Sony Mobile Communications, a mobile unit of Japanese electronics maker Sony Corp, said yesterday that it will launch a new smartphone supporting the long-term evolution (LTE) network for Taiwan’s market next month.
Unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, which ran from Tuesday to Friday last week, the Xperia Z1 Compact is the start of Sony Mobile’s plan to introduce a full range of 4G LTE phones in Taiwan this year, Sony Mobile’s Taiwan branch general manager Jonathan Lin (林志遠) said.
GLOBAL EXPANSION
The company has launched more than 10 LTE phones around the world since 2012, and feels it is now time to bring the product line to Taiwan to capitalize on the country’s 4G operations in the second half of the year, Lin said.
“2014 is the first year for Taiwan’s 4G operations, and Sony Mobile will certainly not be absent from this market,” he said at a media gathering.
‘WELL-BUILT’ PRODUCTS
The Japanese handset maker will also launch LTE phones supporting the 700MHz frequency band for the Taiwan market, including some “well-built” products, Lin said.
In late October last year, Taiwan’s telecom regulator, the National Communications Commission, granted 4G spectrum licenses to six companies: Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大), Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), Asia Pacific Telecom Co (亞太電信), subsidiaries of Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團) and Ting Hsin International Group (頂新國際集團).
NETWORK SHIFT
The six companies bid a total of NT$118.65 billion (US$3.95 billion), 3.3 times the floor price set by the government, for 270MHz of radio frequencies in the 700MHz, 900MHz and 1,800MHz spectrums for 4G services.
About 600,000 Taiwanese mobile subscribers are expected to shift from the current 3G network to 4G services this year when providers begin offering 4G services, market research company IDC said.
However, the number of 4G subscribers is projected to soar 13.5 times to 8.1 million people by next year, thanks to the improving quality of 4G services, IDC said in a report.
RECYCLE: Taiwan would aid manufacturers in refining rare earths from discarded appliances, which would fit the nation’s circular economy goals, minister Kung said Taiwan would work with the US and Japan on a proposed cooperation initiative in response to Beijing’s newly announced rare earth export curbs, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday. China last week announced new restrictions requiring companies to obtain export licenses if their products contain more than 0.1 percent of Chinese-origin rare earths by value. US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent on Wednesday responded by saying that Beijing was “unreliable” in its rare earths exports, adding that the US would “neither be commanded, nor controlled” by China, several media outlets reported. Japanese Minister of Finance Katsunobu Kato yesterday also
Taiwan’s rapidly aging population is fueling a sharp increase in homes occupied solely by elderly people, a trend that is reshaping the nation’s housing market and social fabric, real-estate brokers said yesterday. About 850,000 residences were occupied by elderly people in the first quarter, including 655,000 that housed only one resident, the Ministry of the Interior said. The figures have nearly doubled from a decade earlier, Great Home Realty Co (大家房屋) said, as people aged 65 and older now make up 20.8 percent of the population. “The so-called silver tsunami represents more than just a demographic shift — it could fundamentally redefine the
China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) said it expects peak season effects in the fourth quarter to continue to boost demand for passenger flights and cargo services, after reporting its second-highest-ever September sales on Monday. The carrier said it posted NT$15.88 billion (US$517 million) in consolidated sales last month, trailing only September last year’s NT$16.01 billion. Last month, CAL generated NT$8.77 billion from its passenger flights and NT$5.37 billion from cargo services, it said. In the first nine months of this year, the carrier posted NT$154.93 billion in cumulative sales, up 2.62 percent from a year earlier, marking the second-highest level for the January-September
‘DRAMATIC AND POSITIVE’: AI growth would be better than it previously forecast and would stay robust even if the Chinese market became inaccessible for customers, it said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday raised its full-year revenue growth outlook after posting record profit for last quarter, despite growing market concern about an artificial intelligence (AI) bubble. The company said it expects revenue to expand about 35 percent year-on-year, driven mainly by faster-than-expected demand for leading-edge chips for AI applications. The world’s biggest contract chipmaker in July projected that revenue this year would expand about 30 percent in US dollar terms. The company also slightly hiked its capital expenditure for this year to US$40 billion to US$42 billion, compared with US$38 billion to US$42 billion it set previously. “AI demand actually
RSS