The Taipei Cycle show and the Taipei International Sporting Goods Show (TaiSPO) opened at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center’s Hall 1 and 2 yesterday, making the exhibitions the first to physically welcome visitors from around the world after Taiwan reopened its borders in October last year.
About 4,000 foreign visitors from more than 90 countries registered in advance to attend the joint fair, which is to include on-site events running through Saturday and digital shows continuing until April 7, the organizer said in a statement yesterday.
The Taipei Cycle and TaiSPO have attracted 1,023 companies, which showcase their products at 3,850 booths, making it the largest cycling and sports fitness industry event in Asia, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA, 外貿協會) said in the statement.
Photo: CNA
The fair also boasts the highest-density business platform for the global high-end bicycle and sports fitness supply chain, TAITRA said, adding that it expects it to result in substantial business opportunities for local firms.
With the launch of several special exhibitions at which products are categorized by usage purpose, it is expected to assist foreign companies to conveniently source products that meet their requirements and the importing countries’ regulations, it added.
“Taiwan is an important center for the production and research and development of bicycles and fitness products. Last year, the output value of bicycles exceeded NT$200 billion [US$6.55 billion], a substantial increase of 23 percent from the previous year, and ranked second in the world,” President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said at the event’s opening ceremony.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
In addition, Taiwan exported more than 1 million electric bicycles last year, Tsai said.
“Taiwan’s fitness equipment, sportswear, protective gear, ball equipment and other sporting goods are also internationally renowned, showing that Taiwan has become a reliable supply chain partner for the global sporting goods industry,” she added.
The annual bicycle industry fair features a variety of tires, seats, frames, lights, breaks, derailleurs, bicycles and electric bikes. Top brands in the industry, such as Merida Industry Co (美利達) and Giant Manufacturing Co (巨大機械) as well as chain maker KMC (Kuei Meng) International Inc (桂盟國際), Japanese bicycle parts maker Shimano Inc and Chicago-based component supplier SRAM Corp, are among the participants this year, the organizer said.
Fitness equipment manufacturers Johnson Health Technology Co (喬山健康科技) and Dyaco International Inc (岱宇國際), two TaiSPO veterans, are also participating in this year’s event, TAITRA said.
However, many exhibitors are attending for the first time, with about 15 percent of firms at Taipei Cycle and 25 percent at TaiSPO being debutants, including leading rubber conveyor belts maker Hsin Yung Chien Co (鑫永銓) and power and thermal management solutions provider Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), the organizer said.
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
EXPANSION: While Gigabyte Technology is optimistic about market demand this year, uncertainty remains due to the impact of potential US tariffs and currency fluctuations Motherboard and graphics card maker Gigabyte Technology Co (技嘉) yesterday said that it plans to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) server assembly line in the US in the second half of this year. The company’s core motherboard and graphics card businesses in the US remain stable, but sales of its higher-priced AI servers still hinge on the development of tariff policies, Gigabyte chairman Dandy Yeh (葉培城) told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taipei. Yeh was referring to the “reciprocal” tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump on April 2, which were later postponed for 90 days. While Gigabyte
RSS