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.
Shares in Taiwan closed at a new high yesterday, the first trading day of the new year, as contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) continued to break records amid an artificial intelligence (AI) boom, dealers said. The TAIEX closed up 386.21 points, or 1.33 percent, at 29,349.81, with turnover totaling NT$648.844 billion (US$20.65 billion). “Judging from a stronger Taiwan dollar against the US dollar, I think foreign institutional investors returned from the holidays and brought funds into the local market,” Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺) said. “Foreign investors just rebuilt their positions with TSMC as their top target,
REVENUE PERFORMANCE: Cloud and network products, and electronic components saw strong increases, while smart consumer electronics and computing products fell Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted 26.51 percent quarterly growth in revenue for last quarter to NT$2.6 trillion (US$82.44 billion), the strongest on record for the period and above expectations, but the company forecast a slight revenue dip this quarter due to seasonal factors. On an annual basis, revenue last quarter grew 22.07 percent, the company said. Analysts on average estimated about NT$2.4 trillion increase. Hon Hai, which assembles servers for Nvidia Corp and iPhones for Apple Inc, is expanding its capacity in the US, adding artificial intelligence (AI) server production in Wisconsin and Texas, where it operates established campuses. This
US President Donald Trump on Friday blocked US photonics firm HieFo Corp’s US$3 million acquisition of assets in New Jersey-based aerospace and defense specialist Emcore Corp, citing national security and China-related concerns. In an order released by the White House, Trump said HieFo was “controlled by a citizen of the People’s Republic of China” and that its 2024 acquisition of Emcore’s businesses led the US president to believe that it might “take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States.” The order did not name the person or detail Trump’s concerns. “The Transaction is hereby prohibited,”
Garment maker Makalot Industrial Co (聚陽) yesterday reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue of NT$7.93 billion (US$251.44 million), down 9.48 percent from NT$8.76 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, revenue fell 10.83 percent from NT$8.89 billion, company data showed. The figure was also lower than market expectations of NT$8.05 billion, according to data compiled by Yuanta Securities Investment and Consulting Co (元大投顧), which had projected NT$8.22 billion. Makalot’s revenue this quarter would likely increase by a mid-teens percentage as the industry is entering its high season, Yuanta said. Overall, Makalot’s revenue last year totaled NT$34.43 billion, down 3.08 percent from its record NT$35.52
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