ELECTRONICS
Hon Hai starts building
Construction of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co’s (鴻海精密) flat-panel factory in Wisconsin started on Saturday, with all of the preliminary work assigned to contract companies based in the state, the firm said in a joint statement with contractor Gilbance Building Co. About 10 percent of the contract companies are based in Racine, Hon Hai said. Gilbance vice president Adam Jelen said that 25 to 30 companies in Wisconsin would be involved in the preliminary work, which is expected to cost about US$100 million and create 800 jobs. Hon Hai said it plans to hold a groundbreaking ceremony in a few months.
CONSUMPTION
Sentiment falls 0.97 points
Consumer confidence weakened this month, with sentiment toward employment displaying the sharpest decline, a survey released on Friday last week by National Central University showed. The consumer confidence index fell 0.97 points from a month earlier to 86.89, it showed. Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development director Dachrahn Wu (吳大任) said that consumer confidence remained moderate, despite slight declines in all six sub-indices.
BANKING
Housing loans hit new high
Local banks’ outstanding housing loans last month grew to a record-high NT$6.699 trillion (US$226 billion), with annual growth of 4.71 percent, the largest expansion in 16 months, the central bank said on Wednesday last week. Housing loans have increased by NT$20 billion to NT$30 billion every month since November last year, indicating steady recovery, the bank said. Meanwhile, construction loans grew 4.48 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.733 trillion, 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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last