ELECTRONICS
HTC share price slumps
Shares of Taiwanese smartphone vendor HTC Corp yesterday fell 6.71 percent to close at NT$52.8, the lowest level since September 2015, after the company announced a day earlier that it would lay off about a quarter of its workforce by the end of September. “The layoff plan told investors that HTC will only depend on cuts in operating costs to maintain its bottom line instead of seeking more sales from its core smartphone business to turn a profit,” MasterLink Securities (元富證券) analyst Tom Tang (湯忠謙) said, adding that the company does not have a strategy to turn around its global smartphone business. “The cut in its workforce is expected to prevent first-quarter earnings from being eroded, which will allow the company to be profitable this year. It was no surprise that HTC shares moved lower today, but since the company’s book value per share still stands at around NT$66, its share price could soon obtain some technical support.”
BICYCLE MAKERS
EU logistics center planned
Giant Manufacturing Co Ltd (巨大機械) yesterday said it plans to spend 13.5 million euros (US$15.71 million) to build a logistics center in Lelystad, the Netherlands, as part of its effort to cope with growing demand for electric bicycles in European markets. The new facility, which would enhance the company’s service capabilities by integrating logistical and retail networks, is expected to create nearly 100 jobs over the coming three years, Giant said. Giant, the nation’s largest bicycle maker, sells more than 400,000 bicycles annually in Europe, company data showed.
ELECTRONICS
Asustek eyes market share
Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) hopes to raise its share of the local smartphone market from 19 to 20 percent by next month, the company said yesterday at a launch event for its ZenFone Live L1. The company said it hopes to take advantage of a lack of new product launches from its rivals next month. ZenFones have been recognized as one of the best value-for-money options by Taiwanese consumers and the company has led its peers in the domestic market for Android smartphones since April, the firm said, adding that the achievement was made at a time when telecoms have begun cutting handset subsidies, leading to declining sales between May and last month.
PCB INSPECTION
Machvision sales surge
Machvision Inc (牧德), a supplier of printed circuit board (PCB) inspection equipment, yesterday reported that sales last month rose 8.45 percent month-on-month and 144.18 percent year-on-year to NT$274 million (US$8.96 million), its highest monthly sales in the past 14 months. The company attributed the gain to strong growth in the Chinese market. The company expects average selling prices to rise as it launches a line of artificial intelligence-enhanced automated optical inspection products that would help customers prevent reports of false failures from dust contaminants and oxidation, it said.
BANKING
Chang Hwa fined NT$3m
The Financial Supervisory Commission yesterday fined Chang Hwa Bank (彰化銀行) NT$3 million for the acceptance of kickbacks at the state-run lender’s branch in Dongguan, China. The penalty follows a 300,000 yuan (US$45,139) fine imposed by the Chinese regulator last month. An employee at the Dongguan branch accepted about 100,000 yuan in kickbacks over two years.
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