Mega Securities Co (兆豐證券) and Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday launched a stock market monitoring app for Asustek’s ZenWatch smartwatch, in a joint effort to boost trading volume via mobile devices.
“We aim to increase our local market share to 3 percent this quarter from 2.77 percent in the last quarter by offering instant stock information on the local bourse and individual companies to investors via the smartwatch app,” Mega Securities chairman Darby Liu (劉大貝) told a press conference.
Mega Securities, the brokerage arm of state-run Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控), reported sales of NT$953.14 million (US$30.58 million) in the first three months of this year, down 0.83 percent from NT$961.14 million a year earlier, according to the company’s filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Photo: CNA
Liu said Mega Securities is the first and only local brokerage to offer financial services via wearable products.
The app, codeveloped with Taiwanese software developer Mitake Information Corp (三竹資訊), includes features such as an alert when a company’s stock reaches the investor’s price target, Mega Securities said.
Investors can also use the app to conduct stock transactions by pairing the watch with an Android-based smartphone or tablet, Mega Securities said.
The app also offers a stock-related newsfeed to keep investors up-to-date on the latest news about Taiwan’s equity market, it said.
The brokerage said it plans to roll out more financial services for the ZenWatch app, including information on the US and Chinese stock and foreign-exchange markets.
In related news, Asustek said it plans to launch its second smartwatch, the VivoWatch, in Taiwan next month.
“Apart from the VivoWatch, consumers will also see a next-generation ZenWatch this year,” Asustek corporate vice president S.Y. Shian (許先越) told reporters on the sidelines of a press event, but declined to disclose further information regarding the product.
An Asustek public relations officer, who declined to be named, said that VivoWatch would offer more health monitoring functions, while ZenWatch targets business clients.
The PC maker also held a press event in Jakarta to launch its new flagship smartphone, the ZenFone 2, in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand. The company plans to launch the ZenFone 2 in New Delhi, India, tomorrow.
Asustek shares closed flat at NT$319 in Taipei trading yesterday, outperforming the TAIEX, which lost 0.2 percent.
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