Hi-Life to join Sunda Post
Hi-Life International Co (萊爾富), the nation's third-largest convenience store chain, yesterday announced an alliance with the private postal firm Sunda Post (上大郵通) to offer 24-hour mail collection services. With no more than 100 units, the mail would only be charged NT$3 each when each unit weighs under 100g, said Hi-Life, which offers such services in its 1,300 outlets nationwide.
The new service would greatly benefit restaurants, clothing stores and hair salons for mailing a large amount of coupons, or insurance and direct selling firms when mailing catalogues and flysheets, it added.
Before the service is available, Sunda Post would have to pick up mail at its customers' places for delivery as only the state-run Taiwan Post Co (臺灣郵政) has mailboxes set up on the streets.
Minicar recall excludes orders
Those who had placed orders for Smart ForTwo minicars need not to worry, as the latest recall did not affect them, the Taiwan branch of German-US automaker DaimlerChrysler said yesterday.
"Pre-order of the cars started in April and we haven't yet brought them to Taiwan's market, except for one test drive unit," a company's public relation source said.
The orders, currently amount to around 20 units, will be delivered only starting from next month, so buyers could be rest assured their cars are not affected by the problem, she said.
Worldwide, DaimlerChrysler will recall 1,650 Smart ForTwo minicars to check for steering problems.
Ministry gives go-ahead
Minister of Economic Affairs Steve Chen (陳瑞隆) yesterday confirmed that the ministry will give the go-ahead to Chinese investment projects from four chip testers and packagers in a regular review this week -- Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (ASE, 日月光半導體), Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密), Greatek Electronics Inc (超豐) and Walton Advanced Engineering Inc (華東科技).
Chen said government official across the board found their investments would not bring a negative impact on local industry. Besides, those companies promised to invest more in their operation at home, he said.
CEPD approves power plants
The Council for Economic Planning and Development has approved a Ministry of Economic Affairs proposal to build offshore wind power plants, a spokesman said yesterday.
Taiwan theoretically has about 9 million kilowatts of potential wind power in costal areas, but only 1.2 million kilowatts of offshore wind power are exploitable after various restrictions are excluded, the spokesman said.
In order to ensure steady development, the government decided to implement the project in several phases, with the maximum wind power projected for the first phase set at 300,000kw.
IT firms to tour Vietnam
A delegation of Taiwanese computer firms is scheduled to make a five-day visit to Vietnam from July 1 to July 5 to seek new trade opportunities.
According to the Taipei Computer Association (TCA, 台北市電腦公會), the delegation will be headed by TCA board member Wang Chao-chun (王超群), chairman of Taipei-based LEO Systems Inc (國眾). Members of the group include senior executives of more than 10 companies in the information technology sector such as Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Tatung Co (大同) and Syscom Computer Engineering Co (凌群電腦).
During the delegation's stay in Ho Chih Minh City, it will attend a trade fair and visit IT-related associations and companies.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Taiwan’s property market is entering a freeze, with mortgage activity across the nation’s six largest cities plummeting in the first quarter, H&B Realty Co (住商不動產) said yesterday, citing mounting pressure on housing demand amid tighter lending rules and regulatory curbs. Mortgage applications in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung totaled 28,078 from January to March, a sharp 36.3 percent decline from 44,082 in the same period last year, the nation’s largest real-estate brokerage by franchise said, citing data from the Joint Credit Information Center (JCIC, 聯徵中心). “The simultaneous decline across all six cities reflects just how drastically the market
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer