SOLAR POWER
AUO installations to double
AU Optronics Corp (AUO, 友達光電) expects to double its solar panel installations in Taiwan to 125 megawatts this year. The company on Tuesday said it has completed the installation of rooftop solar panels for television and online retailer Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體) and for automotive components maker Hota Industrial Manufacturing Co (和大工業). AUO has also secured projects with the Chung Chen Armed Forces Preparatory School and Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC, 漢翔航空工業) among others, it said.
INTERNET
Yahoo Taiwan reaches 60m
Yahoo Taiwan Holding Ltd (雅虎台灣), a subsidiary of Oath Inc, yesterday said its live-streaming auction mobile app has acquired more than 60 million viewers in Taiwan since it launched the streaming service in April. More than 1,800 sellers on Yahoo Taiwan’s auction platform have used the live-streaming service, the company said, adding that more than 20 auctions are hosted each day. Food, cosmetics, accessories and women’s clothing auctions are the most popular in Taiwan, the company said.
LOGISTICS
Pchomestore expands services
PChomestore Inc (商店街), a subsidiary of PChome Inc (網路家庭), yesterday partnered with Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家便利商店) to provide free drop-off and collection services for sellers and buyers, as part of its strategy to expand its free shipping promotion. Adding to its collaboration with President Chain Store Corp’s (PCSC, 統一超商) 7-Eleven convenience stores in August, its drop-off and pick-up service has expanded to 8,200 convenience stores nationwide, PChomestore said.
TECHNOLOGY
Perfect Corp raises US$25m
Taipei-based Perfect Corp (玩美移動), developer of the YouCam Perfect selfie and photography editor app, yesterday said it has raised US$25 million in its first round of venture capital financing. The company, an investee of Cyberlink Corp (訊連科技), said that it would use the funds to further develop the augmented reality and machine learning capabilities of its app. The app has garnered 500 million users and is among the top “beauty technology” offerings. It is expected to secure more than 150 partners in the beauty products industry over the next two years, including L’Oreal SA, MAC Cosmetics, Yves Saint Laurent YSL and Estee Lauder Companies, Inc.
SHIPBUILDING
Task force to probe Ching Fu
The Legislative Yuan’s Finance Committee yesterday voted to form a special task force to investigate the potential collapse of a sizeable contract with Ching Fu Shipbuilding Co (慶富造船) to build minesweeper vessels for the Republic of China Navy. Taxpayers could be forced to bear losses of more than NT$10 billion (US$331.13 million), as the shipbuilder borrowed NT$34.93 billion from state-run banks through a syndicated loan, of which about half have been transferred to the firm. Lawmakers across party lines questioned whether the banks had failed to detect financial irregularities during their loan approval process. As of this month, the shipbuilder has failed to service its debt for a second consecutive month. State-run First Commercial Bank (第一銀行) told lawmakers that it expects to recover NT$7.9 billion held in reserve by the Ministry of National Defense, as well as another NT$3 billion held in reserve by the shipbuilder.
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