Despite flat-rate data packages pinching the margins of telecom operators and creating network congestion, Taiwanese consumers are still signing up for 4G in droves. Dony Wang is underwhelmed by Taiwan’s 4G LTE service. The project manager for a Taipei-based clean-energy company purchased an iPhone 6 for his wife last fall. Since then, his wife has…
Content owners urge the blocking of China-based websites that host a huge variety of unlicensed programming free of charge. Online piracy of television programs remains rampant in Taiwan in the absence of a mechanism to block offending websites, which are largely based in mainland China. A Chinese-language search on Google for “free Taiwanese TV programs”…
In the first big consolidation in the Taiwanese telecom and media sector in five years, Morgan Stanley and Far EasTone are playing leading roles. An investment consortium headed by Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia (MSPE Asia) with participation by Far EasTone Telecommunications Co. (FET) announced plans on July 30 to acquire China Network Systems (CNS),…
Taiwanese OEMs find it increasingly pays to be part of the iconic technology giant’s supply chain. Taiwanese contract electronics manufacturers dominate the supply chain of Apple Inc., the most valuable company in the world. While iPhones and Apple computers are assembled in China with parts sourced from global suppliers, Taiwanese firms own many of the…
The key question is how long can Taiwan’s IC industry hold off its Chinese competitors? Taiwan’s semiconductor sector faces a formidable challenge from China as Beijing moves aggressively to build homegrown chip-making giants. The Chinese government announced a US$20 billion fund last year for that task, and says it will invest a total of US$161…
Now that Taiwan is on the map for more visitors, its hotel sector is enjoying an unprecedented boom. Taiwan’s hotel sector is thriving, buoyed by the island’s transformation into an up-and-coming destination for Asian travelers. Since 2008, when the Taiwanese government eased restrictions on Chinese visitors, foreign tourist numbers have jumped from 3.8 million to…
The sector netted record profits in 2014 on the back of burgeoning offshore business, especially in China. The crowded Taiwan banking sector is finding room to breathe at last. Rapid expansion of offshore business amid deregulation and improving asset quality helped banks post a record NT$332.8 billion (US$10.7 billion) in profits in 2014, according to…
INDUSTRY FOCUS: Financial Sector Smoother Sailing for Taiwan’s Banks offshore The Formosa Bond Market Ignites Promoting the Onshore Mutual Fund Business Taiwan’s Payment Plan Taiwan’s offshore RMB bond market is growing rapidly after investment was opened to domestic insurers. Taiwan’s Formosa bond market is surging on the back of deregulation measures that have made…
Regulators are tightening the screws on offshore fund managers in an effort to strengthen the asset-management sector at home. Taiwan punches above its weight in the asset-management sector. The island of 23 million people had over US$167 billion assets under management (AUM) at the end of 2014, according to the Taipei-based consultancy Keystone Intelligence. Offshore…
The introduction of mobile and third-party payment platforms is expected to bolster the nation’s burgeoning e-commerce market. Taiwan’s payments industry is getting a needed shakeup with the adoption of contactless technology to facilitate mobile transactions and the passage new legislation to legalize third-party electronic payment services. Those changes will not fundamentally alter the island’s payments…
