Representatives of the US government yesterday said that the Chicago-based Boeing Co has been unfairly shut out of bidding on a China Airlines Co (
According to sources and local media reports, the order for at least 12 mid-range jets has already been won by EU consortium Airbus SAS, which has reportedly been offering steep discounts in an attempt to gain market share from its US rival.
In a statement released by the American Institute in Taiwan, the US government said that before a decision is made, it hoped Boeing would be given a shot at pitching its aircraft to the company.
"We expect that before a decision is made, Boeing will be given an opportunity to make its case to the appropriate decisionmakers," the statement said, which came one day after AIT Director Douglas Paal met with China Airlines executives to discuss the matter.
"We hope that Boeing will get fair treatment by China Airlines. We have raised our concerns with China Airlines, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications and senior government officials," the statement said.
China Airlines denied any unfairness in its selection process and said that a final decision has yet to be reached. It is considering the Airbus A330-300 or Boeing 777-200ER.
"They've had a very good chance," China Airlines spokesman Roger Han (
He said that Boeing has sent over a number of sales representatives, pilots and financial experts since the purchase plan was announced in 1995.
"If you want to win the deal you have to satisfy your client. If Boeing wants to get the deal they have to work harder," Han said.
An industry source close to the situation said Boeing has been having a "hard time just getting their foot in the door and getting heard by China Airlines executives."
"Boeing feels they haven't been given a chance to present their case ... [and] sense that it was a done deal before they even had a chance to say anything," the source, who requested anonymity, said.
"We always give Boeing and the US a good opportunity, that's why we have not yet made a decision, because we are still trying to get a fair evaluation for both Airbus and and Boeing," Han said.
Boeing is also reportedly unhappy about a condition in the purchase order which forces it to buy five of China Airlines' A340-300s.
"The part of the deal that Boeing has to buy [the Airbus jets] while Airbus doesn't have to ... that seems to be a blatant problem right there," the source said.
Han claimed the buy-back condition was a Boeing initiative and was part of the process involving international aircraft sales.
"We don't force them to buy back the planes. Actually that was a Boeing sales idea, because right now we have five A340-300s and actually the Boeing 777-200ER offers the same performance as the A340," Han said. "It doesn't make sense to have two different aircraft that offer the same performance. When buying new aircraft we have to rationalize our fleet."
Han said that if they were considering buying A320s, Airbus would also likely offer to buy back their comparable B737s.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
POWER BUILDUP: Powered by Nvidia’s B200 Blackwell chips, the data center would support MediaTek’s computing power demand and business growth, the company said Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) data center with a maximum capacity of 45 megawatts to meet its rising demand for computing power required to develop new advanced chips for AI applications. The company has completed the first-phase computing power buildup at the data center in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), providing 15 megawatts of capacity to support its research and development (R&D) capabilities, despite an industrywide shortage of key components, MediaTek said. Supply constraints have plagued a wide range of key components, including memory chips, solid-state drives, power supply units and central
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
RSS