China’s biggest e-reader maker, Hanvon Technology Co (漢王科技), yesterday said it will launch a Taiwanese subsidiary on Sept. 28.
Located at Taipei 101, it will have a workforce of 70 to 80 carrying out research and development, as well as sales, said Chen Shaoqiang (陳少強), president of Hanvon’s resources management division.
The commencement of local operations will also include the debut of its online bookstore, which will allow owners of Hanvon e-readers to download books onto their devices, Chen told reporters on the sidelines of a cross-strait digital content exchange forum.
The company is ready to roll out its first e-reader — a 6-inch monochrome model — in Taiwan next month. Chen said it would be “competitively priced.”
He said Hanvon currently has difficulty shipping enough e-readers to meet strong demand in China and Hong Kong and would continue to speed up production outsourcing to Taiwanese partners.
Hanvon chairman Liu Yingjian (劉迎建) has said the company’s e-reader shipments will surpass 1 million units this year, nearly quadruple last year’s 266,000 units.
The Chinese firm is the world’s second-largest e-reader maker after Amazon and Liu vows to take the crown by 2012 at the latest.
To meet shipment goals, Hanvon has outsourced production to Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), Pegatron Corp (和碩), Inventec Corp (英業達) and Clevo Co (藍天電腦).
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