Shareholders of Vibo Telecom Co (
The losses are heavy in proportion to the telecom's NT$15 billion in share capital.
Vibo has repeatedly missed its break-even targets because of slower-than-expected uptake of 3G service in Taiwan on the back of pricey 3G handsets.
Even the industry's leader, Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), has admitted that it has not pulled in any profits yet from its 3G service.
Setting a more practical goal this time, Vibo yesterday said it "aims to break even by August, next year," according to Vivian Lin (
Vibo previously had hoped to become profitable in September, 22 months after its commercial launch.
To improve its financial situation, Vibo plans to raise NT$6 billion in funds by selling new shares to one or more strategic partners in the second half of this year, Lin said by telephone.
Vibo's ex-president, David Wang (王柏堂), resigned last December after failing to turn around the company. Vice chairman James Tsao (曹萬鈞) now also doubles as Vibo's president.
Vibo hopes to expand its customer base from 470,000 to 800,000 by the end of this year, Lin said.
Chunghwa Telecom says that it has more than 1.52 million 3G users out of its 8 million subscribers.
The nation's No. 2 and No. 3 mobile operators, Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) and Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) respectively, said that they each have 1 million 3G subscribers.
Last week, Vibo tendered an application to bid a Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) in cooperation with local telecom equipment provider Tecom Co (
The nation's telecom regulator, the National Communications Commission, is scheduled to unveil the application result in early August.
"We hope the WiMAX network will supplement our 3G service," Lin said.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Taiwan’s property market is entering a freeze, with mortgage activity across the nation’s six largest cities plummeting in the first quarter, H&B Realty Co (住商不動產) said yesterday, citing mounting pressure on housing demand amid tighter lending rules and regulatory curbs. Mortgage applications in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung totaled 28,078 from January to March, a sharp 36.3 percent decline from 44,082 in the same period last year, the nation’s largest real-estate brokerage by franchise said, citing data from the Joint Credit Information Center (JCIC, 聯徵中心). “The simultaneous decline across all six cities reflects just how drastically the market
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
RSS