The Taipei Computer Applications Show had a second busy day yesterday after seeing a 15 percent rise in the number of visitors on the first day, as consumers flocked to the Taipei World Trade Center’s Exhibition Hall 1 seeking bargains at the summer’s largest technology fair.
The Taipei Computer Association (台北市電腦公會) said more than 200 firms had taken up 1,350 booths at the fair this year, marking a record high number of booths in the six years the fair has been running.
WiMAX operator Global Mobile Corp (全球一動) is aiming to give the latest 4G wireless technology a push by bundling much-awaited iPads into its monthly subscription plan.
“Those who subscribe to our plan will be the first to receive iPads when they are formally launched in Taiwan,” said marketing specialist Vita Chen (陳諱亭), adding that there were 30 reservations for the package available each day at the fair, a total of 120 iPads up for grabs.
The iPad craze has also caught on among PC peripheral makers.
Fruitshop International Co (果舖創意), which specializes in the design and production of iPhone covers and USBs, said it had sold 50 iPad protection covers on the first day and expected sales to total 300 by the time the five-day fair closes on Monday.
“Yes, many consumers have already obtained an iPad on the gray market or by importing from overseas,” said Ariel Lin (林思妤), Fruitshop’s sales and marketing manager for the Greater China region.
However, at most of the booths, notebooks were the hardest-pushed products, as Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), Acer Inc (宏碁) and Lenovo Group (聯想) all had promotion teams ready to talk consumers into taking home their latest portable PCs.
WEAKER ACTIVITY: The sharpest deterioration was seen in the electronics and optical components sector, with the production index falling 13.2 points to 44.5 Taiwan’s manufacturing sector last month contracted for a second consecutive month, with the purchasing managers’ index (PMI) slipping to 48, reflecting ongoing caution over trade uncertainties, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The decline reflects growing caution among companies amid uncertainty surrounding US tariffs, semiconductor duties and automotive import levies, and it is also likely linked to fading front-loading activity, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “Some clients have started shifting orders to Southeast Asian countries where tariff regimes are already clear,” Lien told a news conference. Firms across the supply chain are also lowering stock levels to mitigate
IN THE AIR: While most companies said they were committed to North American operations, some added that production and costs would depend on the outcome of a US trade probe Leading local contract electronics makers Wistron Corp (緯創), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達), Inventec Corp (英業達) and Compal Electronics Inc (仁寶) are to maintain their North American expansion plans, despite Washington’s 20 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods. Wistron said it has long maintained a presence in the US, while distributing production across Taiwan, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe. The company is in talks with customers to align capacity with their site preferences, a company official told the Taipei Times by telephone on Friday. The company is still in talks with clients over who would bear the tariff costs, with the outcome pending further
Six Taiwanese companies, including contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), made the 2025 Fortune Global 500 list of the world’s largest firms by revenue. In a report published by New York-based Fortune magazine on Tuesday, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), ranked highest among Taiwanese firms, placing 28th with revenue of US$213.69 billion. Up 60 spots from last year, TSMC rose to No. 126 with US$90.16 billion in revenue, followed by Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) at 348th, Pegatron Corp (和碩) at 461st, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) at 494th and Wistron Corp (緯創) at
NEGOTIATIONS: Semiconductors play an outsized role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development and are a major driver of the Taiwan-US trade imbalance With US President Donald Trump threatening to impose tariffs on semiconductors, Taiwan is expected to face a significant challenge, as information and communications technology (ICT) products account for more than 70 percent of its exports to the US, Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said on Friday. Compared with other countries, semiconductors play a disproportionately large role in Taiwan’s industrial and economic development, Lien said. As the sixth-largest contributor to the US trade deficit, Taiwan recorded a US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US last year — up from US$47.8 billion in 2023 — driven by strong
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