Eslite Books, the nation's biggest bookstore chain, celebrated its 17th anniversary yesterday, saying it will devise marketing strategies to stimulate declining sales.
"Since the second half of last month, we have seen revenues declining by less than 10 percent, and the situation is turning more positive this month," said Liao Mei-li (
One of the causes of the decline in book sales is the consumer debt problem stemming from the abuse of credit and cash-advance cards, which has blighted most retail sectors recently.
Eslite officially opened its flagship store, the nation's biggest at 3,000 ping (9,900m2), in Taipei's bustling Xinyi district on Jan. 1. The new location helped lift the company's total revenues from 50 bookstores and 7 department stores nationwide for the first two months of the year by 37 percent year-on-year, Liao said.
However, book sales at the Xinyi store for that period averaged between NT$80 million (US$2.5 million) and NT$85 million, falling short of the target of NT$100 million, Liao said.
To boost sales, Liao said that the company would continue to fine-tune its department stores' product mix and introduce marketing activities tailor-made to lure three target customer groups -- young children, teenagers and Internet users.
Eslite chairman Robert Wu (
The company is also looking at expanding into Chinese markets in Hong Kong, China or Singapore.
Wu said yesterday that Eslite might cooperate with Beijing's Xinhua Bookstore (
Serving as a consultancy to Xinhua Bookstore, Eslite plans to provide professional services in the areas of logistics, software and hardware through its subsidiaries in China, he said.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) halted shipments to a customer this month after its semiconductors were sent to China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為), potentially breaching US sanctions, a government official said. The US slapped sanctions on Huawei in 2019, and expanded them the following year, over fears its technology could be used for Beijing’s espionage operations. The restrictions prevent TSMC from selling semiconductors to Huawei. However, TSMC discovered on Oct. 11 that chips made for a “specific customer” had ended up with the Chinese company, a Taiwanese official with knowledge of the incident said on the condition of anonymity. TSMC “immediately activated
US SANCTIONS: The Taiwan tech giant has ended all shipments to China-based Sophgo Technologies after one of their chips was discovered in a Huawei phone Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) suspended shipments to China-based chip designer Sophgo Technologies Ltd (算能科技) after a chip it made was found on a Huawei Technologies Co (華為) artificial intelligence (AI) processor, according to two people familiar with the matter. Sophgo had ordered chips from TSMC that matched the one found on Huawei’s Ascend 910B, the people said. Huawei is restricted from buying the technology to protect US national security. Reuters could not determine how the chip ended up on the Huawei product. Sophgo said in a statement on its Web site yesterday that it was in compliance with all laws
TECH TITANS: Nvidia briefly overtook Apple again on Friday after becoming the world’s largest company for a short period in June, as Microsoft fell to third place Nvidia Corp dethroned Apple Inc as the world’s most valuable company on Friday following a record-setting rally in the stock, powered by insatiable demand for its specialized artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Nvidia’s stock market value briefly touched US$3.53 trillion, slightly above Apple’s US$3.52 trillion, London Stock Exchange Group data showed. Nvidia ended the day up 0.8 percent, with a market value of US$3.47 trillion, while Apple’s shares rose 0.4 percent, valuing the iPhone maker at US$3.52 trillion. In June, Nvidia briefly became the world’s most valuable company before it was overtaken by Microsoft Corp and Apple. The tech trio’s market capitalizations have been
Shares of Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) surged more than 53 percent on its debut on the Taiwan stock exchange yesterday. Starlux shares closed up 53.75 percent at NT$30.75 from its initial public offering price of NT$20 after retreating in late trading from a 60 percent rise. China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空) rose 0.90 percent to close at NT$22.35, while EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) gained 0.40 percent to close at NT$37.70. In Taiwan, a newly listed stock is allowed to go beyond the 10 percent maximum increase or decline in its first five trading sessions. At the listing ceremony, Starlux chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) said
RSS