FIH to close India factory
FIH Mobile Ltd (富智康), a unit of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), confirmed on Friday that its mobile handset facility in India is to cease operations on Wednesday next week, citing limited orders and a changing clientele. The facility opened in 2006 to manufacture printed circuit boards and mobile device components.
FIH said in a statement that the company is working with the government and labor unions to ensure that its move follows all laws and regulations and is fair to affected employees.
The Chennai plant, which employs 1,700 people, was said to be heavily dependent on Nokia Oyj for its business and begin running into trouble after Nokia suspended its operations in the region.
Wintek to cut 2,360 employees
Financially troubled touchpanel maker Wintek Corp (勝華) on Friday said its board had agreed to lay off 2,360 employees in its latest restructuring, after cutting 610 jobs earlier this month.
The company said it would hand out pink slips to the affected employees with a severance package stipulated in the Labor Standards Act (勞基法). The company plans to lay off these employees in stages and not at once, Wintek said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Wintek said it is possible that the company might hire back a small number in the future, but it will relocate its back-end touch module production lines to Vietnam.
The company is restructuring its business after incurring losses for years amid falling orders and intensifying competition. Trading of its shares has been suspended since Nov. 19.
Taiwan ranks top in ADB index
Taiwan was ranked the best performer in the knowledge-based economy in Asia earlier this year by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), according to the National Development Council.
In ADB’s April report titled Innovative Asia: Advancing the Knowledge-based Economy, Taiwan scored 8.77 on a 10-point scale in the Knowledge Economy Index used by the World Bank.
The nation’s score was much higher than the average of 4.28 for Asia and even beat the average of 8.25 among the developed nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
The council attributed the high ranking to Taiwanese businesses that have raised their investments to build up intellectual property portfolios instead of pouring funds into manufacturing equipment.
China’s growth to slow
China is likely to see economic expansion next year decelerate to 7.1 percent as a slowdown in real-estate investment continues, but the outlook for employment and inflation remains stable, People’s Bank of China research center lead economist Ma Jun (馬軍) wrote in a working paper issued on Friday.
The growth projection compares with the monetary authority’s forecast for 7.4 percent expansion this year, the slowest pace since 1990. Bloomberg’s GDP tracker came in at 6.78 percent year-on-year last month, down from 6.91 percent in October and the fourth month below 7 percent, according to a preliminary reading.
Export growth is forecast to hit 6.9 percent next year, while consumer price index inflation will be 2.2 percent, the report said.
Evergreen sells containers
Evergreen Marine Corp (長榮海運), the nation’s largest container shipper in terms of fleet size, on Friday said it had sold containers to TG Worldwide Co Ltd for NT$1.182 billion (US$37.18 million) with gains of US$30.67 million.
The company might see the gains by the end of the year, Evergreen Marine said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Evergreen Marine posted a net profit of NT$319.37 million, or NT$0.09 per share, in the first three quarters of the year, compared with a net loss of NT$2.19 billion, or NT$0.63 per share, recorded in the same period last year.
Inventec shipments to drop
Contract laptop maker Inventec Corp (英業達) said last week that shipments of notebook computers this month would drop from last month, as clients are adjusting inventories.
The company shipped 1.6 million notebook computers last month, better than October’s 1.5 million units, the company said on Thursday.
Last month, Inventec posted monthly revenues of NT$39.19 billion, down 12.13 percent year-on-year, but up 6.43 month-on-month.
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