ELECTRONICS
Asustek tabs No. 2 in Japan
Taiwan’s Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) beat Sony Corp of Japan and NEC Lenovo Group (聯想) of China to come in second in Japan’s tablet market in the third quarter thanks to low-priced products, according to tech research firm IDC Japan. In the July-September quarter, Asustek made up 16.4 percent of overall tablet shipments to be the second-most popular in Japan, up from a 10.8 percent share and the No. 4 position in the previous quarter, IDC Japan’s data showed. Apple continued its run as Japan’s top tablet maker with a 49.3 percent market share during the third quarter, while Sony was ranked third with an 8.6 percent share, NEC Lenovo fourth with a 6.3 percent share and Microsoft Corp fifth with a 3.8 percent share, IDC Japan said in a Dec. 25 report. Overall tablet shipments in Japan over the quarter fell 3 percent year-on-year to 1.62 million units, marking the first decline in four years since IDC Japan began the quarterly survey in 2010.
TELECOMS
Hon Hai to invest in 5G
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (鴻海精密) yesterday said its 5G technology development plan aims to enhance the competitiveness of Asia Pacific Telecom Co (亞太電信). Hon Hai holds a 23 percent share of 4G operator Asia Pacific Telecom. Hon Hai’s remarks came after the Chinese-language Commercial Times yesterday reported that the firm is to invest NT$4 billion (US$125.94 million) in 5G development and it may work with global service provider Ericsson in developing 5G technology. The report said Hon Hai aims to become “Taiwan’s Huawei Technology Co (華為).” In response, Hon Hai said it was not targeting any specific area or applications to deliver on 5G network. The newspaper has mistaken the company’s intension. Hon Hai will focus on developing technologies to serve its customers rather than to compete with clients.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Nan Ya sells Inotera shares
Nan Ya Plastics Corp (南亞塑膠) yesterday it has sold 15 million shares of DRAM chipmaker Inotera Memories Inc (華亞科技) for NT$755 million via a subsidiary, in an effort to strengthen its financial structure. Inotera shares were sold at NT$55.33 per share, higher than the stock’s closing price of NT$50 yesterday. Nan Ya will book NT$361 million in profit from the share sale, the company said in a statement filed with the Taiwan Stock Exchange. After the sale, Nan Ya still holds a 7.83 percent share of Inotera in combined with its subsidiaries.
MACROECONOMY
Job vacancy rises to 3.15%
An estimated 238,493 jobs in the industrial and services sectors were waiting to be filled in August, an increase of 47,598 from last year, according to a semi-annual survey released yesterday by the government. The figure translates to a job vacancy rate of 3.15 percent, up 0.56 percentage points from last year, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said. Of the openings, 98,308, or 41.2 percent, were in the manufacturing business, 45,358, or 19 percent, in the wholesale and retail business, and 16,298, 6.8 percent, in hospitality and restaurant services. The business that registered the single highest job vacancy rate was electronic parts and component manufacturing (4.28 percent), followed by furniture manufacturing (4.24 percent) and petroleum and coal product manufacturing (0.43 percent).
Taiwan will prioritize the development of silicon photonics by taking advantage of its strength in the semiconductor industry to build another shield to protect the local economy, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Paul Liu (劉鏡清) said yesterday. Speaking at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee, Liu said Taiwan already has the artificial intelligence (AI) industry as a shield, after the semiconductor industry, to safeguard the country, and is looking at new unique fields to build more economic shields. While Taiwan will further strengthen its existing shields, over the longer term, the country is determined to focus on such potential segments as
UNCERTAINTY: Innolux activated a stringent supply chain management mechanism, as it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, to ensure optimal inventory levels for customers Flat-panel display makers AUO Corp (友達) and Innolux Corp (群創) yesterday said that about 12 to 20 percent of their display business is at risk of potential US tariffs and that they would relocate production or shipment destinations to mitigate the levies’ effects. US tariffs would have a direct impact of US$200 million on AUO’s revenue, company chairman Paul Peng (彭雙浪) told reporters on the sidelines of the Touch Taiwan trade show in Taipei yesterday. That would make up about 12 percent of the company’s overall revenue. To cope with the tariff uncertainty, AUO plans to allocate its production to manufacturing facilities in
Chizuko Kimura has become the first female sushi chef in the world to win a Michelin star, fulfilling a promise she made to her dying husband to continue his legacy. The 54-year-old Japanese chef regained the Michelin star her late husband, Shunei Kimura, won three years ago for their Sushi Shunei restaurant in Paris. For Shunei Kimura, the star was a dream come true. However, the joy was short-lived. He died from cancer just three months later in June 2022. He was 65. The following year, the restaurant in the heart of Montmartre lost its star rating. Chizuko Kimura insisted that the new star is still down
While China’s leaders use their economic and political might to fight US President Donald Trump’s trade war “to the end,” its army of social media soldiers are embarking on a more humorous campaign online. Trump’s tariff blitz has seen Washington and Beijing impose eye-watering duties on imports from the other, fanning a standoff between the economic superpowers that has sparked global recession fears and sent markets into a tailspin. Trump says his policy is a response to years of being “ripped off” by other countries and aims to bring manufacturing to the US, forcing companies to employ US workers. However, China’s online warriors
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