Asustek Computer Inc (
The personnel downsizing is a part of Asustek's manpower restructuring scheme, mainly because of production outsourcing, as well as the new labor pension fund system coming into practice starting this month, which adds costs for employers, the report said.
Production will be shifted to Asustek's yet-to-be finished factory in Shanghai, where the company has pumped in about US$1.5 billion and will be Asustek's largest production base for churning out notebook computers, handsets and liquid crystal display (LCD) TVs, according to the report.
While planning to dismiss 1,000 workers, Asustek is also recruiting another 1,000 salespeople to strengthen its marketing division, the report said.
Asustek has nearly 8,000 employees in Taiwan with 3,000 production-line operators.
The layoff has triggered a labor dispute in Asustek's factory in Taoyuan County, as the factory sacked 56 local workers and hired foreign laborers instead over the past two months, the report said. In addition, at the end of last month, 500 workers were told they must leave their posts on the production line, it said.
Responding to the issue, Asustek said outsourcing production is an inevitable trend in the electronics manufacturing industry, so it must adjust its manpower structure to enhance competitiveness, the report said, without identifying the source.
The company will follow regulations stipulated by the Labor Standards Law (
Goldman Sachs raised its target share price for Asustek from NT$99 to NT$108, from "in accordance with market expectations" to "exceed market expectations" in its latest study, given the company's better-than-expected earnings in the second quarter.
Shares of Asustek climbed NT$0.9 to close at NT$95.9 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange last Friday.
Sales of Asustek declined merely 7.5 percent in the slack second quarter from the previous one with shipments of notebook computers growing by 4 percent. As a result, Goldman Sachs raised its forecast for Asustek's profit in the second quarter to NT$3.9 billion from NT$3.5 billion.
Asustek's comparatively low price-earning (P/E) ratio of 12.7 also brings advantages over its competitors in motherboard manufacturing, according to Goldman Sachs. Gigabyte Technology Co (技嘉科技) reported a P/E ratio of 16.7, Micro-Star International Co (微星科技) posted 14.1 and Elitegroup Computer Systems Co's (精英電腦) ratio is as high as 25.8.
While foreseeing a bright second half of the year, Goldman Sachs said Asustek still needs to solve the conflict between its brandname products and original equipment manufacturing orders, as well as counter the threat posed by competitors such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密).
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
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
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