INTERNET
E-commerce rise ‘inevitable’
Taiwan’s e-commerce market will soar over the next few years, as the online shopping sector rapidly develops in line with global trends, the Institute for Information Industry (資策會) said on Saturday. Growing at an annual rate of about 20 percent, revenue from local e-commerce transactions reached NT$767.3 billion (US$25.7 billion) last year, and is expected to exceed NT$1 trillion next year, the Taipei-based institute said in a research note. Mobile e-commerce has especially great potential, as about 18 percent of local Internet users surf the Web via their mobile devices, including tablet computers and smartphones, the institute said. And about 30 percent of the public uses smartphones for commerce, communications and social networking, it said. With the increasing popularity of handheld devices, “the trend of mobile e-commerce is inevitable,” the institute said.
TRADE
TAITRA relishes Seoul sales
The Taiwanese pavilion at this year’s International Food Industry Exhibition in Seoul generated US$13.25 million in business before the show closed on Friday, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) said yesterday. This year, 24 enterprises from the farm produce and food sectors took part in the fair, showcasing a wide variety of quality products, TAITRA said. The displays focused on safety, health, good taste and convenience, it said. Among the featured products was frozen seafood, one of Taiwan’s main exports to South Korea, TAITRA said. It said potential buyers were most interested in snack foods, including processed seafood and seaweed items. Taiwanese companies held talks with 672 buyers and secured US$13.25 million worth of transactions during the four-day fair, TAITRA 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
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