ELECTRONICS
HTC forms VR alliance
HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday announced at the Mobile World Congress Shanghai that it has formed a virtual reality (VR) alliance with 28 global investment firms, aiming to provide US$10 billion to VR content developers around the world. The Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance is targeted to help foster long-term growth in the VR industry through sharing and investing in both technology and content creators, HTC said. Among the investment firms are Sequoia Capital (紅杉資本) and Matrix Partners (經緯中國). Last week, HTC chairwoman Cher Wang (王雪紅) said the company in April launched a US$100 million accelerator program for VR start-ups in Taipei, Beijing and San Francisco.
IC DESIGNERS
MediaTek joins 5G center
Handset chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday said it has joined a 5G innovation center created by China Mobile Ltd (中國移動) in a bid to secure a better position in China’s 5G market. The two companies will collaborate in facilitating the standardization of 5G technology and developing an ecosystem, products and application platforms together, MediaTek said in a statement. The Taiwanese firm said it aims to become one of the world’s first 5G chip suppliers in 2020.
SECURITY
Domestic sector eyes growth
Only 0.7 percent of homes in Taiwan are equipped with modern security systems, compared with 3 to 4 percent in Japan and 2 to 3 percent in South Korea, implying ample room for the domestic security service sector’s growth, Macquarie Capital Securities Ltd’s Taiwan branch said in a report released yesterday. The rising penetration rate in the residential sector, fueled by an aging population and growing demand in the smart home segment, will drive long-term growth for the sector, the brokerage said. As brand reputation and service quality are most critical to gain market share in the residential market, Taiwan Secom Co (中興保全) — the largest player in Taiwan with more than 50 percent market share — should be among the best performers in the sector, Macquarie said.
ECONOMIC AFFAIRS
Vice minister appointed
The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday appointed Intellectual Property Office Director-General Wang Mei-hua (王美花) to be its vice minister, citing her expertise in law and skills in communication and leadership. The ministry said Wang will supervise affairs of the Bureau of Foreign Trade, the Intellectual Property Office and the Department of Commerce after she takes the position next month. One of the priorities awaiting Wang would be supervising the drafting of an amendment to the Company Act (公司法) in an effort to improve Taiwan’s environment for start-ups, said a ministry official who is familiar with the matter.
INTERNET
Chinese censor replaced
China is replacing its top Internet regulator and censor, Lu Wei (魯煒), who had become the face of the government’s increasingly complicated dealings with foreign technology companies. Xinhua news agency yesterday reported that Lu would be replaced by his deputy, Xu Lin (徐麟), in implementing Beijing’s policies concerning the Internet, including overseeing social media and negotiating with technology firms that want to do business in China. The outspoken and gregarious Lu spent years defending China’s censorship policies and restrictions on foreign social media platforms as a matter of national security.
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
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
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
RESHAPING COMMERCE: Major industrialized economies accepted 15 percent duties on their products, while charges on items from Mexico, Canada and China are even bigger US President Donald Trump has unveiled a slew of new tariffs that boosted the average US rate on goods from across the world, forging ahead with his turbulent effort to reshape international commerce. The baseline rates for many trading partners remain unchanged at 10 percent from the duties Trump imposed in April, easing the worst fears of investors after the president had previously said they could double. Yet his move to raise tariffs on some Canadian goods to 35 percent threatens to inject fresh tensions into an already strained relationship, while nations such as Switzerland and New Zealand also saw increased
RSS