Online retailer Pinkoi.com yesterday unveiled a project to invest in more than 10 local brands in a bid to capture the nation’s rapidly expanding creative industry.
The investments are to be made via a new fund set up by Cherubic Ventures Co (心元), which has invested in Pinkoi.
The Taipei-based start-up that specializes in the sale of original design goods is one of the largest e-commerce platforms in Taiwan, and has expanded its reach across Asia to include Japan, China, Hong Kong and Thailand.
“The creative industry makes up 4.8 percent of Taiwan’s GDP, which accounts for 10 percent of the market in Asia,” Pinkoi CEO and founder Peter Yen (顏君庭) said.
Local brands often struggle to reach a bigger audience, so the company provides them a stage to better show off their designs and to sell internationally, Yen said.
The company in 2013 reported revenue of US$2.5 million, but has not disclosed its revenue since.
“Local governments are investing and encouraging growth in the creative industry as we realize its strong cultural influence and business potential,” said Chen Yue-yi (陳悅宜), director of the Ministry of Culture’s Department of Cultural and Creative Development.
The South Korean creative industry in 2017 recorded an output value of NT$3.3 trillion (US$107 billion), compared with NT$834 billion in Taiwan, Chen said.
The creative industry is now a booming sector in the global economy, Pinkoi said, citing a report by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
The value of creative goods globally has doubled from US$208 billion in 2002 to US$509 billion in 2015, with an annual compound growth rate of more than 7 percent, the report said.
Asia alone contributed US$228 billion, representing almost half of the overall value of creative goods worldwide — double that of Europe, data showed.
Taiwan, China, Singapore, India and Thailand were among the top 10 best-performing markets in terms of trade, the report said.
“The creative economy has both commercial and cultural worth,” UNCTAD Division on International Trade and Commodities Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton said. “This dual value has led governments worldwide to focus on expanding and developing their creative economies as part of economic diversification strategies and efforts to stimulate prosperity and well-being.”
‘SHORT-TERM ECONOMIC PAIN’: A military takeover would only temporarily weigh on wafer production on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, IC Insights said Taiwan has more chip manufacturing capacity than any other economy in the world, US-based market information advisory firm IC Insights said in a research paper last week, cautioning that the nation’s strength could prompt China to attempt to take over Taiwan. Taiwan commanded 21.4 percent of global installed IC capacity, ahead of South Korea’s 20.4 percent, Japan’s 15.8 percent and China’s 15.3 percent, North America’s 12.6 percent and Europe’s 5.7 percent, IC Insights said. Taiwan is one of two countries that uses 10-nanometer technology or better to produce wafers, holding 62.8 percent of global capacity, with South Korea holding the remaining 37.2
SELF-SUFFICIENCY: Alibaba is one of a number of Chinese firms that has answered Beijing’s call to invest in the development of cutting-edge technologies Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) yesterday unveiled a new server chip that is based on advanced 5-nanometer technology, marking a milestone in China’s pursuit of semiconductor self-sufficiency. The Chinese tech giant’s newest chip is based on micro-architecture provided by the SoftBank Group Corp-owned Arm Ltd, it said. Alibaba, which is holding its annual cloud summit in Hangzhou, China, said that the chip is to be used in its own data centers in the “near future” and would not, for the time being, be sold commercially. “Customizing our own server chips is consistent with our ongoing efforts toward boosting our computing capabilities with better
AGGRESSIVE STEP: With the new processors, Apple is aiming at the high-end chips Intel has provided for the MacBook Pro and other top-end Macs for about 15 years Apple Inc on Monday took the most aggressive step yet to strip Intel Corp chips from its computers, announcing more powerful homegrown Mac processors alongside a total revamp of its MacBook Pro laptop computers. The company showcased the chips at an event called “Unleashed,” which also included its latest audio products. The new components, called the M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, are 70 percent faster than its M1 predecessors, Apple said. It also unveiled a redesigned MacBook Pro, adding larger screens, MagSafe charging and better resolution. With the new processors and devices, Apple is aiming squarely at the high-end chips that Intel has
PRICE SPREAD: Oil trading under the Brent futures contract is giving the US a hefty edge in pricing, increasing the rush to secure cheap fuel as winter approaches Asian demand for US oil is rising as the energy crisis boosts prices for other crudes that are priced against the global Brent futures contract. China and other Asian buyers have been snapping up supertankers of US oil for delivery next month and seeking more for December, some traders have said. Most buyers are seeking US grades that had recently slumped to the lowest levels in more than a year, with an added incentive after Beijing awarded millions of tonnes of crude oil import quotas. A wide spread between Brent and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil futures is accommodating higher US crude
RSS