Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) yesterday said it has invested US$20 million in series E round of funding for Vietnam’s biggest e-commerce company, Tiki Corp, as it seeks to gain a foothold in rapidly growing greater Southeast Asian (GSEA) markets.
The strategic investment is Taiwan Mobile’s first in Vietnam and would help the company and its e-commerce subsidiary, Momo.com Inc (富邦媒體), explore potential partners and new growth opportunities beyond its home market, the nation’s second-biggest telecom operator said.
“The strategic cooperation with Tiki is the company’s first investment in Vietnam. It also marks the company’s first strategic and meaningful step to make inroads into the country and GSEA markets,” Taiwan Mobile president Jamie Lin (林之晨) said in a statement.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan Mobile considers GSEA markets as one of its 5G development targets and would continue to seek new strategic partnerships in the area, including e-commerce, logistics, broadband and 5G-related applications, with the goal of becoming a major telecom and technology services provider in the region, the statement said.
Ho Chi Minh City-based Tiki started out as an online bookstore and has since developed into an e-commerce operator selling a wide range of goods, it said.
The transaction would help Momo.com tap into the rapidly growing e-commerce market in Vietnam and allow it to leverage Tiki’s local strength in terms of market position, warehouses and logistic systems. The companies expect to create synergies in expanding sales and logistics, the statement said.
From last year to 2025, the e-commerce market in Vietnam is expected to post an annual compound growth rate of 34 percent to reach US$29 billion, Taiwan Mobile said, citing a joint report by Google, Temasek Holdings Pte and Bain & Co.
Momo.com, which contributed more than 50 percent to Taiwan Mobile’s revenue, has been cautious about its overseas expansion. It operates a TV sales unit in Thailand.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
MARKET LEADERSHIP: Investors are flocking to Nvidia, drawn by the company’s long-term fundamntals, dominant position in the AI sector, and pricing and margin power Two years after Nvidia Corp made history by becoming the first chipmaker to achieve a US$1 trillion market capitalization, an even more remarkable milestone is within its grasp: becoming the first company to reach US$4 trillion. After the emergence of China’s DeepSeek (深度求索) sent the stock plunging earlier this year and stoked concerns that outlays on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure were set to slow, Nvidia shares have rallied back to a record. The company’s biggest customers remain full steam ahead on spending, much of which is flowing to its computing systems. Microsoft Corp, Meta Platforms Inc, Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc are
UNCERTAINTIES: The world’s biggest chip packager and tester is closely monitoring the US’ tariff policy before making any capacity adjustments, a company official said ASE Technology Holding Inc (日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it is cautiously evaluating new advanced packaging capacity expansion in the US in response to customers’ requests amid uncertainties about the US’ tariff policy. Compared with its semiconductor peers, ASE has been relatively prudent about building new capacity in the US. However, the company is adjusting its global manufacturing footprint expansion after US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs in April, and new import duties targeting semiconductors and other items that are vital to national security. ASE subsidiary Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) is participating in Nvidia