■ FOOD
Units buy Want Want shares
Uni-President Enterprises Corp (統一企業), Taiwan’s biggest food company, said two units bought a combined 0.98 percent stake in Want Want China Holdings Ltd (旺旺中國控股) for HK$401 million (US$51 million). The units bought about 132 million Want Want China shares at a price range of between HK$3.03 and HK$3.05 apiece from April 1 until Friday, the Taipei-based food company said in two separate filings on the TAIEX. The two units are President (BVI) International Investment Holdings Ltd and Uni-President China Holdings Ltd. Shanghai-based Want Want China is the country’s largest maker of rice cakes and flavored milk.
■ REAL ESTATE
Transactions up 11 percent
Real estate transactions in Taipei City were up by 11 percent in the first quarter compared with the last three months of last year, a sign of rebounding confidence in the local housing market. The figures released by the city government showed that the number of properties bought and sold in January had reached its highest level since the second month of last year. Real estate brokers said the figures showed that the confidence of residents of Taipei in the local housing market had recovered and that this trend should continue. Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) president Yeh Ling-chi (葉凌棋) said that online surveys conducted by his company after the January legislative elections and the presidential election last month showed that a growing number of residents were optimistic about the housing market.
■ TELECOMS
eBay may sell Skype
EBay Inc is considering selling its Skype Internet telephone division unless it can be combined with other units, the company said. EBay will review Skype this year to see if it is helping its online auction and PayPal systems, eBay chief executive John Donahoe told the Financial Times on Friday. If the results don’t pan out, the company would take a new look at the situation. This could lead to selling Skype, the report said. But Donahoe dismissed reports that eBay wanted to sell the internet payment system PayPal, which Donahoe said brings huge advantages to eBay and which the company wants to hold on to “for many years,” Donahoe said.
■ TELECOMS
AT&T announces cuts
US telecommunications giant AT&T Inc said on Friday it will reduce its workforce by 1.5 percent, primarily among management employees, as part of a plan to streamline operations. The company said it expects to take a pre-tax charge of US$374 million during the first quarter related to the job cuts. AT&T said that despite the layoffs, which represent about 4,500 employees, the overall headcount was expected to remain stable this year, as it plans to hire additional employees to support growth areas.
■ INTERNET
Europeans not all Web savvy
Europe is home to some of the most Internet-savvy countries in the world: the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland. But 40 percent of EU citizens never use the Internet at all, the European Commission said on Friday, meaning many people risk being left behind as more public and commercial services go online. About two-thirds of Romanians, Bulgarians and Greeks are strangers to the online world. Elderly people, those out of work and those with less education are more likely to be offline, an EU report said, telling European governments to work harder to close the gaps.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
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