Lenovo to shed jobs in China
Computer giant Lenovo said yesterday that it would cut nearly 450 jobs in China, in addition to 2,500 previously announced layoffs, amid falling demand due to the global economic crisis.
Lenovo did not specify which areas the 450 jobs would be cut from, only saying in a statement that they were roles that supported operations worldwide.
“While our business in China remains very strong, many of our global support functions have employees based in China,” chief executive Yang Yuanqing (楊元慶) said in the statement. “Although difficult, these reductions are a necessary part of our response to the global economic downturn.”
A spokeswoman said the China layoffs were on top of the 2,500 job cuts worldwide announced last month aimed at cutting US$300 million in costs for the coming fiscal year.
Lenovo recorded a net loss of US$97 million for the third quarter ending December as global demand slumped.
Windows 7 to ship this fall
Microsoft Corp will begin shipping its Windows 7 operating system in September or October, a computer executive said.
The new Windows operating system will boost sales of computers, Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) president Ray Chen (陳瑞聰) said at an investors’ conference at the company headquarters yesterday in Taipei.
Compal is the world’s second-biggest notebook-computer maker.
HP, Hon Hai to invest
Hewlett-Packard (HP) Co and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) will jointly invest US$60 million in a factory in Turkey, a Hon Hai executive said.
The factory will likely begin production of computers this year, Edmund Ding (丁啟安), spokesman for Taipei-based Hon Hai said yesterday, confirming a report in the Sabah Turkish-language newspaper on Tuesday. Ding declined to provide further details.
The electronics maker will hire 520 software engineers to work at the Kaohsiung Software Technology park by May 20, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.
Hon Hai will also sign cooperation agreements with several international companies early next month related to environmental protection and technology software products, the ministry said in a statement.
Hon Hai plans to develop wireless security management, Linux systems and applications, and wireless communications software at the park, the ministry said.
Fubon Financial eyes China
Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控), the country’s second-largest listed financial-services company, said its multimedia unit will invest US$15 million in a Chinese venture.
Fubon Multimedia Technology Co (富邦媒體科技) will invest in Beijing Fubon Media Co (北京富邦媒體) to manage its sales and international trade services business, the Taipei-based company said in a filing yesterday.
Fubon Multimedia was founded in 2004 as a venture with South Korea’s Woori group to operate a home-shopping television channel in Taiwan.
Yunlin group to visit Japan
Yunlin County Deputy Commissioner Lee Ying-yuan (李應元) said yesterday he will lead a group of farmers to Japan next month to promote the county’s farm produce and hopefully win more than NT$100 million (US$2.97 million) in deals.
Speaking at a news conference held at the Yunlin County Government’s headquarters, where some of the county’s farm products were also displayed, Lee said he hopes the trip will pave the way for local goods to break into Northeast Asian markets.
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