HANDSETS
Xiaomi new model sold out
It took just 9 minutes and 50 seconds for China’s Xiaomi Corp (小米) to sell out of all of its 10,000 Red Rice smartphones made available online for the Taiwanese market, the company said yesterday. The cheapest of Xiaomi’s handsets, the Red Rice costs NT$3,999. The dual-SIM phone, which runs on WCDMA and GSM networks, created a buzz when Xiaomi began accepting online preorders on Monday last week. Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), Taiwan’s third-largest mobile carrier, is the only authorized dealer for the Red Rice phone in Taiwan, though it can also be bought online. Taiwan is Xiaomi’s first overseas market.
TRADE
China trade jumps 18.8%
Trade between Taiwan and China was valued at US$180.71 billion in the first 11 months of this year, an increase of 18.8 percent year-on-year, according to statistics released yesterday by China’s General Administration of Customs. During the January-to-November period, Chinese exports to Taiwan rose 14.1 percent from a year ago to US$37.18 billion, while imports from Taiwan jumped 20.1 percent to US$143.53 billion. Last month alone, trade across the Taiwan Strait totaled US$16.44 billion, with China’s exports to Taiwan accounting for US$3.5 billion and its imports from Taiwan worth US$12.94 billion.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Her white-gloved, waistcoated uniform impeccable, 22-year-old Hazuki Okuno boards a bullet train replica to rehearse the strict protocols behind the smooth operation of a Japanese institution turning 60 Tuesday. High-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on Oct. 1, 1964, heralding a new era for rail travel as Japan grew into an economic superpower after World War II. The service remains integral to the nation’s economy and way of life — so keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job. At a 10-story, state-of-the-art staff training center, Okuno shouted from the window and signaled to imaginary colleagues, keeping
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