To cope with excess competition and limited market share, local print media ventures are eyeing the China market for expansion, an industry veteran said yesterday.
"With China's significant consumer market and high-development potential, entering that market is very important for the survival of local media," said Ralph Chien (簡瑞甫), a senior executive at the Magazine Business Association of Taipei (台北市雜誌公會).
At last count there were 21 national newspapers -- more than twice the number in Malaysia, which has a similar-sized population to Taiwan. In addition, hundreds of magazines of every variety overflow store shelves.
"The prospects for rapid growth in the China market are exciting and attractive to many publishing investors around the world," said Donald Kummerfeld, president of the London-based International Federation of the Periodical Press (FIPP). "Taiwan ventures are poised to be the most successful publishers in the Chinese media industry."
Kummerfeld noted that China's publishing industry is still in its infancy, but Taiwan's is more mature and can share business know-how with Chinese companies.
According to Kummerfeld, the market for quality magazines in China today is less than US$100 million, but as personal incomes rise over the next decade, that figure could increase to US$500 million or more.
Chien said Taiwan media operators still have some hurdles to overcome. "First, we need a media conglomerate to compete with other media giants from Western countries," Chien said.
He said only big players can obtain economies of scale and lower costs. "That's why recently Hong Kong-based Tom.com merged several Chinese print media together and put them under one big umbrella," Chien added.
Tom.com bought Taiwan's Business Weekly Publishing last December following its acquisition of PC Home Publication Group, Cite Publishing and Sharp Point Publishing last May.
The other hurdle is improving management skills. "Currently, most of Taiwan's print media are managed by senior `editorial' personnel, not experienced management professionals, thus resulting in inefficient operations," Chien said.
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
Saudi Arabian Oil Co (Aramco), the Saudi state-owned oil giant, yesterday posted first-quarter profits of US$26 billion, down 4.6 percent from the prior year as falling global oil prices undermine the kingdom’s multitrillion-dollar development plans. Aramco had revenues of US$108.1 billion over the quarter, the company reported in a filing on Riyadh’s Tadawul stock exchange. The company saw US$107.2 billion in revenues and profits of US$27.2 billion for the same period last year. Saudi Arabia has promised to invest US$600 billion in the US over the course of US President Donald Trump’s second term. Trump, who is set to touch
SKEPTICAL: An economist said it is possible US and Chinese officials would walk away from the meeting saying talks were productive, without reducing tariffs at all US President Donald Trump hailed a “total reset” in US-China trade relations, ahead of a second day of talks yesterday between top officials from Washington and Beijing aimed at de-escalating trade tensions sparked by his aggressive tariff rollout. In a Truth Social post early yesterday, Trump praised the “very good” discussions and deemed them “a total reset negotiated in a friendly, but constructive, manner.” The second day of closed-door meetings between US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) were due to restart yesterday morning, said a person familiar
RSS