Targeting the masses of Taipei County, Swedish furniture retail giant IKEA will open its third outlet, in Sinjhuang (新莊), today that will be the nation's largest furnishing store.
IKEA invested NT$1.5 billion (US$46.8 million) in the Hsinchuang store, which at 8,200 pings (27,060m2) is twice the size of Sinjhuang Stadium.
The huge space houses 55 realistic display rooms and more than 6,500 items, Justine Yao (
"We expect to greet about 20,000 visitors per day, reaching the 100,000 mark in the opening week," Yao said.
"We believe the dense population in Taipei County will be a big boost to our business," Yao said.
One advantage of the Sinjhuang store is its location. With the Sun Yat-sen Freeway and several bridges nearby, the store can attract residents from Sanchong (
IKEA will also provide shuttle buses that will pick up customers from nearby MRT stations during the grand opening week.
Even though consumption has been hammered by the growing consumer debt problem caused by abuse of credit and cash-advance cards, demand for furniture and home appliances still exists, Yao said.
Yao refused to reveal IKEA's sales figures, saying only that its local business has risen steadily over the past few years.
From its current locations in Taipei's Asia-World, Taoyuan and Sinjhuang, IKEA is planning to expand into central and southern Taiwan, but the locations and timing were undecided, she said.
She said the company was evaluating whether to stay in its Asia World location or relocate since its lease there is up in 2008.
Meanwhile, Hola Home Furnishings Co (
A major customer segment for Hola in the region is the growing number of young people working in the Hsinchu Science Park (新竹科學園區) and their families, Hola president Chen Yen-chun (陳彥君) said.
Another growth factor will be the high-speed railway, which will turn Hsinchu into a consumer hub for northern Taiwan, Chen said.
Hola plans to open two more stores by the end of the year, the company said. It reported sales for the first quarter rose 11 percent to NT$787 million from a year ago.
Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday introduced the company’s latest supercomputer platform, featuring six new chips made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), saying that it is now “in full production.” “If Vera Rubin is going to be in time for this year, it must be in production by now, and so, today I can tell you that Vera Rubin is in full production,” Huang said during his keynote speech at CES in Las Vegas. The rollout of six concurrent chips for Vera Rubin — the company’s next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) computing platform — marks a strategic
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
REVENUE PERFORMANCE: Cloud and network products, and electronic components saw strong increases, while smart consumer electronics and computing products fell Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted 26.51 percent quarterly growth in revenue for last quarter to NT$2.6 trillion (US$82.44 billion), the strongest on record for the period and above expectations, but the company forecast a slight revenue dip this quarter due to seasonal factors. On an annual basis, revenue last quarter grew 22.07 percent, the company said. Analysts on average estimated about NT$2.4 trillion increase. Hon Hai, which assembles servers for Nvidia Corp and iPhones for Apple Inc, is expanding its capacity in the US, adding artificial intelligence (AI) server production in Wisconsin and Texas, where it operates established campuses. This
Garment maker Makalot Industrial Co (聚陽) yesterday reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue of NT$7.93 billion (US$251.44 million), down 9.48 percent from NT$8.76 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, revenue fell 10.83 percent from NT$8.89 billion, company data showed. The figure was also lower than market expectations of NT$8.05 billion, according to data compiled by Yuanta Securities Investment and Consulting Co (元大投顧), which had projected NT$8.22 billion. Makalot’s revenue this quarter would likely increase by a mid-teens percentage as the industry is entering its high season, Yuanta said. Overall, Makalot’s revenue last year totaled NT$34.43 billion, down 3.08 percent from its record NT$35.52
RSS