$625m worth will fail Hazardous Substances directive
About $625m worth of products made by Taiwanese companies this year will fail new European safety standards, Taiwan's economic affairs ministry has warned.
The products represent some 10 per cent of Taiwan's exports to Europe, according to a report from the China Economic News Service this week.
The European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive comes into effect on 1 July this year.
The directive is designed to limit the use of several toxic substances, such as lead, mercury and cadmium, in products sold in the European Union.
Use of the prohibited chemicals was extremely widespread in the past, and toxic chemicals have many applications in consumer electronics products.
Low-temperature lead solder, for example, is used on printed circuit boards, and lead is commonly used to soften PVC-coated cables.
Environmental authorities in the US and Europe have warned that the cables on electronic products may spread toxic dust when they begin to degrade and become brittle, or can cause lead poisoning if chewed by children.
Shipments of large LCD TV panels from major LCD maker LG-Philips will leap more than 32 per cent this quarter to 2.7 million units, while the company's LCD monitor output falls.
High-end LCD makers are rapidly shifting production from PC monitors to larger LCD TV panels as the bottom drops out of the low-end LCD monitor market following growing output from Taiwan and China.
However, margins at LG-Philips will fall on a continuing price decline as big-screen LCD TVs enter the mainstream.
"In particular, 42in panel prices are predicted to slide 11.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $932 amid competition with 40in models to set the standard in the low 40in range panel segment," Seoul-based Hyundai Securities analyst Jeff Kim predicted yesterday.
In Europe, Philips took 17.3 per cent of consumer spending on LCD TVs last year, followed by Sony with 14.4 per cent and Samsung Electronics with 14.3 per cent.
However, Samsung was slightly ahead of Philips in terms of units sold, the Germany-based GFK Group reported recently. Samsung also outsold its rivals over the Christmas season.
Samsung appears to have something left in reserve, too, as analysts at Hyundai Securities are optimistic about the company's ability to maintain good margins this year despite the competitive market.
Google will open a research lab in Taiwan, local media reported yesterday, citing sources at the US-based company.
The newly appointed director of the centre, local academic Jian Li-feng, has expertise in natural language processing and Chinese language information retrieval, and was formerly a research adviser to Microsoft Asia, local media reports said.
Google sources did not say when the new centre would open, or provide details of staffing or funding.
While Taiwan itself is a relatively small market, with a population of only around 21 million, Google is currently engaged in a battle to break into the huge Chinese market.
About $625m worth of products made by Taiwanese companies this year will fail new European safety standards, Taiwan's economic affairs ministry has warned.
The products represent some 10 per cent of Taiwan's exports to Europe, according to a report from the China Economic News Service this week.
The European Union's Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive comes into effect on 1 July this year.
The directive is designed to limit the use of several toxic substances, such as lead, mercury and cadmium, in products sold in the European Union.
Use of the prohibited chemicals was extremely widespread in the past, and toxic chemicals have many applications in consumer electronics products.
Low-temperature lead solder, for example, is used on printed circuit boards, and lead is commonly used to soften PVC-coated cables.
Environmental authorities in the US and Europe have warned that the cables on electronic products may spread toxic dust when they begin to degrade and become brittle, or can cause lead poisoning if chewed by children.
Shipments of large LCD TV panels from major LCD maker LG-Philips will leap more than 32 per cent this quarter to 2.7 million units, while the company's LCD monitor output falls.
High-end LCD makers are rapidly shifting production from PC monitors to larger LCD TV panels as the bottom drops out of the low-end LCD monitor market following growing output from Taiwan and China.
However, margins at LG-Philips will fall on a continuing price decline as big-screen LCD TVs enter the mainstream.
"In particular, 42in panel prices are predicted to slide 11.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter to $932 amid competition with 40in models to set the standard in the low 40in range panel segment," Seoul-based Hyundai Securities analyst Jeff Kim predicted yesterday.
In Europe, Philips took 17.3 per cent of consumer spending on LCD TVs last year, followed by Sony with 14.4 per cent and Samsung Electronics with 14.3 per cent.
However, Samsung was slightly ahead of Philips in terms of units sold, the Germany-based GFK Group reported recently. Samsung also outsold its rivals over the Christmas season.
Samsung appears to have something left in reserve, too, as analysts at Hyundai Securities are optimistic about the company's ability to maintain good margins this year despite the competitive market.
Google will open a research lab in Taiwan, local media reported yesterday, citing sources at the US-based company.
The newly appointed director of the centre, local academic Jian Li-feng, has expertise in natural language processing and Chinese language information retrieval, and was formerly a research adviser to Microsoft Asia, local media reports said.
Google sources did not say when the new centre would open, or provide details of staffing or funding.
While Taiwan itself is a relatively small market, with a population of only around 21 million, Google is currently engaged in a battle to break into the huge Chinese market.
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