Multichannel retailer ETMall (東森購物) has said it would cut its workforce by 200 employees by the end of the year.
In a statement on Monday, ETMall’s owner Eastern Media Group (東森媒體) attributed the move to rising electricity bills, hikes to Taiwan’s minimum wage and interest payments which had caused operating costs to increase by NT$130 million (US$4 million).
Sales on ETMall’s online shopping platform fell by NT$5.9 billion from 2021 to last year — a 58 percent drop — while revenues for its TV shopping division shrank by 20 percent to NT$6.5 billion during the same period, Eastern Media said.
Photo courtesy of Eastern Media Group
Eastern Media said employees who do not take voluntary redundancy would be given help to find new positions within the company.
While ETMall’s offline retail division has posted consistent losses since opening last year, Eastern Media said sales at its shopping mall in Taipei Main Station grew 345 percent in the 12-month period that ended in October.
Eastern Media said it would shutter ETMall’s loss-incurring fresh food online shopping network as well as its Ponta points-based rewards program.
ETMall’s TV shopping channels are also under pressure due to declining cable subscribers, which have fallen from a peak of 5.2 million households to below 4.4 million, Eastern Media said.
Despite some of its holdings incurring losses, Eastern Media said that the group remained profitable, adding that ETMall’s best-performing employees would be given a 5 percent pay raise after the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.
Lu Chih-ming (盧志銘), a specialist from the New Taipei City Labor Affairs Department, yesterday said that ETMall has notified his department of its workforce reduction plans.
Lu said that to his knowledge, many of the workers affected by ETMall’s downsizing plan had accepted voluntary severance packages.
Contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) yesterday said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Polar Semiconductor LLC to collaborate on the production of 8-inch wafers in the US. The collaboration aims to strengthen 8-inch wafer manufacturing in the US amid Washington’s efforts to increase onshore manufacturing of semiconductors, contribute to supply chain resilience against shifting geopolitical dynamics, and ensure a secure domestic supply of power semiconductors critical to automotive, electric grids, robotic manufacturing and data centers, the companies said in a joint statement. Under the MOU, Polar and UMC will identify devices for Polar to manufacture at
TECH TITANS: Amazon’s latest chip joins Google in competing for the 90 percent market share held by Nvidia, which claims it is ‘a generation ahead of the industry’ Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Tuesday launched its in-house-built Trainium3 artificial intelligence (AI) chip, marking a significant push to compete with Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market for AI computing power. The move intensifies competition in the AI chip market, where Nvidia dominates with an estimated 80 to 90 percent market share for products used in training large language models that power the likes of ChatGPT. Google last week caused tremors in the industry when it was reported that Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc would employ Google AI chips in data centers, signaling new competition for Nvidia. This followed the release last month of
TARIFF TALKS: The US secretary of commerce is eyeing more than US$300 billion in investments and said Taiwan would train US workers, but Taipei has denied the latter US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said the US is expecting a large investment pledge from Taiwan in trade talks, while President William Lai (賴清德) listed areas that need improvement in order for projects to be completed. “We’re in the midst of discussions,” Lutnick said on Wednesday. “But the fact is, this administration’s goal is to bring semiconductor manufacturing to America.” Lai on Wednesday said Taiwan is supportive of US President Donald Trump’s goal of reindustrializing the US, including efforts to ramp up semiconductor production. Such a goal would require the US to reduce its reliance on Taiwan as a key source
Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) and Luxshare Precision Industry Co (立訊精密) plan to add millions of gaming devices to Vietnam’s annual output, according to documents they submitted to local authorities, reinforcing the country’s role in the global supply of game consoles. Vietnam assembles a variety of electronic products destined for foreign markets, including smartphones, computers and tablets. Information on its production of consoles is not public, but Foxconn EV Energy & Component (Vietnam) Co, a subsidiary of the Taiwanese manufacturer, has capacity to produce up to 4 million gaming devices in a factory in Northern Vietnam, according to a company document from
RSS