Chi Mei Communication Systems Inc (
As early as 2000, Motorola Inc started to outsource handset manufacturing to Taiwanese companies BenQ Corp (
Now Chi Mei Communication has become the third Taiwanese company to benefit from partnership with the world's second-largest mobile phone brand.
"This is impressive news for Chi Mei Communication," said Stevie Chou (
Close cooperation
Chi Mei Communication was established in April 2001 with NT$1 billion in initial capital. The company's general manager, Chih Yu-yang (池育陽), used to serve as a senior executive at BenQ's wireless business unit.
Chih's research team of 100 technicians have worked closely with Motorola and they have experience developing advanced handsets, Chou added.
Therefore, unlike BenQ and Compal who produce mostly standard handsets for Motorola, Chi Mei Communication is positioned to focus on advanced mobile phones, he said.
However, another analyst said Motorola's order may bring very little help to Chi Mei.
"As the short-term outlook for the telecom market is foggy, phone companies are very conservative in placing orders," said Roger Yu (
Therefore, Chi Mei is expected to initially ship only a small amount -- perhaps 100,000 handsets -- per month, he added.
Opposition
Furthermore, Chi Mei Communi--cation's move could squeeze its competitors.
"Motorola and other international handset companies are not expected to release many more orders under the current market conditions, therefore competition between Taiwanese makers will be tougher," Chou said.
Taiwan is expected to manufacture up to 20 million handsets for Motorola this year, of which BenQ accounts for 50 percent, he added.
Motorola has already outsourced nearly all entry and middle-level handset production, and is less likely to outsource premium handsets such as third-generation (3G)-enabled mobile phones, according to Chou.
Meanwhile, Motorola will feature its first dual-module 3G handset, A835, for the Telecom and Networking Show to open tomorrow at the Taipei World Trade Center. During the show, Motorola will also present a new color-screen model V690, which includes a camera and is the first mobile phone manufactured by Chi Mei.
In order to make the move to 3G easier for consumers, service operators intend to use dual-mode handsets that allow subscribers to switch from current mobile systems to a 3G network more easily.
Cairo’s new monorail slices across the city skyline, running above the familiar chaos of blaring horns and aging buses’ exhaust fumes that mark rush hour below. The US$4.5 billion monorail, opened this month, is among Egypt’s most prominent new transport projects, part of a debt-funded infrastructure drive criticized for sapping state finances while bringing limited benefits to most of the country’s 109 million people. “It feels like you’re in a different country,” said Ramy Sayed, a restaurant manager, aboard a driverless Innovia 300 train. “No noise, no traffic, we’re not used to this.” The eastern line runs 56km from the bustling middle-class
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) today unveiled a long-haul network expansion plan at a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei, including direct flights to Barcelona, Spain, and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as a service connecting Taipei, Sydney and New Zealand. Starlux is to become the first Taiwanese carrier to offer non-stop services to the two European cities, while the inaugural oceanic route is expected to expand transit opportunities within the Australia-New Zealand market, Starlux said. Flight services to Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York are under evaluation, the airline added. Prior to the shareholders’ meeting, the airline earlier this year announced that it would be
Taiwanese firms have increased investment in the Philippines in recent years as Manila’s ties with Washington deepen and global supply chains continue to shift away from China, an expert at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The Philippines had not been among Taiwanese investors’ top choices in Southeast Asia, CIER Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center director Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈) said at a seminar in Taipei. However, Taiwan’s investment in the country has grown significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching US $257 million last year, a high in recent years, she said. Although Taiwan’s total investment in the Philippines still lags
Taiwanese prosecutors suspect that three people successfully smuggled at least one shipment of Nvidia Corp artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China after first exporting them to Japan, people familiar with the matter said. The trio was detained last week by the Keelung District Prosecutors’ Office for allegedly falsifying documents related to exports of Super Micro Computer Inc servers containing advanced Nvidia chips, which the US has barred from sale to China without a license from Washington. The move marked Taiwan’s first public crackdown on AI chip diversion after years of pressure from the US to take a more active role in curtailing
RSS