Taipei Times (TT): Taiwanese tech companies have recently found themselves engaging in what have been called “patent wars,” and their business operations could be undermined if they fail to handle related lawsuits properly. How should Taiwanese firms tackle those challenges? [Editor’s note: HTC Corp (宏達電), the world’s No. 5 smartphone brand, is being sued by Apple Inc for allegedly violating its patents. HTC may face an injunction and cannot sell its smartphones in the US if it loses the lawsuit.]
Stan Shih (施振榮): If you ask whether Taiwanese enterprises will be affected by the rising New Taiwan dollars or weakening US economy, then the answer is an emphatic “Yes.” These external factors will be a blow to Taiwanese firms, but I think they should “welcome” the challenge.
Challenges are part and parcel of life, and tackling them is what adds meaning to life. We have to stay positive and think about how we should stand up to those predicaments we encounter in life. Taiwanese firms have to be “physically fit” to compete in the world of business. Nowadays, competition in the market is “dynamic,” meaning you simply can’t tell what tactics your rivals might engage in to defeat you.
However, if you are fit and agile, then you can work out solutions to resolve the issues.
The history of Taiwanese firms in patent acquisition is much shorter [than their European and US peers,] and therefore we have not invested many resources in this area.
Patents are accumulated over the years and if you look at what we have accomplished so far, Taiwan is actually securing far more patents than it used to.
TT: The government-funded Taiwan Medtech Fund was recently set up as a venture capital firm investing in the biotech industry. The fund has commissioned the venture capital firm that you chair — iD SoftCapital Inc (智融集團) — as a consultant. What is iD SoftCapital’s role in that relationship?
Shih: Venture capitalists don’t compete with each other, we cooperate. iD SoftCapital has branches in the US and Taiwan and we will consider investing with Taiwan MedTech Fund whenever we see a reasonable opportunity to do so. We hope to bring those technologies to Taiwan — not only for manufacturing, but also research and development as well as commercialization.
There is a huge market here in Asia, and Taiwan could be the hub to make things happen. These products may eventually end up being produced in China, but Taiwan will enjoy a lead in biotechnology and sell those products to the Chinese market.
I retired when I was 60, so I am no longer in charge of Acer Group’s day-to-day operations. There are far too many trends to watch out for and I now have the time to manage my venture capital firm. We are investing in biotech, electric vehicles and even the arts. We need to reflect on our past experiences and pave the way for the future based on those experiences.
TT: One of Acer Group’s spin offs, BenQ (明基), is running hospitals in Nanjing and Suzhou, China. What is your take on the biotech and medical care industries? How could Taiwan position itself to take advantage of these trends?
Shih: I have recently thought a lot about Taiwanese virtues. In a nutshell, I would say that they are to be found in how much we contribute to the world. Taiwan’s achievement in ICT [information and communications technology] is a fact and the success of many US firms would not have been possible without us.
Unfortunately, few people knew about our contribution. For instance, it is not widely known that Taiwanese companies play a key role in the production of Apple’s gadgets.
[Taiwanese firms such as Hon Hai Group (鴻海集團), Quanta Computer Inc (廣達電腦) and Wintek Corp (勝華) either supply -components to or assemble iPads, iPods or iPhones.]
After ICT, Taiwan needs to find its next core strength — and biotech could be it. We need to find new competitiveness and leverage it with our existing strengths, then Taiwan will have a bigger influence in the world.
China has been paying attention to the healthcare industry and judging from the size of its population, the market potential is huge.
At the end of the day, head count matters in medical care. It is not just about medical equipment, Taiwan has experience in healthcare services and it would be faster to apply our experience to China rather than China introducing approaches used in the US and Europe.
With warming cross-strait ties after the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), Taiwan and China could forge a Chinese-language medicare brandname and contribute to global healthcare.
When there is a huge market, there is always the possibility of innovation and with innovation comes a worldwide brandname. Biotech offers us the perfect opportunity to enhance our core competence.
SELL-OFF: Investors expect tariff-driven volatility as the local boarse reopens today, while analysts say government support and solid fundamentals would steady sentiment Local investors are bracing for a sharp market downturn today as the nation’s financial markets resume trading following a two-day closure for national holidays before the weekend, with sentiment rattled by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement. Trump’s unveiling of new “reciprocal tariffs” on Wednesday triggered a sell-off in global markets, with the FTSE Taiwan Index Futures — a benchmark for Taiwanese equities traded in Singapore — tumbling 9.2 percent over the past two sessions. Meanwhile, the American depositary receipts (ADRs) of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the most heavily weighted stock on the TAIEX, plunged 13.8 percent in
A wave of stop-loss selling and panic selling hit Taiwan's stock market at its opening today, with the weighted index plunging 2,086 points — a drop of more than 9.7 percent — marking the largest intraday point and percentage loss on record. The index bottomed out at 19,212.02, while futures were locked limit-down, with more than 1,000 stocks hitting their daily drop limit. Three heavyweight stocks — Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (Foxconn, 鴻海精密) and MediaTek (聯發科) — hit their limit-down prices as soon as the market opened, falling to NT$848 (US$25.54), NT$138.5 and NT$1,295 respectively. TSMC's
TARIFFS: The global ‘panic atmosphere remains strong,’ and foreign investors have continued to sell their holdings since the start of the year, the Ministry of Finance said The government yesterday authorized the activation of its NT$500 billion (US$15.15 billion) National Stabilization Fund (NSF) to prop up the local stock market after two days of sharp falls in reaction to US President Donald Trump’s new import tariffs. The Ministry of Finance said in a statement after the market close that the steering committee of the fund had been given the go-ahead to intervene in the market to bolster Taiwanese shares in a time of crisis. The fund has been authorized to use its assets “to carry out market stabilization tasks as appropriate to maintain the stability of Taiwan’s
STEEP DECLINE: Yesterday’s drop was the third-steepest in its history, the steepest being Monday’s drop in the wake of the tariff announcement on Wednesday last week Taiwanese stocks continued their heavy sell-off yesterday, as concerns over US tariffs and unwinding of leveraged bets weighed on the market. The benchmark TAIEX plunged 1,068.19 points, or 5.79 percent, to 17,391.76, notching the biggest drop among Asian peers as it hit a 15-month low. The decline came even after the government on late Tuesday authorized the NT$500 billion (US$15.2 billion) National Stabilization Fund (國安基金) to step in to buoy the market amid investors’ worries over tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. Yesterday’s decline was the third-steepest in its history, trailing only the declines of 2,065.87 points on Monday and
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