The consumer bad-loan problem has taken a toll on the retail market, with department stores reporting worse-than-expected sales over the past two months.
"It has really dealt a blow to the department store sector," said Alex Ro (
"It'll be a very difficult year for the sector. We can, at best, manage to maintain the same level of revenues as recorded last year, or even worse, post declines," he said.
Growth at risk
Department stores have grown by an annual rate of 4 percent to 8 percent over the past few years, but this might not be the case this year.
Last year, the sector generated NT$201 billion (US$6.18 billion) in sales, up 5.47 percent from 2004, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs' statistics.
A market watcher who declined to be named, estimated that purchases at department stores and designer-brand products might shrink by NT$2 billion this year.
Ro said Pacific Sogo will have to increase promotional activities to spur consumption.
Lower revenues
Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store (
"We had expected revenues in January and February to expand by at least 10 percent but actually the figures only edged up a little bit," spokeswoman Shauna Lee (
Starting last May, consumers' shopping habits and their willingness to buy luxurious goods turned conservative due to rising oil prices and the launch of the new labor pension system last July, she said.
The impact of card debt was not yet obvious in the fourth quarter thanks to the annual sales season, which effectively bolstered performance, she said.
But it surfaced more than two months ago when sales of clothes and accessories decreased, she said.
The pricey designer-brand goods segment is the only sector to have survived intact thanks to strong demand from affluent customers, both Ro and Lee said.
A cautious attitude among shoppers is also being felt in the mobile phone market, with retailers continuing to offer zero-interest installment programs amid weaker demand.
"Sales growth has slowed down," said Flora Tang (
The company's sales during the first two months of the year grew only 5 percent from the previous year, compared with the traditional 10 to 15 percent increase, she said.
Safe so far
Tourism and hypermarkets have not yet seen their markets affected but operators urged the government to map out better measures to reduce the fallout from the card-debt problem.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
STABLE RESULTS: Despite June’s lower consolidated revenue, second-quarter sales still reached a record high, driven by demand for chips for AI applications Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported consolidated sales of NT$263.71 billion (US$9.02 billion) for last month, its second-lowest monthly result this year. The world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement that its revenue last month only fared better than the NT$260.01 billion posted in February. Last month’s figure rose 26.9 percent from a year earlier, but slumped 17.7 percent from May, the company said. However, second-quarter revenue reached NT$933.8 billion, a record high for a single quarter, company data showed. The figure represented growth of 11.26 percent from the first quarter and 38.6 percent from a year earlier. Previously, TSMC said that
RSS