Taiwan’s five major convenience store chains had a total of 9,204 outlets nationwide at the end of last year, giving it the highest density of convenience stores in the world, with each store serving 2,500 people, the Fair Trade Commission said yesterday.
Of the total number of stores, 14.3 percent were company-owned outlets, while franchise stores accounted for 85.7 percent of the total, the commission’s tallies showed.
The commission attributed the large number of franchise stores to the relatively low cost and low investment risk.
President Chain Store Corp’s (統一超商) 7-Eleven had the largest market share, with 4,800 outlets last year, followed by Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家便利商店), the country’s second-largest convenience store chain with 2,324 outlets.
This was followed by Hi-Life International Co (萊爾富) with 1,236 stores, OK Mart Co’s (來來超商) 824 convenience stores and 20 stores operated by Taiwan Sugar Corp (台糖), the survey found.
The number of new convenience stores declined, with the growth rate falling to 1.47 percent last year from 25.38 percent recorded in 1999, mainly because of economic sluggishness, store mergers and emerging market saturation, the commission said.
The number of convenience stores nationwide saw a record-high net increase of 1,002 in 1999, which had fallen to 133 by last year, the commission’s tallies showed.
The commission said that despite market saturation, there was still room for expansion, as the five chains still reported net increases in their store numbers last year.
Separately, the Executive Yuan yesterday approved a service industry development program aimed at boosting the industry’s GDP to NT$11 trillion (US$333.8 billion) by 2012 and its exports to 1.2 percent of the global total by the same year.
The Council for Economic Planning and Development, which drafted the plan, said in a report submitted to a Cabinet meeting yesterday that a lack of simulation abilities made Taiwan’s service industry import-centered rather than export-oriented.
Last year, the export value of the industry stood at US$33.8 billion, which accounted for 0.9 percent of the global total and ranked 28th in the world.
In 2007, the sector’s R&D spending was less than 0.2 percent of its GDP, far lower than the 7 percent recorded in the manufacturing sector, the council said.
The council said that more should be spent in this area to boost the sector’s international competitiveness, improve R&D and innovation performance, create platforms for differentiated services, strengthen talent recruitment and nurture development potential.
The government should guide domestic service providers toward tapping overseas markets and help them overcome barriers to market access by lifting and easing regulations and restrictions, it said.
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
CUSTOMERS’ BURDEN: TSMC already has operations in the US and is a foundry, so any tariff increase would mostly affect US customers, not the company, the minister said Taiwanese manufacturers are “not afraid” of US tariffs, but are concerned about being affected more heavily than regional economic competitors Japan and South Korea, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said. “Taiwan has many advantages that other countries do not have, the most notable of which is its semiconductor ecosystem,” Kuo said. The US “must rely on Taiwan” to boost its microchip manufacturing capacities, Kuo said in an interview ahead of his one-year anniversary in office tomorrow. Taiwan has submitted a position paper under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act to explain the “complementary relationship” between Taiwan and the US
RSS