TECHNOLOGY
Report on Paytm denied
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday denied investing in Indian e-payment service provider Paytm. The companies’ statements came in the wake of media reports that many companies, including Hon Hai and MediaTek, participated in a US$300 million fundraising initiated by Paytm’s parent company, One97 Communications. Hon Hai said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange that it did not participate in the fundraising. MediaTek said in a separate filing that the reports were media speculation and that it would have informed investors if it has an investment target.
TECHNOLOGY
Delta to showcase energy
Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), a power system and energy-efficient solutions provider, yesterday said it would host the Delta Green Building Exhibition at the Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei next month to showcase the company’s intelligent building designs, energy-saving technologies and techniques to retrofit existing buildings into “green” buildings. The concept of the exhibition was drawn from the company’s Delta21@COP21 sustainability campaign, which was launched during the UN Climate Change Conference last year, the company said in a statement.
TECHNOLOGY
Fitbit coming to Taiwan
Fitbit, the largest wearable brand in the world, yesterday said it plans to launch two of its fitness wristbands in Taiwan next month, marking its entry into the local market. The wearable device vendor said the latest Fitbit Charge 2 is able to monitor users’ heartbeat like previous models, but it can also measure users’ maximum oxygen uptake as they exercise. As for its Flex 2 model, the device is waterproof and ideal for swimmers who want to measure their fitness level, it said. Flex 2 is about 30 percent smaller than previous models. Fitbit’s devices are to be distributed by Chicony Electronics Co (群光電子). They will be available on online sale platforms Yahoo, PChome and momo, as well as be on display at brick-and-mortar retailers such as Tsann Kuen 3C (燦坤).
HANDSETS
Pegatron denies overwork
Pegatron Corp (和碩) denied accusations made by China Labor Watch (CLW) that it was exploiting workers on its iPhone production lines in China. In a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Monday, the Taipei-based company said it has always followed rules limiting work to 60 hours a week. CLW, a New York-based non-profit organization that monitors working conditions in China, said in a report that a majority of employees in Pegatron’s Shanghai factory worked more than 80 hours a week. The report was released on Wednesday last week after an investigation that lasted from last year to this month. “Pegatron has a computerized management system in place, which is able to ensure that our employees do not work more than 60 hours a week,” the company said in the filing. CLW also accused Pegatron of cutting workers’ benefits. The Shanghai Municipal Government raised the minimum monthly wage from US$304 to US$330 in April, and Pegatron workers received a raise, the CLW said. “However, Pegatron managed to control labor costs by cutting benefits and having workers share insurance payments. As a result, workers’ total income decreased after the raise,” CLW said in a statement. Pegatron said it has always compensated its employees above the required minimum, but it did not address the accusation that it had cut workers’ benefits.
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
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
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