■ Publishing
Amazon buys BookSurge
Amazon.com Inc has acquired a publishing company that prints books when they're ordered rather than relying on warehouses stocked with titles, the online retailer said. Terms of the deal were not disclosed on Monday. BookSurge LLC offers an inventory-free book fulfillment network to publishers and authors, and has a wholesale service for retailers, wholesalers and distributors. Founded in 2000, BookSurge maintains a catalog with thousands of titles that are printed on-demand and available for sale on Amazon.com. "Print-on-demand has changed the economics of small-quantity printing, making it possible for books with low and uncertain demand to be profitably produced," said Greg Greely, vice president of media products for Amazon.com.
■ Auto Market
Kia to build new offices
Kia Motors Corp, South Korea's second-biggest automaker, said it will invest US$70 million to build headquarters for its US unit in Irvine, California, to accommodate growth in the world's largest auto market. Kia, based in Seoul, plans to open the 21,240m2 offices for Kia Motors America in December next year, the company said today in a statement. The headquarters for its US sales and marketing company, already in Irvine, will move to a 8.8 hectare site. "We're growing out of our current space," Peter Butterfield, chief executive of the US unit, said in an interview yesterday. "We'll have plenty of room to expand, and for the first time sales and the finance people will be on one corporate campus."
■ Technology
Virtual offerings popular
Chinese burnt virtual candles and incense, sent digital flowers and set fire to paper cellphones yesterday as modern technology changes the way the ancient Qing Ming Tomb-Sweeping Day is celebrated. Tomb-Sweeping Day is a traditional holiday when people honor their ancestors and flock to cemeteries, but many young Chinese consider conventional ceremonies like setting off firecrackers, burning real incense and paper and making offerings of food and drink as passe, Xinhua news agency said. "Internet mourning, such as on the `online cemetery,' where virtual candles or joss-sticks are lit and virtual flowers are sent, is in fashion, saving millions of people of Chinese origin the trouble of traveling long distances in order to sweep tombs for their ancestors," it said.
■ Auto Market
Ford mulling job cuts
Ford may cut 1,000 white-collar jobs in the US, according to an internal letter to employees obtained by AFP on Monday. Ford president for the Americas Greg Smith said in the letter that Ford was struggling to cope "with some serious challenges," including tough competition, slipping sales and skyrocketing costs. "Higher commodity prices, a weak dollar, increasing healthcare costs, lower North American volumes and relentless competition -- much of which we can't control -- are forcing us to re-evaluate our business equation," Smith said. "Also in today's competitive environment, our US market share for Ford, Lincoln and Mercury products continues to decline. As a result, we must work aggressively on our cost base to meet our financial targets." The layoffs could be announced within a month, along with other cost-cutting plans, such as reducing fixed marketing expenses and administration, materials and travel costs.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source