Asustek aiming higher
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), the world's biggest motherboard maker, yesterday said it aimed to sell 30 percent more own-brand laptop computers during the annual computer applications show in Taipei.
Asustek aimed to sell between 91,000 and 100,000 PCs this year, up from 7,000 to 8,000 units last year, Benson Lin (林宗樑), general manager of Asustek's Asia-Pacific division, told reporters yesterday.
The company hoped to increase PC sales by 30 percent annually in Taiwan, Lin said.
The Taipei Computer Applications Show will be held from tomorrow through Monday at Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall 1.
Merrill Lynch smiles on Media
Investment research firm Merrill Lynch yesterday raised the target price of Mediatek Inc (聯發科) to NT$700 (US$21.27), up 13 percent, from NT$619 amid expectations that the chip designer will project a positive outlook for the third quarter at tomorrow's shareholder meeting.
"We are continuously surprised by Mediatek's solid execution and the company keeps delivering positive feedback on its new products such as Bluetooth, Wifi and GPS," Merrill Lynch said in a report released yesterday.
Merrill Lynch expects Mediatek, the world's biggest chipmaker of DVD recorders, to lead revenue growth of 15 percent to 20 percent for the third quarter on strong demand from China's handset market.
China Motor ships to Mexico
China Motor Corp (中華汽車), the nation's second-largest automaker, shipped 200 units of Delica vans to Mexico on Saturday, marking the company's latest batch of exported vehicles. Mexican drivers will be able to take a ride in the vans at the end of this month, China Motor said in a statement Monday.
China Motor has received an order to produce a total of 2,400 Delica vans by December, it said.
The deal calls for at least 4,000 units to be made each year starting from next year, making it the largest ever export project for China Motor, according to the statement.
In addition to Delica, the carmaker is talking to Chrysler Group over local assembling of other models in a bid to utilize production capacity and boost profits in view of sluggish local sales.
Nien Made receives buyout offer
Nien Made Enterprise Co (億豐), a Taiwanese maker of blinds and shutters, said it received a NT$18 billion (US$549 million) buyout offer.
Nien Made, whose share price surged 28 percent this month, said Global Viewcomp Holdings BV offered to take over the company for NT$41.28 per share, 14 percent higher than the closing price yesterday, according to a statement to the Taiwan stock exchange. It didn't disclose information about the bidder.
CVC Asia Pacific Ltd, owned by London-based buyout fund CVC Capital Partners and New York-based Citigroup Inc, has teamed up with Nien Made's management to make the offer through Global Viewcomp, two people familiar with the matter said.
Citigroup Inc is advising CVC on the transaction, they said, declining to be named because of a confidentiality agreement.
Nien Made's Taichung-based vice president, Michael Nien, couldn't be reached for comment. James Griffiths, Citigroup's Hong Kong-based spokesman, declined to comment.
The offer will be open until Sept. 18. The stock rose 7 percent yesterday to NT$38.85.
The first-quarter profit for Nien Made rose 23 percent to NT$326.5 million.
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