Microsoft Corp’s tablet PC could be available in Taiwan late this month, which could heat up the competitive, fast-growing tablet market.
The Surface RT, which uses the Windows RT operating system, will go on sale this month in Taiwan, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia and Singapore, Microsoft announced in a statement on its Web site on Thursday.
Windows RT is designed for models using low-power chips licensed by British chip designer ARM Holding PLC.
Microsoft announced on Oct. 16 last year that the price of its 10.6-inch Surface RT would start at US$499 for a 32GB version in select countries, which is similar to the entry price of Apple Inc’s new iPad with a 16GB storage capacity.
It remains to be seen whether tablet PCs using the Windows operating system will steal a meaningful share from Apple, which has dominated the tablet market, analysts said.
According to Gartner Inc, iPad shipments reached 76.2 million units last year, accounting for 58 percent of the global market.
The global tablet market is forecast to grow to 193.5 million units this year, up 47 percent from 131.4 million units last year, the firm said.
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
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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