Taiwan’s three major telecoms yesterday said that they have no plans to follow their Japanese counterparts in cutting the price of the iPhone XR amid slower-than-expected global demand.
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) said that Apple Inc has not informed them of any price cut.
Japanese telecoms over the weekend cut iPhone XR prices after Apple decided to offer subsidies to stimulate iPhone sales in a nation where it holds more than half of the market.
Photo: Bloomberg
For example, Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc slashed its iPhone XR price by about 30 percent in its two-year subscription contract.
In Taiwan, the 6.5-inch OLED iPhone XS Max and 5.8-inch OLED iPhone XS — which hit the market in September — have starting prices of NT$39,900 and NT$35,900 respectively.
The 6.1-inch LCD iPhone XR, which went on sale globally last month, has a starting price of NT$26,900.
Before the three new models went on sale, the market anticipated that the cheaper iPhone XR would receive a warmer welcome, but demand has been slower than expected.
TF International Securities (天風國際證券) analyst Kuo Ming-chi (郭明錤) cut his forecast for iPhone XR shipments by 30 million units to 70 million from last month to September next year.
A local telecom executive told the Central News Agency that while sales of the iPhone XS and the iPhone XS Max have shown signs of stagnation in Taiwan due to their relatively high prices, sales of the iPhone XR remained stable and account for 55 percent of sales of the three new models.
Stable sales mean it is unlikely that local telecoms would cut their iPhone XR prices for now, the executive said.
Demand for the older iPhone 8 remains strong and continues to provide a solid foundation for domestic iPhone sales, they 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