Despite having prototypes ready, the world’s second-largest PC maker Acer Inc (宏碁) yesterday said it would not rush onto the e-reader bandwagon for now, as it was still studying the feasibility of a successful business model and a total product solution.
The size of the e-reader market is not that big and the industry has yet to come up with a proven business model, Acer chairman Wang Jeng-tang (王振堂) told reporters yesterday.
Acer is watching whether the public would embrace e-readers and from a profitability standpoint, the company is not ready to launch e-readers, despite having the hardware ready, Wang said.
Last month, electronics maker BenQ Corp (明基) and publisher Yuan-Liou Publishing Co (遠流出版) debuted e-readers in Taipei.
Meanwhile, Acer is expecting a decrease in notebook shipments this quarter of 5 percent, from the earlier projected 10 percent decrease.
New laptop products in the pipeline include a less than 2cm-thick consumer ultra-low voltage (CULV) model, and another running on Intel Corp’s next generation of Core microprocessors.
Wang said the inferior computing power of CULV models has been holding them back, but that the new Core processors would resolve the issue by offering better computation as well as a long-lasting battery life.
The company projects that the commercial PC segment will see an upturn starting in the second half of the year, especially in emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India, China and Indonesia.
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV yesterday said that it has reached an agreement to acquire a subsidiary brewery of Taiwan’s Sanyo Whisbih Group (三洋維士比集團). Heineken is to assume majority ownership and management rights of the Long Chuan Zuan Co (龍泉鑽興業) brewery in Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔), the Dutch company said. It would become the first multinational brewing company to operate brewery in Taiwan once the acquisition is completed. The deal has been approved by the Ministry of Economic Affairs’ Investment Commission, but details of the financial transaction cannot be disclosed at this time, as terms of the settlement have not been completed,
LOOK WHO OWES: China’s exposure to Taiwanese banks was the second-largest, with Luxembourg third, followed by Hong Kong and Japan, the central bank said The US remained the largest debtor country to Taiwan’s banking sector for a 27th consecutive quarter in the first quarter of this year, with its exposure rising 8.3 percent from a quarter earlier on the back of an increase in US bonds, the central bank said on Friday. Data compiled by the central bank showed that outstanding international claims by Taiwanese banks on a direct risk basis to the US stood at US$125.38 billion as of the end of March. Department of Financial Inspection deputy head Pan Ya-hui (潘雅慧) said that the US Federal Reserve’s launch of a rate hike cycle in
GREEN CITY: The company is set to invest US$8 billion to make electric vehicles and batteries for a new city that would rely entirely on renewable energy sources Indonesia said that Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is considering investing in the country’s new capital city, a move that would bolster the US$34 billion construction project. Hon Hai, which is known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), is looking at setting up an electric bus system and an Internet of Things network at Nusantara, as Indonesia’s new capital is to be called, Indonesian Minister of Investment Bahlil Lahadalia said in a statement yesterday. Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Saturday to discuss the company’s plan to invest US$8 billion to build a manufacturing plant
WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY: Costco Wholesale said it expected the purchase of the remaining 45 percent stake to add 1 to 1.5 percent to its earnings per share US-based Costco Wholesale Corp on Thursday said that it had purchased the remaining 45 percent stake in Costco President Taiwan Inc (台灣好市多) for US$1.05 billion, making the local company a fully-owned unit. “We estimate that the purchase would add about 1 to 1.5 percent to [our] earnings per share,” Costco said in a statement. Costco President Taiwan was established as a joint venture with Kaohsiung-based President Group (大統集團), which held a 45 percent stake. Since the first Costco store opened in Kaohsiung in 1997, 14 outlets have been set up in Taiwan, company data showed. PROFITABLE Three Costco stores in Taiwan — in Taipei’s Neihu
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