Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信) yesterday said that chances are good its 5G subscription penetration rate would reach 30 percent ahead of schedule on the back of strong presale orders of the new iPhone series.
The telecom expects to sell 20 to 30 percent more devices by the end of this year from the iPhone 14 series than the previous-generation iPhone 13 models in the same period last year, as presale orders are nearly double, it said.
Persistent expansion of its 5G subscriber base has made that group about 25 percent of its overall postpaid subscribers, compared with about 20 percent at the end of the second quarter, Far EasTone Telecommunications said.
Photo: CNA
The carrier said that it has a goal of 30 percent 5G subscriptions by Dec. 31.
Its subscribers who use iPhones usually sign long-term contracts averaging 30 months, it said.
This year, most of the contracts signed by people seeking an iPhone 14 phone have top-end subscriptions with a minimum payment of NT$1,399 per month, it said.
Sixty to 70 percent of them have contracts of 36 to 48 months, it said.
The company aims to sell more than 200,000 iPhone 14s by the end of this year, it said, after Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s biggest telecom, announced the same target.
The new models generated three times as many presale orders as the company obtained last year when the iPhone 13 models were released, Chunghwa Telecom chairman Sheih Chi-mau (謝繼茂) said.
At the rate the new models are selling, the telecom could sell more than 200,000 of the new iPhones by the end of this year, he said.
The hype surrounding the iPhone 14 might help Chunghwa Telecom hit its target of 30 percent 5G penetration by the end of this year, Sheih said.
The most popular color seems to be purple, followed by starlight, which combined made up 70 percent of presales, Sheih said.
The new devices, which went on sale yesterday, are available in “midnight” (black), purple, “starlight” (white), red and blue.
Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) chief business officer Tony Lin (林東閔) said that his firm had received twice as many orders for iPhone 14s during presale as it did last year for iPhone 13s.
About 80 percent of its customers who purchased new iPhones bought the iPhone 14 Pro, which is expected to drive up subscriptions to the company’s 5G plans by 20 to 30 percent, Lin said.
Taiwan Star Telecom Corp (台灣之星) said in a statement that its presales of iPhone 14s have grown 20 percent over presales of iPhone 13s last year.
The most popular color among its customers was purple, followed by blue, and the hottest models were the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, together accounting for 80 percent of its sales, it said.
After several years flying high as Asia’s best Nvidia Corp proxy, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is increasingly vying with other artificial intelligence (AI) stocks for investor attention. Stock traders are chasing a wider array of beneficiaries as mainstream usage of AI creates demand for hardware beyond the most-advanced chips TSMC makes for Nvidia. Subthemes from the deepening memory crunch to advances in robotics are also luring bids. At the same time, investment caps on single stocks are pushing funds to diversify, while retail investors long familiar with TSMC through its US depositary receipts are being offered a broader set of
UNDER MICROSCOPE: Taiwan detained three people who allegedly conspired to buy servers in Taiwan and export them using fraudulent documentation, prosecutors said Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday urged Super Micro Computer Inc to tighten up on compliance after Taiwan detained three people this week for allegedly making fraudulent declarations about artificial intelligence (AI) servers made by its US partner. The development marked the nation’s first crackdown on semiconductor smuggling, which grew after the US slapped restrictions on exports of high-end chips such as Nvidia AI accelerators to China. Nvidia is “rigorous” in explaining regulations to all of its partners, Huang told reporters after arriving in Taipei. “Ultimately Super Micro has to run their own company,” he said in response to
Netherlands-based semiconductor equipment supplier ASML Holding NV yesterday said that it is planning to hire an additional 1,000 people in Taiwan this year in response to growing demand from clients. ASML had previously planned to recruit 600 people this year, but that the plan has been adjusted upward, ASML vice president and ASML Taiwan general manager Grace Wang (汪佳慧) told reporters. ASML has a workforce of more than 4,500 in Taiwan, accounting for about 10 percent of its global total, Wang said. This year’s recruitment campaign would focus on adding people in the customer support, manufacturing and supply chain domains to assist ASML
TECH RELIANCE: Growth is increasingly reflecting an unequal K-shaped distribution, where technology sectors outperform and other industries struggle, an expert said Standard Chartered Bank has significantly raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth to 9.5 percent this year, up from 7.6 percent previously, citing surging artificial intelligence (AI) demand driving exports, semiconductor production and investment. The upgrade reflects a sustained AI supercycle that continues to fuel demand for advanced chips and technology infrastructure, which form the backbone of Taiwan’s exports, the bank said in a report this week. “We raise our 2026 growth forecast to reflect a much stronger-than-expected first-quarter GDP figure,” Standard Chartered senior economist for greater China and Asia Tommy Wu (胡東安) said in the report. Driven largely by a 35.3 percent
RSS