NOTEBOOKS
Rise in shipments predicted
Global shipments of touch-enabled notebooks will show a sharp rise in the current half of the year as more consumers get into the habit of using portable devices with touch functions, according to a forecast by DisplaySearch. The market research firm forecast that 13.6 million touch notebooks would be shipped in the second half of this year, accounting for about 15 percent of all notebook computers shipped. That is up from 6.2 million units shipped and a 7 percent share in the January to June period, DisplaySearch said in a research note. Though the penetration rate of touch notebooks remains low even with the strong growth in the category, DisplaySearch said the product would become more popular over time because of growing consumer familiarity with touch-enabled portable devices. Touch-enabled notebooks are expected to have a 40 percent share of the overall notebook market by 2017, with annual shipments of 64.2 million units, the firm said.
BUSINESS
Izzo to retain ECCT role
The European Chamber of Commerce Taiwan (ECCT) has announced that Giuseppe Izzo will serve as chairman of its board of directors next year for a second consecutive year. Izzo, general manager of local operations at STMicroelectronics Ltd, was elected by the new board of directors at their first meeting, following the chamber’s annual general meeting on Friday, the ECCT said in an e-mailed statement. Next year’s 15-director board and five supervisors were voted into office at the annual general meeting by ECCT members. With more than US$32 billion in direct foreign investments, European business remains the largest group of foreign investors in Taiwan.
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