‘Entertainment zone’ mooted
New Taipei City (新北市) Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday that he “would not reject” the idea of setting up an entertainment complex in the city based on the Las Vegas model if certain conditions could be met.
Chu said the idea, proposed earlier in the day by Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團) chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘), would require policy planning from the central government and the passing of related bills by the legislature.
Gou suggested that a special casino area with convention and exhibition facilities be set up in New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水) to boost the economy.
Chu described Gou’s vision of an “entertainment zone” as differing from proposed “casino zones” on outlying islands by combining tourism, high-end consumer products, restaurants, exhibitions and convention and recreation facilities. He said that the city would be the best place to accommodate such a zone, but that it would not necessarily have to be located in Tamsui.
AU settles AT&T case
AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) said yesterday that it has fully settled its price-fixing lawsuit with AT&T Inc and has accounted for the settlement in its fourth-quarter financial statement of last year.
It was AUO’s first direct comment on the case since the 9th Circuit US Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled on Thursday last week that US phone carrier AT&T had won partial reinstatement of its price-fixing lawsuit against AUO and other makers of LCD panels.
The ruling reversed a lower court’s partial dismissal of the AT&T lawsuit. The lawsuit, first filed in October 2009, was one of many civil antitrust suits brought against Asian manufacturers of LCD panels, including Samsung Electronics Co, LG Display Co and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd (中華映管). AUO said the partial reinstatement of the case by the federal appeals court is still awaiting reconsideration by the US District Court of the Northern District of California.
The company said it had fully settled the case with AT&T and has written the NT$3.3 billion (US$111.22 million) settlement into its financial statement
MOF plans more auctions
The Ministry of Finance (MOF) said yesterday that its National Property Administration has been holding rental auctions of state-owned properties since September last year, generating NT$8.95 million.
A total of 10 plots of land and six buildings were sold off during the 11 auctions, the administration said in a statement.
The administration plans to accelerate rental auctions this year by holding at least 15 auctions in each half of the year, administration Deputy Director-General Lee Jeng-tzong (李政宗) said.
The auctions are expected to generate NT$80 million for the national coffers, as well as some tax income, Lee said.
PlayStation Vita price cut
Sony said yesterday it was slashing the price on its hand-held PlayStation Vita console in Japan by as much as one-third as the electronics giant and its rivals face stiff competition from online games.
The company said its 3G/Wi-Fi model would sell for ¥19,980 (US$210) from later this month, down from the current ¥29,980, with the price of the Wi-Fi model also reduced to ¥19,980 from the current ¥24,980.
Sony is expected later this month to announce the successor to its popular PlayStation 3 home game console.
NT dollar up against greenback
The New Taiwan dollar gained ground against the US dollar yesterday, rising NT$0.041 to close at NT$29.709. Turnover totaled US$795 million during the session.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last