The value of purchases made on mobile phones last year grew 365 percent to NT$4,629 (US$152.45) per person from NT$994 the previous year, as more shoppers in Taiwan placed orders using handheld devices, the Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute (MIC, 資策會) said in a report yesterday.
The average value of purchases on PCs last year was much higher at NT$17,427 per person, but experienced a significantly milder increase of 1.3 percent from the NT$17,203 the previous year, the report showed.
“There is a growing trend of more people using their handheld devices to buy electronic products or clothing online,” MIC analyst Chen Ying-chu (陳映竹) said in a report.
Chen said online shopping is becoming increasingly individualized, compared to the “group buying” offered by many early adopters of mobile shopping sites or apps, which involves offering products at significantly reduced prices on the condition that a minimum number of buyers make the purchase.
The institute’s report was compiled based on a survey of 4,073 online shoppers aged 20 or above that was conducted in January and February.
The poll showed that the number of respondents who bought products using handheld devices or mobile apps last year increased by between 3 and 4 percent annually to account for 8.6 percent and 7.6 percent of total online shoppers respectively.
Respondents who said they surf the Internet every day spent about 2.6 hours daily searching for information on various Web sites last year, 0.4 hours of which was devoted to “window-shopping” at e-commerce sites, the survey said.
“It is understandable that more people buy online because most e-commerce sites make the shopping process simpler and quicker,” Chen said, citing the average of 20 minutes it takes online shoppers to complete a purchase.
As telecom operators prepare to launch 4G services as early as the second half of the year, the popularity of online shopping is likely to continue increasing this year from last year, the MIC said.
JITTERS: Nexperia has a 20 percent market share for chips powering simpler features such as window controls, and changing supply chains could take years European carmakers are looking into ways to scratch components made with parts from China, spooked by deepening geopolitical spats playing out through chipmaker Nexperia BV and Beijing’s export controls on rare earths. To protect operations from trade ructions, several automakers are pushing major suppliers to find permanent alternatives to Chinese semiconductors, people familiar with the matter said. The industry is considering broader changes to its supply chain to adapt to shifting geopolitics, Europe’s main suppliers lobby CLEPA head Matthias Zink said. “We had some indications already — questions like: ‘How can you supply me without this dependency on China?’” Zink, who also
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) received about NT$147 billion (US$4.71 billion) in subsidies from the US, Japanese, German and Chinese governments over the past two years for its global expansion. Financial data compiled by the world’s largest contract chipmaker showed the company secured NT$4.77 billion in subsidies from the governments in the third quarter, bringing the total for the first three quarters of the year to about NT$71.9 billion. Along with the NT$75.16 billion in financial aid TSMC received last year, the chipmaker obtained NT$147 billion in subsidies in almost two years, the data showed. The subsidies received by its subsidiaries —
At least US$50 million for the freedom of an Emirati sheikh: That is the king’s ransom paid two weeks ago to militants linked to al-Qaeda who are pushing to topple the Malian government and impose Islamic law. Alongside a crippling fuel blockade, the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has made kidnapping wealthy foreigners for a ransom a pillar of its strategy of “economic jihad.” Its goal: Oust the junta, which has struggled to contain Mali’s decade-long insurgency since taking power following back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, by scaring away investors and paralyzing the west African country’s economy.
RE100 INITIATIVE: Exporters need sufficient supplies of renewable energy to meet their global commitments and remain competitive, the economics ministry said Local export-oriented manufacturers, including Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), require sufficient supplies of green energy to maintain their competitiveness and regulations already ensure that renewable energy development adheres to environmental protection principles, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday, as the legislature imposed further restrictions on solar panel installations. The opposition-led Legislative Yuan yesterday passed third readings to proposed amendments to three acts — the Environmental Impact Assessment Act (環境影響評估法), the Act for the Development of Tourism (發展觀光條例) and the Geology Act (地質法) — which would largely prohibit the construction of solar panels in some areas. The amendments stipulate that ground-mounted solar
RSS