The annual Taipei Softex Show (台北春季電腦展), scheduled to start this Friday, may be canceled after more than 40 percent of exhibitors expressed concern over severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The consumer show focuses on retail sales of electronics and software.
A total of 84 out of the 200 participants have decided to drop out of the show. At least 35 exhibitors plan to stay, while the remaining companies have yet to make up their minds about attending Softex.
"[Today] we will hold a meeting with exhibitors who still want to come [to the show] and reach a consensus," said Tseng Chun-min (曾春敏), a manager at the Taipei Computer Association (TCA, 台北市電腦公會). The association is the Softex show's organizer.
Last week several exhibitors, including Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Toshiba and Synnex Corp (
"As of [yesterday] evening more than 40 percent of the participants said they want to pull out," Tseng said.
Most participants choosing not to attend are major players in the electronics and software industries. Such decisions not to attend have pushed the corporate cancellation rate to nearly 40 percent, while the booth cancellation rate has reached 57 percent.
Originally, about 200 companies were expected set up approximately 2,000 booths featuring software, computer peripherals and digital gadgets at the Taipei World Trade Center Exhibition Hall from Friday to next Tuesday.
In an effort to lure customers, TCA said the NT$150 admission fee could be deducted from any purchases made at the show.
Meanwhile, IBM and HP say the show must go on -- online.
IBM Taiwan will launch a large-scale promotion on new computer models featuring the latest Centrino processor through its online store. The company will be promoting its products with up to NT$10,000 discounts, according to Hank Hung (洪漢青), an executive at IBM Taiwan.
HP Taiwan plans to link up with the e-commerce portals Yahoo-Kimo and PC Home online to promote products which it originally planned to feature at Taipei Softex.
Notebook computers will be discounted by more than NT$6,000 during the show period, said Dennis Chen (
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