Some of the world’s biggest tech companies, including Dell Technologies Inc, HP Inc and Apple Inc supplier Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), have applied for state aid to manufacture laptops in India.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s US$2.1 billion financial incentive plan — a bid to boost local production of technology hardware such as laptops, personal computers, tablets and servers — has received an overwhelming industry response, Indian Minister of Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Wednesday.
Under Modi’s plan, companies are entitled to cash back of almost 5 percent of factory prices of finished products. Sourcing components locally would help manufacturers win more financial benefits.
32 companies, including units of homegrown contract manufacturers such as Optiemus Electronics Ltd and Dixon Technologies India Ltd, had applied for the incentives before the application window closed at midnight on Wednesday.
The Indian government is trying to replicate the success of incentives it introduced in 2020 to jump-start the local assembly of smartphones. That plan led Taiwanese Apple suppliers Foxconn, Wistron Corp (緯創) and Pegatron Corp (和碩) to ramp up in India, helping Apple to produce about 7 percent of its global iPhone output in the South Asian country in its last fiscal year.
Modi’s administration expects companies to make an incremental investment of 24.3 billion rupees (US$294 million) and produce an additional output worth 3.35 trillion rupees under the six-year plan.
“India is emerging as a very trusted supply chain partner and also a value chain partner because it has good capabilities in design,” Vaishnaw told reporters at a briefing in New Delhi.
Companies could begin production under the plan by early next year, he added.
Apple has yet to apply for incentives to locally assemble its MacBook laptops and iPad tablets, Indian government officials said.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
i Gasoline and diesel prices at fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.1 per liter, as tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week rose for the third consecutive week due to an escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, as the market is concerned that the situation in the Middle East might affect crude oil supply, CPC and Formosa said in separate statements. Front-month Brent crude oil futures — the international oil benchmark — rose 3.75 percent to settle at US$77.01
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
RSS