65 percent, to close at NT$30.505 per US dollar, central bank data showed. The local currency has depreciated 1.97 percent so far this month, ranking as the weakest performer among Asian currencies. Dealers attributed the retreat to foreign investors wiring capital gains and dividends abroad after taking profit in local shares. They also pointed to reports that Washington might consider taking equity stakes in chipmakers, including Taiwan Semiconductor