ELECTRONICS
Asustek tabs No. 2 in Japan
Taiwan’s Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) beat Sony Corp of Japan and NEC Lenovo Group (聯想) of China to come in second in Japan’s tablet market in the third quarter thanks to low-priced products, according to tech research firm IDC Japan. In the July-September quarter, Asustek made up 16.4 percent of overall tablet shipments to be the second-most popular in Japan, up from a 10.8 percent share and the No. 4 position in the previous quarter, IDC Japan’s data showed. Apple continued its run as Japan’s top tablet maker with a 49.3 percent market share during the third quarter, while Sony was ranked third with an 8.6 percent share, NEC Lenovo fourth with a 6.3 percent share and Microsoft Corp fifth with a 3.8 percent share, IDC Japan said in a Dec. 25 report. Overall tablet shipments in Japan over the quarter fell 3 percent year-on-year to 1.62 million units, marking the first decline in four years since IDC Japan began the quarterly survey in 2010.
TELECOMS
Hon Hai to invest in 5G
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (鴻海精密) yesterday said its 5G technology development plan aims to enhance the competitiveness of Asia Pacific Telecom Co (亞太電信). Hon Hai holds a 23 percent share of 4G operator Asia Pacific Telecom. Hon Hai’s remarks came after the Chinese-language Commercial Times yesterday reported that the firm is to invest NT$4 billion (US$125.94 million) in 5G development and it may work with global service provider Ericsson in developing 5G technology. The report said Hon Hai aims to become “Taiwan’s Huawei Technology Co (華為).” In response, Hon Hai said it was not targeting any specific area or applications to deliver on 5G network. The newspaper has mistaken the company’s intension. Hon Hai will focus on developing technologies to serve its customers rather than to compete with clients.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Nan Ya sells Inotera shares
Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) yesterday it has sold 15 million shares of DRAM chipmaker Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技) for NT$755 million via a subsidiary, in an effort to strengthen its financial structure. Inotera shares were sold at NT$55.33 per share, higher than the stock’s closing price of NT$50 yesterday. Nan Ya will book NT$361 million in profit from the share sale, the company said in a statement filed with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. After the sale, Nan Ya still holds a 7.83 percent share of Inotera in combined with its subsidiaries.
MACROECONOMY
Job vacancy rises to 3.15%
An estimated 238,493 jobs in the industrial and services sectors were waiting to be filled in August, an increase of 47,598 from last year, according to a semi-annual survey released yesterday by the government. The figure translates to a job vacancy rate of 3.15 percent, up 0.56 percentage points from last year, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said. Of the openings, 98,308, or 41.2 percent, were in the manufacturing business, 45,358, or 19 percent, in the wholesale and retail business, and 16,298, 6.8 percent, in hospitality and restaurant services. The business that registered the single highest job vacancy rate was electronic parts and component manufacturing (4.28 percent), followed by furniture manufacturing (4.24 percent) and petroleum and coal product manufacturing (0.43 percent).
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
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