Monthly Archives: September 2011

New Canon plant in Chiayi expected to bring 4,000 much-needed jobs

2011/09/26 19:00:59

 

Taipei, Sept. 26 (CNA) Japan-based Canon Inc. broke ground on its new manufacturing complex in Chiayi County Monday, a project that is expected to bring 4,000 new jobs to the primarily agricultural county and give local residents reason to stay at home.

County Magistrate Chang Hwa-kuan said at the groundbreaking ceremony that the county’s population outflow has grown serious because of the lack of opportunity in non-agricultural sectors, and she hoped the new facility would stem the net negative migration.

Canon plans to recruit workers from Chiayi and neighboring Yunlin counties to man the operations at the new NT$4 billion (US$131.1 million) facility, which is scheduled to be completed in April 2012 and begin production in July.

The company decided to invest in the new plant in December 2010 in response to rising demand and to further diversify its production bases.

A few months ago, it also committed to investing NT$11 billion to expand its factory in Tanzih District, Taichung, according to Vice Economic Affairs Minister Hwang Jung-chiou.

Canon has operated the Tanzih plant since 1970, when it became the company’s first overseas production stronghold.

After Canon’s new investment in Chiayi, along with a bilateral investment pact signed between Taiwan and Japan on Sept. 22, more Japanese enterprises are expected to invest in the country, Huang said.

 

 

source:http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aECO&ID=201109260023

HTC mobile banking phone goes on sale in Chongqing

2011/09/26 20:52:00

 

Taipei, Sept. 26 (CNA) Taiwan’s HTC Corp. began selling a smartphone in Chongqing City of western China that enables mobile payments through NFC (Near Field Communication) technology, aiming to gain a foothold in the fast-growing mobile banking market.

The “Jiang Yu banking” phone, priced at 4,680 Chinese yuan (US$732), allows remote bill payments and contactless payments. It went on sale last week through the Chongqing Rural Commercial (CRC) Bank, according to a recent statement from the bank.

CRC Bank’s customers can also use the digital wallet-like smartphone to pay for mass transportation in Chongqing, as well as at POS (Point-of-Sale) machines in some approved stores like department stores, restaurants, supermarkets and movie theaters.

The number of these POS machines in Chongqing will increase to over 9,000 by the end of this year, the Hong Kong-listed bank said.

The Economic Observer of China quoted Dennis Chen, head of the Asia and China Enterprise Department of HTC, as saying that HTC is confident in such products and “will launch related phones with more banks.”

The move came after the world’s fifth largest smartphone maker jointly unveiled a four-inch “HTC Stunning” smartphone in August with China UnionPay Co., China’s only credit card network.

The Android-powered HTC Stunning is capable of making NFC payments at 345,000 POS machines in China as of June 2011, and these machines are likely to increase to 700,000 by the end of this year.

According to China-based IIMEDIA Research, mainland’s mobile banking service subscribers has exceeded 7 million during the first half of 2011, with total trading volume growing 238 percent year-on-year to 709,000 entries and total transaction amount up 574 percent to 44.9 billion yuan.

 

source:http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aECO&ID=201109260032

Compal, Lenovo form PC manufacturing company in China

2011/09/27 12:43:03

 

Taipei, Sept. 27 (CNA) Compal Electronics Inc., the world’s second-biggest contract notebook maker, announced Tuesday it will form a new joint venture with China’s top PC brand Lenovo Group Ltd.

Compal will hold a 49 percent stake in the new company, to be called Lienpal (Hefei) Ltd., which will begin mass production at the end of 2012 and manufacture and sell laptops, AIO (all-in-one) PCs and related components, the Taiwan-based company said in a statement.

The new venture will have paid-in capital of US$100 million in its initial stage, but total investment will reach US$300 million after a second phase, according to a filing by Lenovo with the Hong Kong stock exchange.

The new company is expected to have a capacity of 10 million units by 2013 or 2014, according to a Compal spokesperson.

Compal said the joint venture was being formed to take advantage of the strong growth of IT demand in China and to cater to its customers’ strategic plans in the country.

The move, Compal said, will strengthen its relationship with customers, enhance logistics efficiency, and improve its competitiveness.

China has been one of the few sources of strength for the company in a difficult market.

Earlier this month, Compal said it shipped about 3.3 million notebooks in August, roughly the same amount as in July, with strong demand from China offsetting weakness in other markets around the world.

The company has given guidance that notebook shipments for the third quarter would total 10.2 million units, but it acknowledged on Sept. 14 that reaching the target would be a challenge after shipping 6.5 million units in July and August.

For the whole of 2011, Compal has lowered its shipment targets for notebooks from 48 million units to 42 million units and for tablet PCs from 3.8 million units to 3 million units, citing the impact of a weakening global economy and declining interest in notebook computers because of the rise of Apple’s iPad.

 

source:http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aECO&ID=201109270007

Far EasTone introduces low-cost data plan for tablet PCs

2011/09/27 16:38:04

 

Taipei, Sept. 27 (CNA) Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., Taiwan’s No. 3 mobile provider, on Tuesday launched a NT$199 (US$6.5) monthly data plan that targets tablet computer users.

Consumers who subscribe to this plan can use Far EasTone’s 15,000 “hot spots” for Wi-Fi connection around the country, with free 3G data traffic of 1 gigabyte per month, said Benjamin Ho, Far EasTone executive vice president for marketing and consumer business.

“We find that consumers prefer Wi-Fi connection over 3G networks when using tablet computers, so we hope this low-rate plan will help increase our contract subscribers,” Ho said at a media gathering.

Far EasTone’s Wi-Fi hotspots will increase to 25,000 by the end of the year, he said.

Currently Far EasTone has about 40,000 subscribers to its tablet data plan, and the company expects the number to grow by 20 percent month-on-month from October to December, reaching 70,000 by the end of this year.

For the first seven months of the year, overall tablet sales in Taiwan hit 200,000 units, with 65 percent of them sold through 3C retail channels and 35 percent through telecom operators, said Shing Chu, Far EasTone director of broadband marketing.

The figure is expected to exceed 300,000 units by the end of 2011, given the expected boost in tablet sales during the “IT Month” consumer event in December, Chu said.

 

source:http://focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_Detail.aspx?Type=aECO&ID=201109270014