SMARTPHONES
HTC to sell plastic One M8
HTC Corp (宏達電) will release a plastic version of its newest flagship smartphone in China next month to undercut the prices of competing products like Samsung Electronics Co’s Galaxy S5, according to a media report. The only difference between the current HTC One M8 and the plastic version will be the casing material, as the hardware specifications and software features will be almost the same, Chinese business news portal TMT Post reported on Saturday, citing unidentified sources. The plastic version of the M8 will cost about 3,000 Chinese yuan (US$500), compared with 5,299 Chinese yuan for the metal-clad M8 that went on sale in China on Friday last week, the report said.
SMARTPHONES
Shipments to grow 5.2%
Worldwide smartphone shipments will grow in the second quarter with the arrival of the industry’s traditional peak season, market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said. Smartphone shipments will grow 5.2 percent during the April-June period from the previous quarter, it said in a research note yesterday. In addition to the high-season effect, China’s rising Time-Division Long-Term Evolution market is also creating growth momentum for smartphone shipments and upgraded smartphone specs, it said. The quarterly shipment growth for Chinese-brand handsets is expected to exceed 10 percent, higher than the market average, TrendForce predicted.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
UNCERTAINTIES: Exports surged 34.1% and private investment grew 7.03% to outpace expectations in the first half, although US tariffs could stall momentum The Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) yesterday raised its GDP growth forecast to 3.05 percent this year on a robust first-half performance, but warned that US tariff threats and external uncertainty could stall momentum in the second half of the year. “The first half proved exceptionally strong, allowing room for optimism,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said. “But the growth momentum may slow moving forward due to US tariffs.” The tariff threat poses definite downside risks, although the scale of the impact remains unclear given the unpredictability of US President Donald Trump’s policies, Lien said. Despite the headwinds, Taiwan is likely
READY TO BUY: Shortly after Nvidia announced the approval, Chinese firms scrambled to order the H20 GPUs, which the company must send to the US government for approval Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) late on Monday said the technology giant has won approval from US President Donald Trump’s administration to sell its advanced H20 graphics processing units (GPUs) used to develop artificial intelligence (AI) to China. The news came in a company blog post late on Monday and Huang also spoke about the coup on China’s state-run China Global Television Network in remarks shown on X. “The US government has assured Nvidia that licenses will be granted, and Nvidia hopes to start deliveries soon,” the post said. “Today, I’m announcing that the US government has approved for us
The National Stabilization Fund (NSF, 國安基金) is to continue supporting local shares, as uncertainties in international politics and the economy could affect Taiwanese industries’ global deployment and corporate profits, as well as affect stock movement and investor confidence, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement yesterday. The NT$500 billion (US$17.1 billion) fund would remain active in the stock market as the US’ tariff measures have not yet been fully finalized, which would drive international capital flows and global supply chain restructuring, the ministry said after the a meeting of the fund’s steering committee. Along with ongoing geopolitical risks and an unfavorable
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