Amid criticism, Eslite Bookstore (
"Via the B2B platform, publishers will have access to actual sales figures, which can be used as a reference for them to beef up competitiveness," Lee Yu-hua (李玉華), manager of Eslite Corporation's public affairs department, told a press briefing yesterday.
However, publishers will be forced to pay service fees, ranging from NT$2,000 to NT$45,000 per month, which domestic publishers said was "unfair."
Hau Kuang-tsai (郝廣才), editor-in-chief of Grimm Culture, last week lambasted Eslite's new e-commerce mechanism as "ridiculous" because he said it asked suppliers to pay for it.
However, Eslite yesterday said more than 500 suppliers had signed contracts to support the platform, with only 50 still in negotiation.
Eslite also decided to change its past practice of monthly settlement to consignment, which will result in publishers only getting paid based on how many copies the bookstore has sold.
Moreover, publishers will have to retrieve books that remain unsold.
Eslite argued that the consignment system has been used for many years by the nation's major convenience stores and outlets.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
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