Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團), Taiwan’s largest IT conglomerate, yesterday held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Taipei International IT Fashion Center (台北資訊園區), its first public project with the government.
Hon Hai, which assembles iPhone and iPads for Apple Inc, is building the center through a build-operate-transfer partnership with the Taipei City Government for NT$3.9 billion (US$135 million) and will operate it for 50 years.
Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou (郭台銘) spoke at the ceremony and said the group might explore more public tenders in the future, given its successful bid for the IT Fashion Center.
Photo: Lo Pei-der, Taipei Times
“We are an export-oriented company. We didn’t bid for public projects in the past as we had to take care of our own well-being,” Gou said, referring to the company’s profitability.
However, Taipei’s vision of utilizing downtown land to set up a tech mall to rival Akihabara, a famous electronics retailing belt in Tokyo, drew its attention.
As Hon Hai does not operate an own-brand business, the group is building channels through which it can sell tech gadgets — a business model that has already proven to be successful in China.
The company will also take advantage of its relationships with brand clients to develop user-friendly digital content to keep abreast of trends in technology, Gou said.
The IT center will be operated by Hon Hai’s affiliate SynTrend Creative Co (三創數位), which will rely on the experience of -Cybermart International Holding Co (賽博數碼).
Hon Hai set up Cybermart in China in 1999 to sell digital products, including computers, handsets and TVs.
There are currently more than 30 Cybermart outlets in several major Chinese cities. The retailer said in Taipei last week that the number would grow to 40 by the end of the year.
It also plans to open at least one outlet in Taiwan by December, with a total of 20 outlets in the long run, it said.
Gou yesterday said the group was planning to list Cybermart in Taipei. Cybermart chairman Steve Chang (張瑞麟) said the retail chain planned to spend 10 billion yuan (US$1.54 billion) over five years on expansion plans. Both declined to give a timeline for the listing.
The center, scheduled for completion in 2013, will have 18 floors (12 upper floors and six -underground parking lots) and is located adjacent to the Guanghua Digital Plaza (光華數位新天地).
Cybermart CEO Scott Chu (朱家義) told the Taipei Times in June last year that the center would be a retail space that would help to develop creativity, as it would offer young entrepreneurs a place to go “wild” and come up with ideas for new tech products.
Cybermart will assist these entrepreneurs in making their ideas take shape and, if feasible, even commercialize the ideas into gadgets to be sold across the globe, Chu said at the time.
Asustek Computer Inc’s (華碩) general sales manager Kevin Lin (林福能) yesterday said the center would offer a platform for branded firms to showcase their products to shoppers.
“With the city government backing the project, we feel confident about working with the mall,” Lin said.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
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