Far EasTone Telecommunications Co Ltd (遠傳電信), the nation’s No. 3 telecoms operator, said yesterday it intended to start offering Apple Inc’s popular iPhone on Saturday to cope with growing appetite for the device.
Bigger rival Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) is scheduled to launch the iPhone on the same day.
The launch will bring to an end Chunghwa Telecom Co’s (中華電信) exclusive right to sell the iPhone in Taiwan, which it obtained two years ago.
Far EasTone vice chairman Jan Nilsson told investors on Feb. 25 that the iPhone business model remained slightly questionable among telecoms operators.
“Their branding and attraction, however, is extremely strong, so it has become a necessity for telecoms companies to include the iPhone in their product portfolio,” Nilsson said.
Far EasTone launched a pre-selling in the middle of last month and has received more than 18,000 orders since, which greatly exceeded expectations, company spokesperson Alison Kao (高治華) said by telephone.
To address growing demand for bandwidth following the sales of data-oriented smartphones like iPhones, Far EasTone intends to increase its investment in network upgrades by about 34 percent to NT$8.6 billion (US$269.3 million) this year from NT$6.4 billion last year, Kao said.
Far EasTone yesterday posted a net income of NT$794 million for last month, up 5.6 percent from NT$752 million a year ago. Revenues, however, dropped 3.3 percent year-on-year to NT$4.68 billion last month from NT$4.84 billion.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
Industrial production expanded 22.31 percent annually last month to 107.51, as increases in demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove demand for locally-made chips and components. The manufacturing production index climbed 23.68 percent year-on-year to 108.37, marking the 14th consecutive month of increase, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. In the first four months of this year, industrial and manufacturing production indices expanded 14.31 percent and 15.22 percent year-on-year, ministry data showed. The growth momentum is to extend into this month, with the manufacturing production index expected to rise between 11 percent and 15.1 percent annually, Department of Statistics
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
RSS