FOOD & BEVERAGE
Tai Tong sales expand
The Tai Tong Food & Beverage Group (TTFB, 瓦城泰統集團), which operates four oriental cuisine chain restaurant brands, yesterday reported that its sales last month grew 9.63 percent sequentially and 17.76 percent annually to NT$276 million (US$8.41 million). Sales in the first 10 months of this year gained 18.45 percent to NT$2.88 billion. The group’s latest restaurant brand, Very Thai Noodles (大心新泰式麵食), opened three new stores in shopping centers in Taipei and Kaohsiung, with plans to open eight more before the end of this month. TTFB shares lost 0.42 percent to close at NT$236 in Taipei trading yesterday.
FOOD & BEVERAGE
Wowprime reports loss
Wowprime Corp (王品), the nation’s largest restaurant chain operator, yesterday reported its first-ever quarterly loss of NT$2.8 million for the July-to-September period, with sales last month tumbling 1.9 percent year-on-year to NT$1.28 billion. Aggregate sales in the first 10 months fell 1.3 percent annually to NT$14.17 billion. However, as sales rebounded 2.72 percent last month compared with September, suggesting that its operations have begun stabilizing, company chairman Park Chen (陳正輝) said that swings in the economic cycle are inevitable. Wowprime shares fell 6.27 percent to NT$172 in Taipei trading yesterday.
SMARTPHONES
HTC’s US market share falls
HTC Corp’s (宏達電) share of the US smartphone market continued to fall in the third quarter prior to the launch of the company’s One A9 handset, according to a report published on Nov. 6 by market research firm comScore Inc. The report said that HTC’s US market share slid by 0.1 percentage points sequentially to 3.3 percent in the third quarter, maintaining its fifth-place ranking. The market share loss came ahead of an Oct. 20 launch of HTC’s One A9, which is the first non-Nexus smartphone powered by Google Inc’s Android 6.0 Marshmallow operating system.
PETROCHEMICALS
Industry value to increase
The production value of Taiwan’s petrochemical industry is expected to increase by between 3.1 percent and 4.2 percent next year as oil prices stabilize, a government-backed research institute said yesterday. According to the Industrial Economic and Knowledge Center (IEK) of the Industrial Technology Research Institute, most research institutes believe oil prices are to stabilize and remain low next year. This would help profitability of the nation’s petrochemical companies, which use naphtha as a raw material, the IEK said. Demand for petrochemical products in China and other emerging markets, such as India and Vietnam, would support capacity utilization of Taiwan’s petrochemical industry, which would boost the sector, it added.
RETAIL
FamilyMart sales rise
Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家便利商店) yesterday reported sales of NT$4.98 billion for last month, and that aggregate sales in the first 10 months of this year rose 2.68 percent annually to NT$48.41 billion. The nation’s second largest convenience store chain operator said that sales last month were driven by rising demand for microwavable meals and salad products, and that sales growth this month is expected to be driven by seasonal products, such as hot beverages and functional clothing for cooler weather. The chain said that, as of the end of last month, it operates 2,970 stores.
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