The 4.7-inch iPhone 7 was the best-selling smartphone in Taiwan following its global launch last month, industry insiders said.
The new iPhone attracted consumers not only because of its novelty, but also because many consumers in the market for a high-end mobile phone turned away from Samsung Electronics Co’s Galaxy Note 7, which the company eventually stopped selling following a series of battery explosions and fires.
The iPhone 7 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus have been on sale in Taiwan since Sept. 16.
It was the first time Apple Inc included Taiwan in the first group of nations in which a new iPhone series went on sale.
The sources said the 128 gigabyte (GB) iPhone 7 was the best-selling smartphone by number of units last month, followed by the iPhone 7 Plus, this year’s version of Samsung’s Galaxy J7, Taiwan-based PC vendor Asustek Computer Inc’s (華碩) ZenFone 3 ZE552KL and the 32GB iPhone 7.
Asustek is one of several Taiwanese PC brands hoping to gain a foothold in the smartphone market to limit the negative impact of a slowdown in the global PC market.
Its ZenFone series targets the mid-range market.
Asustek’s ZenFone3 ZE520KL came in sixth ahead of Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp’s (宏達電) HTC Desire 728 dual-sim, Japan-based Sony Corp’s Xperia XA, telecom service provider Taiwan Mobile Co’s (台灣大) Amazing X3s and the ZenFone 2 Laser ZE550KL.
The Galaxy Note 7 was the best-selling handset in Taiwan in August, when it was launched worldwide.
Due to the warm reception of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Apple had the highest share of smartphone revenue in Taiwan last month at 61.6 percent, followed by Samsung, Asustek, HTC and Sony, the sources said.
In terms of sales volume, Apple also gained the No. 1 spot by taking a 29 percent share of the Taiwan market last month, ahead of Samsung, Asustek, HTC and Sony, the sources added.
This month, 684,000 smartphones have been sold in Taiwan, representing an increase of about 20,000 units from last month, the sources said.
It was the third consecutive month unit sales in Taiwan posted month-on-month growth, the sources added.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for