Consumer sentiment in Taiwan fell to its lowest level in five years, said MasterCard Worldwide's biannual forecast on consumer confidence, retail sales and travel departures in the first half of the year in 13 Asian economies, yesterday.
"Taiwan's consumer confidence index of 29.7 is the lowest that we've seen since the 26.5 registered in 2003 at the peak of the SARS crisis, reflecting pessimism especially in terms of prospects for employment, quality of living and the economy in the first half of 2008," said Tina Chiang (
With a score of 50 as the dividing point between optimism and pessimism, Taiwan's 29.7 is a far cry from China and Hong Kong's 85.5 and 85.9 respectively, let alone Vietman's 94.3.
Besides the consumer confidence index, Taiwan also lagged in a survey of 13 Asian markets in Mastercard Worldwide's travel and retail indices.
MasterCard Worldwide forecast that retail sales and resident departures in Taiwan for the first half of the year would rise 2.9 percent and 1.2 percent respectively from a year ago.
In comparison, China and Hong Kong would see growth of more than 10 percent in retail sales, while outbound tourism would increase 12.4 percent and 5.6 percent respectively year-on-year, MasterCard data showed.
The company also predicted that Taiwan's GDP would expand 2.8 percent this year -- ahead of Japan's 1.2 percent and New Zealand's 1.9 percent among the 13 Asian economies.
"The political uncertainty and the aftermath of the US subprime crisis have dampened an already lackluster economy," Chiang said. "I have to say that 2008 is a very challenging year [for Taiwan]."
However, Chiang said that, as the survey was conducted last month, it did not reflect the impact of the legislative elections this month. She said she wouldn't rule out a recovery in Taiwanese sentiment after the elections.
In a separate research, the credit card company saw strong potential in China's middle-class, single women or double-income-no-kids households.
Luxury goods, insurance policies, overseas travel and real estate are this market segment's favorite consumption or investment targets. Quality, not price, is the key factor that affects these consumers' purchasing decisions, the research said.
China's middle-class market, consisting of households with annual incomes of US$7,500 to US$25,000 and ranging in age from 20 to 49, is likely to hit 100 million people by 2016, up from 35 million in 2006, the report said.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
RSS