Chinese smartphone brand Xiaomi Corp (小米) and its fitness-focused wearables maker Huami Corp (華米) yesterday unveiled a range of new products for the Taiwan market.
The offerings include Xiaomi’s NT$865 fitness tracker Mi Band 3, the NT$7,999 midrange Android smartphone Mi Max 3, as well as Huami’s NT$1,999 Amazefit Bip and the advanced NT$4,995 Amazefit Smartwatch 2.
“We aim to establish a strong presence at all price points and cater to the needs of all consumers, ranging from those who are new to wearables to athletes seeking performance gains by analyzing and tracking their cardiorespiratory fitness via VO2 max readings,” Huami chairman and chief executive officer Wang Huang (黃汪) told a news conference.
Photo: CNA
Following the launch of the first Mi Band, the fitness tracker has become a bigger part of users’ everyday lives, with the device helping consumers make mobile payments and unlock doors in China, Huang said.
However, the company is still working with local partners to enable near-field communication (NFC) applications for the Taiwanese market, such as paying MRT fares, he said.
Another major leap for wearables is expected in the next three years as the company continues to develop medical-grade applications, including tracking blood pressure, blood sugar and blood oxygen levels, Huang said, adding that a pilot program between Huami, health technology developer Pai Health and insurance companies has yielded promising results.
The escalating US-China trade war would not affect Huami’s business, Huang said, adding: “Our cost control capability is unrivaled.”
Since the launch of the first generation Mi Band in Taiwan three years and seven months ago, more than 1.66 million units have been sold in Taiwan, Xiaomi Taiwan general manager Henman Lee (李佳峰) said.
Considering the popularity of the wearable, the company has stocked about 100,000 units, Lee said.
The Taiwanese fitness tracker market is estimated at about 30,000 units a month, he said.
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
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six