BEVERAGES
Hey Song shifts strategies
Hey Song Corp (黑松) yesterday said that it would develop more beverages with smaller bottles and lower sugar content as consumers grow more health conscious. At the same time, the company is looking toward regional markets, as domestic consumption of beverages has fallen from NT$55.94 billion (US$1.91 billion) in 2015 to NT$55.59 billion last year. In line with the government’s New Southbound Policy, the company said it plans to expand its foothold in the soft drinks market of several English-speaking Southeast Asian countries.
NETWORKING
Alpha to sell 100m shares
Alpha Networks Inc (明泰科技), a maker of networking and digital products, on Wednesday said its board has approved a sale of 100 million shares through a private placement at NT$23 per share. Alpha said electronics maker Qisda Corp (佳世達) is a major strategic investor that would subscribe to its new shares. After the private placement, it is estimated that Qisda would hold an 18.37 percent stake in Alpha, becoming its second-largest shareholder behind D-Link Corp (友訊) at 22 percent. Through the partnership, Alpha and Qisda said they aim to tap growing opportunities in the 5G wireless technology, Internet of Vehicles, “smart” city and Industry 4.0 segments.
CHIPMAKERS
UMC shares jump to limit
Shares of contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) yesterday soared to the 10 percent daily limit after the company on Wednesday said its board approved a cash dividend of NT$0.7 per common share, the highest in seven years, and approved a buyback scheme for 200 million shares on the open market. The proposed cash dividend represented a payout ratio of 88.6 percent based on last year’s earnings per share of NT$0.79. The share buyback program started yesterday and is to run through May 7. UMC said it plans to repurchase shares at between NT$9.85 and NT$21.3 per share.
ELECTRONICS
StarVR gets its largest order
StarVR Corp (宏星技術), an Acer Inc (宏碁) subsidiary that provides high-end virtual-reality (VR) solutions, has received its biggest order since its establishment in October 2016, the Chinese-language Economic Daily News reported yesterday, citing Acer information technology president Jerry Kao (高樹國). StarVR has teamed up with Emaar Group, the largest property developer in the Persian Gulf, to set up the world’s largest indoor VR theme park in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, the newspaper said. StarVR is to supply its VR head-mounted display to the theme park, it added.
INFLATION
CPI rises 2.19% in February
The consumer price index (CPI) last month rose 2.19 percent from a year earlier, as prices for transportation, healthcare and gasoline increased, neutralizing a decline in fruit prices, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics reported on Wednesday. Of the seven major consumer product categories, prices in miscellaneous items posted the biggest pickup of 8.93 percent, as service providers raised prices over the Lunar New Year holiday and cigarette prices soared 35.37 percent because of tax hikes. Core CPI, which excludes vegetables, fruit and energy, gained 2.39 percent from a year earlier, the agency said. In the first two months of this year, CPI rose 1.54 percent year-on-year, with core CPI increasing 1.61 percent, it said.
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
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