■ Computers
Sales up nearly10%
Computer sales in the Asia-Pacific region outside Japan increased almost 10 percent to 8.5 million units in the September quarter, boosted by exceptionally strong orders in India, an industry report said. Sales also received a boost from healthy demand for mobile computers, mainly laptops, which grew 26.1 percent from a year ago, US tech-nology research house Gartner Inc said in a recent report. Demand for desk-based computers were up 6.5 percent, said the report which gave no absolute numbers. Lenovo (聯想), China's largest computer maker, sold the most computers in the region for the September quarter with 1.017 million units shipped, giving it an 11.9 percent market share in the region, Gartner said. Hewlett-Packard was second with 10.1 percent market share, having sold 861,000 computers. In third place was IBM which sold 672,000 computers, which is the equivalent of 7.9 percent share of regional sales.
■ Retail
Toy sellers slash prices
US toy retailers, including Toys "R" Us Inc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc, have begun dropping prices in a bid to attract more shoppers heading into the holiday season, the Washington Post reported. Toys "R" Us, which has said it will seek a buyer for its 1,200 stores, and KB Toys Inc, which filed for bankruptcy protection in January, are battling to survive by trying to beat prices offered by Wal-Mart and Target Corp, the Post said, citing surveys by industry analysts. Wal-Mart discounts of as much as 20 percent last year contri-buted to the toy retailers' demise, the Post said. In two separate surveys covering the same toys, Toys "R" Us undercut Wal-Mart this year, the Post said. KB Toys didn't appear to be keeping pace on discounts, the paper quoted the analysts as saying.
■ Development
Beijing seeks `medium'
China will place more importance on developing medium-sized cities with populations between 200,000 to 500,000 people in order to generate jobs, state media said yesterday. In coming years, the govern-ment will invest more in infrastructure around such cities to draw residents and businesses there, Zhai Baohui, an official with the Ministry of Construction was quoted by the Xinhua news agency saying. The plan is aimed at creating jobs to alleviate pressures on the countryside which suffers from high under-employment due to surplus farm labor and dense populations. China's plan is shaped by international trends which show that while big cities have played an important role in world economic development and trade, high costs make it difficult for many residents to make a living, Zhai said.
■ Communications
DHL raises stake in India
DHL Worldwide Express, owned by Europe's biggest postal service Deutsche Post AG, said it will buy an additional 20 percent of Blue Dart Express Ltd, raising its stake in the Indian courier company. DHL will pay 1.66 billion rupees (US$36.8 million), or 350 rupees a share, to buy 4.75 million Blue Dart shares from shareholders, the company said in a statement to the Mumbai Stock Exchange. DHL on Nov. 8 agreed to pay 5.7 billion rupees to buy 68.2 percent of Blue Dart. Under India's exchange rules, acquirers of more than 15 percent in a company must offer to buy another 20 percent from shareholders.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)