NOTEBOOKS
Sales to drop 12 percent
The world’s nine major notebook computer makers including Apple Inc, Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) are expected to ship about 12 percent fewer notebooks than expected this year, triggering a landscape change in the industry, NPD DisplaySearch said in a report released two weeks ago. The nine laptop brands supply 82 percent of the world’s demand, the US researcher said. The researcher said those notebook makers are expected to ship 134 million units this year, instead of 152 million units as it previously estimated. Jeff Lin, an analyst of NPD DisplaySearch, said shrinking demand and Intel Corp’s delay in launching its new Broadwell chip were the main reasons behind the reduction. Lin also said Samsung Electronics is expected to reduce its shipments, which will help boost HP’s, Lenovo Group’s (聯想) and Asustek’s market share in Europe.
PHOTONICS
Output grew 9 percent
The output value of optoelectronics for medical use in Taiwan grew an average of 9 percent per year the past two years to total NT$21.5 billion (US$707 million) last year, statistics released on Saturday showed. The Photonics Industry and Technology Development Association (PIDA, 光電協進會) said the growth was largely driven by local manufacturers’ sales to the US and Japan. The US accounted for 26 percent and Japan 28 percent of Taiwan’s total exports of optoelectronics for medical use between 2008 and last year, the association said. The growth in optoelectronics for medical use largely reflected vendors’ efforts to launch sophisticated medical devices, while rising demand for homecare services also boosted production of particular optoelectronic devices.
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
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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