The Ministry of Economic Affairs is studying the feasibility of subsidizing households which replace fluorescent lighting and incandescent lights with energy-efficient and higher-priced LED light bulbs, Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Francis Liang (粱國新) told reporters yesterday.
Liang made the remark on the sidelines of an investment forum in Taipei, after local media reported earlier yesterday that the ministry is planning to spend about NT$1 billion (US$34 million) on a new green energy subsidy program, citing Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥).
Liang did not elaborate on the details of the subsidy program.
On Thursday, Shih said that the ministry is planning the subsidy program in a bid to encourage consumers to buy LED bulbs.
The ministry is expected to release details about the subsidy program within two weeks, including subsidizing consumers by offering half the cost of each LED bulb purchase, Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) quoted Shih as saying.
In retail stores, LED bulbs cost around NT$400 to NT$500 each, much more than other energy-saving light bulbs. With the ministry’s subsidy, consumers would pay half as much for LED bulbs.
“The subsidy program should accelerate the growth of LED lighting in the residential market, which has a low single-digit penetration rate now,” Primasia Securities Co analyst Filia Lin said in a note yesterday.
In Japan, the Eco-Point program has successfully boosted the penetration ratio of LED lighting in that country to double-digits, local media reported.
While consumers may delay the purchase of LED bulbs until the ministry launches the subsidy program, analysts said in the long run the more affordable products would help local LED lighting makers to gain a bigger market share.
“This is a positive move for Taiwanese LED companies, especially Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) and Everlight Electronics Co (億光電子) which have their own-brands and which should witness significant growth in the retail market,” Lin said.
Shares of most LED bulb makers rose yesterday on the ministry’s subsidy plan, with Delta increasing 2.25 percent to NT$113.50, Everlight closing up 1.71 percent at NT$47.45, and China Electric Manufacturing Co (中國電器) rising by the daily maximum of 7 percent to NT$21.1.
Companies that manufactured LED components also attracted buying on the back of the government subsidy plan, with shares of Formosa Epitaxy Inc (璨圓光電) rising 1.90 percent to NT$21.40 and Edison Opto Corp (艾笛森光電) finishing 0.98 percent higher at NT$46.40.
Nonetheless, Lin said a subsidy program would also heat up competition in both pricing and quality, leaving players with stronger channel distributions and product quality able to stand out from the crowd.
“Such changes should help avoid the problem of small companies selling poor-quality products, which lowers consumer confidence and interest,” he said.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
RSS