Rumors of new HTC device
Local smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) has sent invitations to media outlets for an event prior to the Mobile World Congress tech fair to be held in Barcelona, Spain, in March, sparking rumors about the introduction of a new flagship device.
The invitation, sent on Friday last week, features a starry sky with the words: “Utopia in progress” below HTC’s logo, but it did not say anything about what kind of product would be unveiled on March 1 at the preshow event.
Earlier media reports have speculated that the company will launch the successor to its flagship HTC One M8 at the fair, the world’s largest mobile phone trade show, in a bid to steal the spotlight from other handset manufacturers.
The next-generation HTC flagship phone is reportedly codenamed “Hima,” sporting a 5-inch quad-HD screen.
Record export figures expected
The nation is expected to report record export orders of US$470 billion for last year, having increased from US$442.93 billion in 2013, an estimate by the Ministry of Economic Affairs shows.
The ministry is scheduled to release the export orders data tomorrow.
Increased exports are being attributed, in part, to strong demand for Apple Inc’s iPhone 6, whose components are supplied by many Taiwanese companies, and partly due to orders for the Christmas season and the Chinese Lunar New Year.
Export orders for last month are expected to be down from November, but are still likely to grow year-on-year, the ministry said.
The nation received export orders of US$43.51 billion in November, growing 6 percent year-on-year and representing the second-highest single-month total in the nation’s history.
Investment goals set for year
The nation is expected to draw NT$1.4 trillion (US$44.24 billion) in private-sector investment and US$11 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) for this year, according to Ministry of Economic Affairs officials.
The ministry is scheduled to make public the goals in an investment conference later this month.
Based on data for the first 11 months of last year, the country will reach the goals of private investment of NT$1.3 trillion and FDI of US$10.8 billion for last year.
In terms of foreign investment, the ministry is to send groups of officials to the US, Europe and Japan to invite more heavyweight companies to invest in Taiwan, the officials said.
Tech lectures aimed at youth
The American Innovation Center (AIC) in Taiwan has teamed up with technology firm IBM’s local branch to jointly promote digital learning among young people.
Under the new partnership, IBM Taiwan and the AIC Taiwan are to jointly organize a variety of “Mini MBA” lectures throughout the year to introduce the latest trends in technologies and consumer electronics applications, to improve young people’s abilities to use digital tools, IBM Taiwan said in a statement on Friday.
Last year, about 100 volunteers from IBM Taiwan took part in nearly 20 weekend science classes hosted by the AIC Taiwan, serving more than 300 children under age 18.
Notebook shipments up
Global shipments of notebook computers were estimated at 46.06 million units in the fourth quarter of last year, increasing by 3.1 percent from the previous quarter and remaining unchanged for the year, according to Digitimes Research.
Hewlett-Packard Co was the largest vendor, accounting for 23 percent of fourth-quarter shipments, followed by Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) with 22.4 percent and Dell Inc with 11.4 percent, while Taiwan’s Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) Acer Inc (宏碁) had 10 percent and 8.7 percent respectively, the Taipei-based research firm said in a report on Thursday.
Taiwan-based contract laptop makers, also known as original design manufacturers (ODMs), together shipped 36.61 million notebooks in the October-December period, making up 79.5 percent of the global total.
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) led all local ODMs with 33 percent of shipments, while Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) made up 31.4 percent, Wistron Corp (緯創) 15.8 percent, Inventec Corp 7.5 percent and Pegatron Corp (和碩) 6.9 percent.
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