■ Marketing
Branding effort launched
A "branding Taiwan" campaign aimed at helping domestic companies establish their own brands overseas has kicked off, with the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) offering NT$30 billion (US$925,000) in loans to serve that end, according to officials of the Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT). The "branding Taiwan" campaign is slated to run through 2012, during which period the official said the MOEA will assist businesses in creating brand names, setting up an appraisal system, collecting market information and fostering professional talent.
■ Automobiles
Beetle bids top US$385,000
Bidding on a Volkswagen Beetle that was once owned by Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann has surpassed 300,000 euros (US$385,000) on the German-language Ebay auction Web site. The vendor says the 29-year-old left-hand-drive convertible was stripped down and mechanically restored after he bought it 10 years ago from the German car dealer where Klinsmann had traded the car in. Six registered Ebay buyers bid more than 300,000 euros in short succession on Friday evening, Ebay records show. The auction, which began July 1 with a bid of 1.51 euros, is set to close Tuesday night.
■ Semiconductors
Chip equipment sales to rise
Worldwide sales of machines used to manufacture semiconductors are expected to rise 25 percent this year before falling next year because of overcapacity, market researcher Gartner Inc said. Sales will surge to US$42.3 billion this year driven by the expansion plans of memory-chip makers, the Gartner said in a report on Friday. Sales will decline 4.5 percent next year because of slowing device production growth, Gartner analyst Klaus Rinnen said. Sales in Asia-Pacific, which account for 70 percent of packaging and assembly, will reach almost 80 percent by 2011. China is expected to overtake Taiwan as the largest individual buyer of packaging and equipment machines by 2009, with almost 25 percent of the global market, Gartner said.
■ Energy
Motech sees earnings falling
Motech Industries Inc (茂迪), the nation's largest solar cell maker, expects this year's earnings to fall about 10 percent after it canceled a NT$50 billion (US$1.54 billion) solar wafer supply agreement with MEMC Electronic Materials Inc, the company said yesterday. Motech will also lower its output projection by 8.3 percent to 110 megawatts this year, spokesman Chen Chia-chi (陳家淇) said. The firms' gross margin ratio will stay at around 30 percent this year, he added. Motech and MEMC jointly announced on Thursday night the termination of the proposed 8-year supply deal, which was earlier reached on April 18 with the signing of a non-binding Letter of Intent.
■ Trade
Trade surplus spikes
The nation's trade surplus last month registered a remarkable increase of 166 percent to US$1.22 billion over the corresponding month last year, largely due to the booming trade in electric, electronic, information and telecommunications products, the Bureau of Foreign Trade (BOFT) said yesterday. BOFT officials said that export increase also could be attributed to growth in shipments of metal products, electric and electronic products, and optical and photography equipment, which registered growth of 30.9 percent, 29.3 percent and 25.3 percent, respectively, over the year-earlier figures.
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