The nation’s largest hypermarket chain, Carrefour Taiwan (家樂福), said it expects sales during this year’s mid-year anniversary sale to increase by between 10 percent and 20 percent, despite a cautious mood among consumers amid upcoming increases in domestic fuel and electricity prices.
The Cabinet announced yesterday that it would raise domestic fuel prices next month and raise electricity prices in July to fully reflect the rise in international fuel costs.
With the increasing inflationary pressure, consumers have become more conservative about purchasing and are choosing to buy cheaper goods, especially at hypermarket chains, where they can get better deals, an official at Carrefour Taiwan said yesterday.
“This is in fact the best time for Carrefour Taiwan to launch our mid-year anniversary sale,” Dream Lin (林夢紹), the retailer’s public relations manager, said via telephone.
Lin said the mid-anniversary sale is very important to Carrefour Taiwan, as it will be an indicator of whether consumers have become more willing to spend money, which will affect the retailer’s performance in the second half of the year.
Meanwhile, Lin said Carrefour Taiwan’s self-branded products have become increasingly popular among consumers recently as they are on average 10 percent to 15 percent cheaper than brand products. Furthermore, the improved quality of Carrefour Taiwan’s self-branded products over the last two years has helped rid them of their stereotype “cheapskate products” tag, Lin said.
Far Eastern Geant Co (愛買), the nation’s third-largest hypermarket chain, also expects sales during its mid-year anniversary sale from May 22 to June 10 to rise 10 percent, as consumers are likely to head for hypermarkets instead of convenience stores, Henry Yin (尹皓), the retailer’s public relations assistant manager, said by phone yesterday.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS