Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) yesterday named AppWorks Venture (之初創投) cofounder Jamie Lin (林之晨) to succeed president James Cheng (鄭俊卿) as part of the telecom operator's broader efforts to transform itself into a technology-oriented company in the upcoming 5G era.
Lin is to take over from the 65-year-old Cheng on April 1. Lin is retiring.
The announcement of Lin’s appointment at the second-biggest telecom in the nation comes about one-and-half months after Far Eas-Tone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) tapped former AT&T Inc executive Chee Ching (井琪) to be its new president.
Lin has set a goal of joining the ranks of the world’s top 100 enterprises and boosting Taiwan Mobile’s market value to US$100 billion, about 10 times its current market value.
Based on the company’s share price of NT$109.5 yesterday, its current market value is NT$374.49 billion (US$12.18 billion).
“Ushering in the 5G era, Taiwan Mobile aims to transform itself into a new-generation telecom and a provider of technologies,” chairman Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠) said in a statement.
“To achieve that goal, Taiwan Mobile needs to rejuvenate its management and corporate culture as well as to draw in younger-generation customers,” Tsai added.
Tsai approached Lin about the job two months ago.
The company said it intends to leverage Lin’s experience at AppWorks in spurring innovation and resources integration, as well as his fundraising abilities.
The 41-year-old Lin, who was named an independent director on the telecom’s board in June last year, will help the company create new ecosystems in Taiwan and expand its market reach to Southeast Asian nations, it said.
Lin’s joining the board last year triggered speculation about his role on the board, as the National Taiwan University chemical engineering graduate had never held a job in the telecom industry.
Like many of its peers, Taiwan Mobile is keen to embrace 5G technology, which is be launched commercially in several developed countries later this year, to transform itself into a technology-oriented firm.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal
WASHINGTON POLICY: Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs are tipped to hit shipments of small parcels, cutting export growth by 1.3 percentage points The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban Chinese companies from using a US tariff loophole would hit tens of billions of dollars of trade and reduce China’s economic growth this year, according to new estimates by economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. According to Nomura’s estimates, last year companies such as Shein (希音) and PDD Holdings Inc’s (拼多多控股) Temu shipped US$46 billion of small parcels to the US to take advantage of the rule that allows items with a declared value under US$800 to enter the US tariff-free. Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs would slash such
SENSOR BUSINESS: The Taiwanese company said that a public tender offer would begin on May 7 through its wholly owned subsidiary Yageo Electronics Japan Yageo Corp (國巨), one of the world’s top three suppliers of passive components, yesterday said it is to launch a tender offer to fully acquire Japan’s Shibaura Electronics Co for up to ¥65.57 billion (US$429.37 million), with an aim to expand its sensor business. The tender offer would be a crucial step for the company to expand its sensor business, Yageo said. Shibaura Electronics is the world’s largest supplier of thermistors, with a market share of 13 percent, research conducted in 2022 by the Japanese firm showed. If a deal goes ahead, it would be the second acquisition of a sensor business since