The first-ever fair to promote consumer electronics in Taipei’s Bade business district (八德商圈) saw the number of shoppers increase by more than 50 percent during the weekend, a shop owner said yesterday.
Sales during the weekend were up between 20 percent and 30 percent, said an employee surnamed Fang, who works at OMC (強越資訊), adding that sales were nevertheless not as good as expected.
The majority of OMC’s customers spent between NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 on low-priced products such as MP3 players and USB flash drives, Fang said.
John Chen (陳彥彰), a deputy store manager at Crete (茂訊電腦), said the low-cost notebook PC Acer Aspire One, which costs NT$15,500 at his store, was the most popular model among consumers and was now out of stock.
“For every 10 notebook computers we sell, four to five of them are the Acer Aspire One, with the white model the most popular,” Chen said, adding that aside from good prices, demand for mobility was also growing.
Asked for his opinion of the event, a store manager surnamed Lin, who works at Chen Shang Information Co (慶聲資訊), said it was very well organized.
However, there seemed to be a lack of advertising, because a lot of customers said they did not know about this event until they got there, he said.
The fair is part of the Taipei Shopping Festival 2008 (台北購物節), which began on Aug. 30 and ends on Oct. 12.
Hundreds of stores, including temporary booths set up by vendors, will continue to offer discounts during the next two weekends after knocking as much as 32 percent off selling prices.
The biggest discount at Crete was on the HP Compaq Presario CQ45, at NT$29,900, down NT$5,000 yesterday.
The shop said that it would also give away printers to notebook buyers.
Other stores sought to attract customers by offering lucky draws after purchases.
Sponsored by the Taipei City Government, Section 1 of Bade Road (八德路一段) was closed off to vehicles this past weekend and will also be closed for the next two weekends.
“Normally, because parking is not allowed in this area, people do not usually stop and shop,” Fang said.
“The clowns at the fair really help make the event more interesting and we see a lot of families among the visitors this time,” Fang said.
Semiconductor business between Taiwan and the US is a “win-win” model for both sides given the high level of complementarity, the government said yesterday responding to tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Home to the world’s largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Taiwan is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp. Trump said on Monday he plans to impose tariffs on imported chips, pharmaceuticals and steel in an effort to get the producers to make them in the US. “Taiwan and the US semiconductor and other technology industries
SMALL AND EFFICIENT: The Chinese AI app’s initial success has spurred worries in the US that its tech giants’ massive AI spending needs re-evaluation, a market strategist said Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up DeepSeek’s (深度求索) eponymous AI assistant rocketed to the top of Apple Inc’s iPhone download charts, stirring doubts in Silicon Valley about the strength of the US’ technological dominance. The app’s underlying AI model is widely seen as competitive with OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc’s latest. Its claim that it cost much less to train and develop triggered share moves across Asia’s supply chain. Chinese tech firms linked to DeepSeek, such as Iflytek Co (科大訊飛), surged yesterday, while chipmaking tool makers like Advantest Corp slumped on the potential threat to demand for Nvidia Corp’s AI accelerators. US stock
The US Federal Reserve is expected to announce a pause in rate cuts on Wednesday, as policymakers look to continue tackling inflation under close and vocal scrutiny from US President Donald Trump. The Fed cut its key lending rate by a full percentage point in the final four months of last year and indicated it would move more cautiously going forward amid an uptick in inflation away from its long-term target of 2 percent. “I think they will do nothing, and I think they should do nothing,” Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis former president Jim Bullard said. “I think the
SUBSIDIES: The nominee for commerce secretary indicated the Trump administration wants to put its stamp on the plan, but not unravel it entirely US President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the agency in charge of a US$52 billion semiconductor subsidy program declined to give it unqualified support, raising questions about the disbursement of funds to companies like Intel Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電). “I can’t say that I can honor something I haven’t read,” Howard Lutnick, Trump’s nominee for commerce secretary, said of the binding CHIPS and Science Act awards in a confirmation hearing on Wednesday. “To the extent monies have been disbursed, I would commit to rigorously enforcing documents that have been signed by those companies to make sure we get
RSS