TELECOMs
Taiwan Mobile profits rise
Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大), the nation’s second-largest telecom, yesterday said it made NT$1.26 billion (US$37.7 million) in net profits last month, helped by the growing number of subscribers to its 4G services. That translated into earnings per share of NT$0.46, meaning that the company is on its way to hit its full-year earnings forecast of NT$14.01 billion, or NT$5.15 per share, this year. Last month’s net profits rose 4.13 percent from NT$1.21 billion the previous year. However, last month’s revenues fell 5.48 percent to NT$10.2 billion from NT$10.58 billion the previous year.
RESTAURANTS
Gourmet Master sales rise
Gourmet Master Co Ltd (美食達人), which operates the bakery chain 85°C (85度C), yesterday reported that sales last month rose 15 percent annually to NT$1.85 billion. Sales from its China-based outlets last month rose 10 percent year-on-year, amounting for 67 percent of total revenue during the period, the company said. Wowprime Corp (王品), the nation’s largest restaurant chain operator, said sales last month rose 2.55 percent annually to NT$1.42 billion. Tai Tong Food & Beverage Group (瓦城泰統集團), which operates five restaurant chains, including three Thai cuisine brands, said sales last month rose 25.23 percent annually to NT$314 million.
TECHNOLOGY
R&D spending up 5.6%
The nation’s spending on research and development (R&D) totaled NT$483.5 billion in 2014, 5.6 percent higher than the year before, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Spending on R&D amounted to 3 percent of GDP, up 0.2 percentage points from 2010, according to the ministry. The business sector was the largest contributor to R&D, the NT$373.3 billion it put into R&D accounting for 77.2 percent of all R&D spending in the nation in 2014, or 5.6 percentage points higher than in 2010, the ministry said. In the private sector, electronics component makers and developers were the biggest spenders on R&D, investing NT$181.5 billion in R&D in 2014, up from NT$131.3 billion in 2010. Makers of computers, electronics and optical products were the next biggest spenders, accounting for 24.1 percent of all investment in R&D in the private sector in 2014. Taiwan’s R&D expenditure is still lower than Japan’s 3.58 percent and South Korea’s 4.29 percent.
TRADE
Italy tax deal finalized
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday said that Taiwan and Italy have finalized an agreement to avoid double taxation and tax evasion. The ministry said the agreement was wrapped up on Dec. 31 last year and took effect on Jan. 1. Italy became the 14th European nation to complete a double taxation avoidance agreement with Taiwan. Italy is Taiwan’s fifth-largest trading partner in Europe, behind Germany, the Netherlands, the UK and France. Bilateral trade between Taiwan and Italy totaled about US$4.13 billion in 2014. The ministry said about 60 Taiwanese companies have investments in Italy and the agreement would help improve their operations and increase their willingness to invest. Taiwan has signed tax agreements with 29 nations, the ministry said. Taiwan’s tax agreements with Japan and Canada are expected to go into effect by Jan. 1, next year once legal procedures related to the agreements are completed, the ministry said.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained