AIRLINES
StarLux tickets sell out
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) yesterday said that tickets for its first flights to three destinations sold out in just 11 minutes after sales started at 11am. The carrier is scheduled to start services on Jan. 23 to Macau; Penang, Malaysia; and Da Nang, Vietnam. Starlux spokesman Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國維) told reporters that tickets for the first flight to Macau sold out in six minutes, tickets for Da Nang sold out in nine minutes and those for Penang in 11 minutes. Tickets on the second flight to Macau were also sold out yesterday, it said. Starlux also announced its rewards program, Cosmile, which started signing up members.
DEFENSE
AIDC to sign F-16 deal
Aerospace Industrial Development Corp (AIDC, 漢翔航空) and Lockheed Martin Corp are to sign a strategic partnership agreement today to promote the establishment of an F-16 maintenance center in Taiwan, AIDC said. Taiwan is in the process of procuring 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets, known as the F-16Vs, and the government is implementing a NT$110 billion (US$3.63 billion) program to upgrade the nation’s existing fleet of 142 F-16A/B fighters to the same specifications as the F-16V. This has prompted AIDC to collaborate with the US defense contractor to build a regional F-16 maintenance repair and overhaul center in Taiwan, the company said.
ELECTRONICS
HTC confirms layoffs
HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday confirmed market rumors of employee layoffs as it looks to ensure the future of its smartphone and virtual reality businesses. HTC continues to innovate its product mix and services, while setting new standards in domains such as virtual reality and blockchain, the company said in a statement. HTC did not disclose the exact number of employees affected, nor did it provide a time line, but mainly Taiwan-based employees would be affected, it said. HTC last year laid off about 1,500 employees from its manufacturing department. The company has more than 3,000 employees.
RETAILERS
PChome Apple sales surge
PChome Online Inc (網路家庭) yesterday reported a 50 percent surge in sales of Apple Inc’s mobile devices during its Double 12 shopping event. Among the top 10 items in terms of sales were AirPods, the iPhone 11 Pro Max, the iPhone 11 and the iPad. Samsung Electronics Co’s Galaxy S10e and Nintendo Co’s Switch consoles also made the list. The company said that sales of PCs and other information and network devices grew more than 40 percent, while sales of cosmetics and health products; fashion and sports items; and home appliances posted 30 percent increases.
AUTO PARTS
Tong Yang profit up 42%
Tong Yang Industry Co (東陽實業), which manufactures bumpers and automotive sheet metal, yesterday posted a pretax profit of NT$323 million for last month, up 42 percent year-on-year and the highest on record. Pretax profit in the first 11 months was NT$2.27 billion, up 6 percent year-on-year, the company said in a statement. The company last week posted revenue of NT$2.11 billion, up 7.66 percent year-on-year, with its aftermarket business posting a record-high NT$1.58 billion, up 27 percent year-on-year.
CHIP WAR: Tariffs on Taiwanese chips would prompt companies to move their factories, but not necessarily to the US, unleashing a ‘global cross-sector tariff war’ US President Donald Trump would “shoot himself in the foot” if he follows through on his recent pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese and other foreign semiconductors entering the US, analysts said. Trump’s plans to raise tariffs on chips manufactured in Taiwan to as high as 100 percent would backfire, macroeconomist Henry Wu (吳嘉隆) said. He would “shoot himself in the foot,” Wu said on Saturday, as such economic measures would lead Taiwanese chip suppliers to pass on additional costs to their US clients and consumers, and ultimately cause another wave of inflation. Trump has claimed that Taiwan took up to
SUPPORT: The government said it would help firms deal with supply disruptions, after Trump signed orders imposing tariffs of 25 percent on imports from Canada and Mexico The government pledged to help companies with operations in Mexico, such as iPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), shift production lines and investment if needed to deal with higher US tariffs. The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday announced measures to help local firms cope with the US tariff increases on Canada, Mexico, China and other potential areas. The ministry said that it would establish an investment and trade service center in the US to help Taiwanese firms assess the investment environment in different US states, plan supply chain relocation strategies and
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
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