C-Media Electronics Inc (
"We are targeting the largest online music retailer in the Greater China area," Rod Lin (
Taipei-based C-Media said in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Monday that it would invest NT$100 million (US$3.05 million) in an online music company, which Lin confirmed to be Kuro, run by Fashionow Taiwan Inc (
C-Media and company chairman Cheng Chi-cheng (
Cheng will take over the chairmanship of Kuro, while Kuro's chief executive James Chen (
Encouraged by Apple Computer's overwhelming success in bundling its iPod music player and iTunes music store, C-Media is working with Dem Inc (
Kuro started to sell "Kuro Neo" players, also designed by Dem, for its subscribers at the end of last year. But with C-Media's know-how in manufacturing computer audio products, the company hoped to upgrade the player, as well as to introduce USB powered speakers, audio controllers and other devices that would strengthen the audio quality, Lin said.
As the local market is small, C-Media also plans to boost Kuro's presence in China by cooperating with IGRS Information Industry Association (閃聯) -- a semi-official organization established in 2003 by five of the biggest Chinese computer and electronics companies including Lenovo Group Ltd (
Wang Song-ching (
"But we have established brand recognition in the market, which is a bonus for the expansion," Wang said.
But before the new music store can run smoothly, Kuro needs to solve a lawsuit filed by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) in Taiwan against the company.
Kuro's chairman, chief executive and president, were found guilty of violating intellectual property rights by the Taipei District Court in September last year, and the trio were sentenced to two to three years in prison and fined NT$3 million each.
Kuro had 500,000 members in its heyday, but this declined to 200,000 after the legal dispute and now stands at around 400,000.
Wang said the company has been negotiating with IFPI Taiwan and record labels regarding the settlement and music authorization, hoping to allow users to start swapping music files legally in the platform as soon as possible.
As the new owner of Kuro, Lin said C-Media was also in talks with IFPI on the settlement, but declined to elaborate.
Shares of C-Media dropped NT$6.5 to close at NT$176.5 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
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