Category: Business

Post

Infor and Nippon Systemware Forge Alliance to Market Infor CloudSuite Industrial ERP Package for Japan’s manufacturing Industry

Partnership to build core business systems to accelerate the digital shift for customers

 

TOKYO,
JAPAN - Media OutReach - 27
July 2020 - Infor/Infor
Japan K.K. and Nippon Systemware Co., Ltd. (NSW; Headquarter: Shibuya-ku,
Tokyo; President and Chief Executive Officer: Shoji Tada) today announced the provision
of Infor CloudSuite Industrial, Infor's enterprise resource planning (ERP)
package for the manufacturing industry in a newly-inked partner agreement to
help Japanese customers accelerate their digital journey. Under the
partnership, NSW can sell or otherwise provide Infor CloudSuite Industrial as a
supply chain solution (ERP) for managing sales and production planning. This
will enable both Infor and NSW to provide even higher value-added solutions
that span both the engineering chain and supply chain.

With multi-language,
multi-currency, and multi-site support, Infor CloudSuite Industrial is an ERP
package for manufacturing companies with global. operations It is already used
in over 6,000 locations globally, including over 1,400 locations in the
Asia-Pacific and over 200 locations in Japan alone.

NSW has a long history of
achievement and expertise across the engineering chain (product lifecycle
management and product data management), managing data related to design and
manufacturing in the manufacturing industry. In recent years, it has combined
the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) to provide
solutions for delivering instructions and collecting performance data in
production environments, while supporting its customers through their digital
transformation (DX).

This alliance is off to a
promising start to fulfil current market and business needs, with the ERP
package having already been trialed by a medical devices manufacturer in a
project to rebuild its core business system, including its global sites. Going
forward, Infor and NSW will continue collaborating in the areas of Infor
CloudSuite Industrial and other solutions for the manufacturing industry as
both parties help build core business solutions that support digital
transformation for customers.

"We welcome Nippon Systemware to the Infor Partner Network. With
Infor's continued commitment to deliver finely-tuned, industry-specific
solutions in the cloud to help our customers maximise efficiencies and
accelerate growth, and NSW's years of experience in the manufacturing industry
in Japan, we are confident that our combined strengths can help to accelerate
digital transformation within the manufacturing industry here", says Shinya
Miura, Country Manager & Vice President, Infor Japan K.K.

"We are excited about the partner
agreement with Infor. This partnership will enable us to offer comprehensive
range of solutions for the manufacturing industry, covering both the engineering
and supply chains. Furthermore, together with Infor, we will provide high-value-added
services to our customers in the manufacturing industry by leveraging synergies
with our strength in IoT, AI and embedded software development.", says Takeshi
Yamada, Executive Corporate Officer, Nippon Systemware Co., Ltd.

Media contact

Phyllis Tan

Infor Asia Pacific

+65 9799 9133

phyllis.tan@infor.com

NSW (Nippon Systemware)

Corporate Division

Planning Department, PR: Someha, Kaneko

E-mail:kouhou@gw.nsw.co.jp

About Nippon Systemware

Nippon Systemware (NSW) was
founded in 1966. It is a one-stop provider of solutions, from building systems
to support manufacturing, distribution, and other industries, to designing and
operating IT infrastructure, and providing cloud services from in its own data
centers. It is also engaged in embedded system development, and LSI and circuit
board design and development, in the in-vehicle, communications and facilities
fields. With a focus on the fields of IoT and AI, which leverage these
capabilities, it aims to become a company that leads the digital transformation
of customers through the provision of solutions and services underpinned by its
Toami IoT platform.

For more details, see https://www.nsw.co.jp/ .

About Infor


Infor
is a global cloud business software provider specializing by market sector.
With 17,300 employees and over 68,000 customers in more than 170 countries,
Infor software is designed for progress. For more information, visit https://www.infor.com/ja-jp.

Infor
customers include:

  • The top 20 companies in the aerospace
    sector
  • 9 of the top 10 companies in the
    high-tech sector
  • 14 of the 25 largest healthcare
    networks in the United States
  • 19 of the 20 largest cities in the United
    States
  • 18 of the top 20 automotive companies
  • 14 of the top 20 companies in
    industrial distribution
  • 13 of the top 20 retailers globally
  • 4 of the top 5 brewing companies
  • 17 of the top 20 banks
  • 9 of the 10 largest hotel chains
  • 7 of the top 10 best luxury brands 

Post

Babel Film Workshop’s Filmmaking Initiative Brings Together Hong Kong and US Students Amid Pandemic

HONG
KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 27 July 2020 - Over the past five months, students from Hong Kong and New Haven
have been participating in a stay-at-home filmmaking program that guides them
to create short films about their experiences during the pandemic. The
initiative, called Film Stylo, was started by Jeremy Hung, founder of Babel
Film Workshop
, amid an arts residency at Yale, and has resulted in an
international archive of student films documenting this historic time.

Jeremy Hung speaking at a welcome reception for Yale-China Arts Fellows at Yale University.
Photo: Emily Chew / Yale-China Association
https://bit.ly/2TWD9bq

In January, Jeremy
arrived at the university for a fellowship administered by the Yale-China
Association and supported by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New
York. Jeremy had begun working with US students to promote arts and cultural
exchange, but school closures in March abruptly cancelled his plans. Under
lockdown at home, Jeremy launched Film Stylo as an online filmmaking initiative
to address students' emotional wellness and foster intercultural empathy
through filmmaking.

 

Over 200 students
worldwide have since signed up. "Many of our students have produced their best
work as a result," said Kieran Ryan, Head of Film at King George V School. The
films have been shared with other student filmmakers across the globe. "I feel
like I can relate to others who participated in the initiative," reflected
Yareli Calderon Romero, a junior at a New Haven Public School. "It made my
experience feel a lot better and less lonely."

 

Dr. Eunice Yuen, a Child
Psychiatry Fellow at the Yale Child Study Center, has also contributed to the
initiative's design. "One of our goals is to foster the psychological concept
of mentalization through self-reflection, sharing, and discussion," Dr. Yuen
said. "Mentalization helps students nourish a healthy sense of self and others
in the world, promoting empathy, diversity, and inclusion in our next
generation of students."

 

After his fellowship,
Jeremy plans to develop Film Stylo into a global filmmaking platform that
provides visual literacy education and facilitates arts and cultural exchange
between classrooms around the world. "The pandemic has made it clear that
students' lives today are dominated by technology, so it's more important than
ever that we teach them to keep sight of what makes us human," said Jeremy. "As
the world's most powerful communication medium, filmmaking is the best way of
doing that."

 

[See the films and sign
up at: www.filmstylo.com]

Babel Film Workshop

Babel Film Workshop
began advocating and advancing visual literacy education for Hong Kong students
in 2018. Since then, it has provided opportunities for hundreds of students to
engage in the most powerful communication medium in the world by teaching film
as a universal language. Its team of filmmakers and educators is dedicated to
promoting film culture as a crucial way to increase our empathy of others. Visit
us at www.babel.com.hk and get our updates on Facebook and Instagram.

Post

Philippines is Among Asia’s Pioneers in Leveraging Distributed Ledger Technology for Bond Distribution

SINGAPORE - Media OutReach - 27 July 2020
- The Philippine Bureau of the Treasury (BTr), together with Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank)
and Philippine Digital Asset Exchange (PDAX), is the first in Asia to launch an
app for the distribution of retail treasury bonds enabled by Distributed Ledger
Technology (DLT). 

Philippine National Treasurer Rosalia V. De
Leon said, "The launch of Bonds.PH paves the way for all Filipinos,
particularly the unbanked, to easily and affordably invest in the BTr's newest
retail treasury bond, RTB-24 or the Progreso Bonds. The mobile app presents a
compelling opportunity for all to invest and help the Republic raise funds for
economic recovery and COVID-19 response." 

The app, called Bonds.PH, makes bond
investing easy. It's completely digital and available 24/7. Filipinos,
including the unbanked and overseas workers, can invest in retail treasury
bonds by downloading the app and pay using e-wallets, online banking and
over-the-counter for as low as USD 100.  

UnionBank Vice-Chairman Justo Ortiz,
together with Treasurer De Leon, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III,
Central Bank Governor Benjamin Diokno and National Economic and Development
Authority (NEDA) Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua, inaugurated the Bonds.PH app at
the recent official launch of the Progreso Bonds. 

"This is the first retail treasury bond
issuance to leverage on blockchain technology - in Asia, and likely the world,"
said Edwin R. Bautista, UnionBank President & CEO. "The Philippines is
ready to lead the way into the future and tech up the nation with innovative,
inclusive opportunities, powered by emerging technologies, for the benefit of
all Filipinos," added Bautista. 

Bonds.PH is blockchain-enabled with
transactions recorded in a DLT-based registry in addition to the existing
system. Leveraging DLT enables immutable and tamper-proof record-keeping. 

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
commended the ground-breaking endeavor, "I want to congratulate the
Philippine Bureau of the Treasury (BTr) for this important milestone," said MAS
Chief FinTech Officer Sopnendu Mohanty.  He
added that, "2020 will be the year of commercialization of blockchain
technology in the ASEAN region, and BTr's efforts to build a DLT registry for
bond issuance accelerates the success of the most exciting technology of our
time. The blockchain community in Singapore will work together with the
Philippines to share learnings, open-source resources and also facilitate
connecting corresponding nodes to integrate market infrastructure for
transparency and interoperability. The recently released Project Ubin Phase 5
findings by MAS will facilitate the creation of robust blockchain rails for
future value creation."

Meanwhile, Chia Hock Lai, Co-Chairman of
the Blockchain Association Singapore (BAS) and Chairman of the Singapore
Fintech Association (SFA) said BAS and SFA are one with the MAS in fully
supporting the Philippines and UnionBank in utilizing blockchain for financial
inclusion.

According to Nichel Gaba, Founder & CEO
of PDAX - a fintech investment of UBX (a UnionBank subsidiary), "DLT or
blockchain technology is governance by design with its cryptography and
programmable smart contracts. This advantage allows the blockchain not only to
preserve truth, but also to automate payments, enforce rules, and facilitate
complex transactions via smart contracts at little to no cost." 

As such, DLT reduces manual verification and
simplifies reconciliation bringing down processing time and costs. BTr
sanctioned the pioneering effort so that through this it can determine if
leveraging DLT makes retail treasury bond distribution to the unbanked feasible
and economically viable.

The Philippine Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) likewise offered its support. "With our mandate to
facilitate financial inclusion while maintaining investor protection, we support
this initiative, which makes use of Distributed Ledger Technology," said
SEC Commissioner Ephyro Luis B. Amatong. "We look forward to the results
from this initiative, which will contribute greatly to future DLT use cases for
capital markets," he added. The Philippine SEC is among the more
progressive regulators in the world having released rules on crowdfunding, as
well as draft rules on digital assets and digital exchanges.

Meanwhile, the Philippine Central Bank,
Bangkok Sentral ng Pilipinas' (BSP), lauded the initiative for its impact on
inclusive prosperity, "Given our advocacy to accelerate the digital delivery of
financial services while deepening financial inclusion, we view Bonds.PH as a
welcome addition to the expanding suite of available financial products serving
wide market segments via innovative delivery channels and bridging the
financially excluded," said BSP Governor Benjamin Diokno. "From the basic easing
of the public's access to transaction accounts to now this offering of retail
treasury bonds to the masses in a simplified yet secure manner, shows the
remarkable progress of our shared financial inclusion agenda. This surely marks
the transition of blockchain technology from its buzzword status to a feasible,
production grade solution capable of democratizing access to digital financial
services," said the Central Bank Chief. 

 "We
look forward to the expansive adoption and success of this initiative and the
public can always count on the BSP to remain supportive of responsible digital
financial innovations," he added.

UnionBank
Vice-Chairman Justo A. Ortiz, who also serves as Chairman of the Distributed
Ledger Technology Association of the Philippines (DLTAP) and the Philippine
Payments Management, Inc. (PPMI) added that, "Democratizing investment through
digital channels and Distributed Ledger Technology allows all Filipinos to
contribute to and accrue the benefits of nation building. Every Aling Belen and Mang Juan can save and
invest. Download Bonds.PH now from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store
and invest in our country!"

Post

Executive Appointment: Mashreq appoints James as Head of FI and NBFI

DUBAI, UAE - EQS Newswire - 27 July 2020 - Mashreq, one of the
leading financial institutions in the UAE, has recently appointed James Pearson
as the Head of Financial Institutions (FI) and Non-Banking Financial Institutions
(NBFI), part of the bank's Corporate and Investment Banking Group (CIBG).

 

Download Image: https://bit.ly/39u3rZ1

 

James possesses over 30 years' experience in corporate and
investment banking and has worked extensively with banks, insurers, investors
and intermediaries.   He joins Mashreq
from Nomura, where he served as Head of Financial Institutions, Asia (ex-Japan).
Prior to Nomura, James worked at Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore for seven
years, where he was the Global Head of Financial Institutions Industry Coverage
and Global Head of Insurance Clients.

 

Furthermore, James has worked with various organizations including
ABN AMRO / RBS and Morgan Stanley where he held several leadership positions covering
the Asia-Pacific markets including roles leading the Financial Institutions sector
and Investment Banking business.

 

In his role at Mashreq, James will
be responsible for devising and implementing the overall business strategy for
the Financial Institutions segment working closely with Head of CIBG to deliver
a broader range of products to the bank's clients while
driving other
growth initiatives.

 

Commenting on the appointment, Joel D Van Dusen, Head of Corporate and
Investment Banking Group at Mashreq Bank, said:
"I am delighted to welcome James, who brings a wealth of knowledge
across the global Financial Institutions sector to Mashreq. His addition to the
team will also enable us to benefit from his substantial experience and
relationships with Insurance, Banking and Investor clients. I am certain that his
appointment will add immense value to our Financial Institutions business, and
help to create solutions that are not just highly-relevant for our clients, but
are also aligned with our spirit of innovation."  

 

James Pearson added: "It is a privilege to take on this senior role at one of the most
progressive financial organizations in the region. The banking industry is
going through dramatic change and continues to transform at pace. I am very excited
to work at Mashreq, who have always placed an emphasis on staying ahead of the
curve and delivering the best solutions to their clients. I look forward to
working with Joel and my new colleagues, as we grow our Financial Institutions
business and the Mashreq franchise as a whole."

About Mashreq

One of the UAE's best performing banks
for five decades, Mashreq is a leading financial institution with an expanding
footprint across the Middle East. We have international offices in Europe,
Asia, Africa and the US, and a strong presence in the financial capitals of the
world.

 

As the oldest bank in the UAE, our
journey can be traced back to humble beginnings in 1967, followed by periods of
rapid growth and strategic expansion. Throughout our history, Mashreq has
differentiated itself by pioneering new-to-market concepts and launching unique
products and services. 

 

Our innovative approach sets us truly
apart. It also continues to win us numerous awards and accolades in all
the fields of banking we operate in -- Digital, Corporate, Retail,
International, Treasury and Islamic, and across the multiple banking channels
we deploy -- mobile, digital, online, traditional and telephony. 

 

Post

SonicWall’s Mid-Year Cyber Threat Report Finds Malicious Microsoft Office Files On Rise, Ransomware Up in US, Globally

  • 20% jump
    in ransomware globally, 109% spike in United States
  • 24% drop
    in malware attacks worldwide
  • 7% of phishing
    attacks capitalized on COVID-19 pandemic
  • 176%
    increase in malicious Microsoft Office file types
  • 23% of
    malware attacks leveraged non-standards ports
  • 50%
    rise of IoT malware attacks
  • Report
    analyzes threat intelligence data gathered from 1.1 million sensors in over 215
    countries and territories

MILPITAS, CALIFORNIA - Media OutReach - 27 July 2020 -
The SonicWall Capture Labs threat research
team today published the mid-year update to the 2020 SonicWall Cyber Threat
Report, highlighting increases in ransomware, opportunistic use of COVID-19
pandemic, systemic weaknesses and growing reliance on Microsoft Office files by
cybercriminals.

"Cybercriminals can be resourceful,
often setting traps to take advantage of people's kindness during a natural
disaster, panic throughout a crisis and trust in systems used in everyday
life," said SonicWall President and CEO Bill Conner. "This latest cyber threat
data shows that cybercriminals continue to morph their tactics to sway the odds
in their favor during uncertain times. With everyone more remote and mobile
than ever before, businesses are highly exposed and the cybercriminal industry
is very aware of that. It's imperative that organizations move away from
makeshift or traditional security strategies and realize this new business normal
is no longer new."

Changing Landscape Leads to Waning
Malware Volume

During the first half of 2020, global malware attacks fell from
4.8 billion to 3.2 billion (-24%) over 2019's mid-year total. This drop is the
continuation of a downward trend that began last November.

There are regional differences in both the amount of malware and
the percentage change year over year, highlighting shifting cybercriminal
focus. For example, the United States (-24%), United Kingdom (-27%), Germany
(-60%) and India (-64%) all experienced reduced malware volume. Less malware
doesn't necessarily mean a safer world; ransomware has seen a corresponding
jump over the same time period.

Ransomware Attackers Raise Stakes Again

Despite
the global decline of malware volume, ransomware continues to be the most
concerning threat to corporations and the preferred tool for cybercriminals,
increasing a staggering 20% (121.4 million) globally in the first half of 2020.

"Remote
and mobile workforces are at a turning point on the subject of security," said
Chad Sweet, Founder and CEO The Chertoff Group. "It has never been more
prevalent for enterprises and organizations to prioritize online security and
make what used to be a luxury, a secured and protected necessity."

Comparatively, the U.S. and U.K. are facing different odds. SonicWall Capture
Labs threat researchers logged 79.9 million ransomware attacks (+109%) in the
U.S. and 5.9 million ransomware attacks (-6%) in the U.K. -- trends that
continue to ebb and flow based on the behaviors of agile cybercriminal
networks.

Malware-laden COVID-19 Emails

The combination of the global pandemic and social-engineered cyberattacks has
proven to be an effective mix for cybercriminals utilizing phishing and other email
scams. Dating as far back as Feb. 4, SonicWall researchers detected a flurry of
increased attacks, scams and exploits specifically based around COVID-19 and
noted a 7% increase in COVID-related phishing attempts during the first two
quarters. 

As expected, COVID-19 phishing began rising
in March, and saw its most significant peaks on March 24, April 3 and June 19.
This contrasts with phishing as a whole, which started strong in January and
was down slightly globally (-15%) by the time the pandemic phishing attempts
began to pick up steam.

Office Lures Remain a Staple

Microsoft
Office is a necessity with millions of employees now more remote and dependent
on the business productivity suite of applications. Cybercriminals were quick
to leverage this shift, as SonicWall threat researchers found a 176% increase
in new malware attacks disguised as trusted Microsoft Office file types.

Leveraging
SonicWall Capture Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) with Real-Time Deep Memory
Inspection™ (RTDMI) technology, SonicWall discovered that 22% of Microsoft
Office files and 11% of PDF files made up 33% of all newly identified malware
in 2020. The patent-pending RTDMI™ technology identified a record 120,910 'never-before-seen'
malware variants during that time -- a 63% increase over the first six
months of 2019.  


"Cybercriminals
are too sophisticated to use known malware variants, so they're re-imagining
and re-writing malware to defeat security controls like traditional sandboxing
techniques -- and it's working," said Conner. 


What are the Riskiest U.S. States for Malware?

With over 1.1 million sensors
worldwide collecting threat intelligence around the clock, SonicWall's new
'malware spread' data highlights the riskiest U.S. states for malware attacks.

In
the U.S., California, home to Silicon Valley, ranked the highest for total malware
volume in 2020. However, it was not the riskiest state -- or even in the top
half of those ranked. Rounding out the top five riskiest U.S. states, based on
malware spread, is Virginia (26.6%), Florida (26.6%), Michigan (26.3%), New
Jersey (26.3%) and Ohio (25.3%).

Interestingly,
organizations in Kansas are more likely to experience a malware encounter, as
nearly a third (31.3%) of sensors in the state detected a hit. In contrast,
just over a fifth of the sensors in North Dakota (21.9%) logged an attempted
malware attack.

This
method of tracking malware spread is conducted by calculating the percentage of
sensors that detected a malware attack, resulting in more useful and precise
information about whether an organization is likely to see malware in an area.
The greater the malware spread percentage, the more widespread malware is in a
given region.

Attacks Using Non-standard Ports Make Comeback
Overall, an average of 23% of attacks took
place over non-standard ports so far in 2020 -- the highest mark since SonicWall
began tracking the attack vector in 2018.

By sending malware across non-standard ports, assailants can bypass
traditional firewall technologies, ensuring increased success for payloads. A
'non-standard' port is leveraged by services running on a port other than its
default assignment (e.g., Ports 80 and 443 are standard ports for web traffic).

Two new monthly records were set during the
first two quarters of 2020. In February, non-standard port attacks reached 26%
before climbing to an unprecedented 30% in May. During that month, there was a
surge in many specific attacks, such as VBA Trojan Downloader, that may have
contributed to the spike.

IoT Continues to Serve Threats

Work-from-home (WFH) employees or remote
workforces can introduce many new risks, including Internet of Things (IoT)
devices like refrigerators, baby cameras, doorbells or gaming consoles. IT
departments are besieged with countless devices swarming networks and endpoints
as the footprint of their corporate expands beyond the traditional perimeter.

Researchers
at SonicWall found a 50% increase in IoT malware attacks, a number that mirrors
the number of additional devices that are connected online as individuals and
enterprise alike function from home. Unchecked IoT devices can provide
cybercriminals an open door into what may otherwise be a well-secured
organization.

Commenting
on the cyber threat landscape, Debasish Mukherjee, SonicWall Vice President of
Regional Sales, APAC, said, "With more people working from home during the
COVID-19 pandemic, the abrupt shift to remote working has sparked an
unprecedented increase in cyber threats as opportunistic hackers take advantage
of the boundary-less ecosystem. Exploiting the new raft of vulnerabilities in
less secure situations and preying on fear, cyberspace has seen a jump in phishing
during global shelter-in-place orders and ransomware in the first half of 2020,
including a 50% spike in IoT attacks.

Cybercriminals
are also increasingly using non-standard ports to evade detection and deploy
malware, despite a continuation of a downward trend in malware volume since
November 2019 and a 32% decline in encrypted threats."

"While
instituting widespread work-from-home policies help to reduce the risk of
contracting the coronavirus, the pandemic has proven lucrative for cyber attackers.
Recognising the heightened cyber risks is thus important for companies working
remotely, to ensure the security of their company data and systems when
accessing crucial networks without the full protection of corporate firewalls
and other security measures. In this hyper-distributed IT reality, businesses
should adopt a fundamentally new approach to mitigate cyber threats and have a
comprehensive cybersecurity model to do so."

To download the full mid-year update, please visit www.sonicwall.com/ThreatReport.

A young girl shopping online on laptop through credit card
Post

Pakistani E-commerce Sales Jump Led by Electronics Shopping

The use of the internet is increasing day by day. According to Internet World Statistics (2020), the number of internet users (i.e. 2300 million) is the highest in Asia. In the case of Pakistan, a recent report issued by Hootsuite (2020) highlights that the total population of Pakistan is 218.7 million. Among them, more than...

Rafia logo
Post

Rafia Launches its Eid 2020 Collection

The sweltering heat due to the scorching sun makes it unbearable to wear anything except summer-friendly lawn fabric. Most of the cities in Pakistan go through extremely hot weather right when March starts and the season continues almost will October, with slight ups and downs in the weather. Be it summer or winter or autumn...

Post

Debuting the World’s Only Balloon Festival – 2020 Taiwan International Balloon Festival in Taitung

TAITUNG, TAIWAN - Media OutReach - 24 July 2020 - Together with Taiwan's successful response to the pandemic, as well as Taitung County Government's active contingency measures, the Taiwan International Balloon Festival successfully held its grand opening on July 11th. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the event and it is the only hot air balloon festival being held this year in the world. The festival is featuring 28 shaped balloons from overseas; 10 of which are making their Taiwan debut. They hail from countries such as the United States, Holland, France, Japan, Brazil, Mexico, and England. This was the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Director Brent Christensen's first-time participating in the event; he expressed the fact that Taiwan is able to hold a festival of this size during the pandemic further demonstrates Taiwan's successful response to COVID-19, which is now known globally as the "Taiwan Model''.

Debuting the World's Only Balloon Festival - 2020 Taiwan International Balloon Festival in Taitung

 

Magistrate April Yao pointed out that the menacing pandemic has caused many events around the world to cancel. The Taitung County Government team has worked hard to overcome every obstacle to enable the festival to go on as scheduled. Many hurdles including securing the number of participating hot air balloons from overseas, safely vetting all international pilots' entries into Taiwan, addressing epidemic control concerns with the international pilots' country of origin, overcoming the suspension of all international flights etc. Nevertheless, nearly 20 pilots from various countries have supported Taitung and were willing to come to Taiwan ahead of time to self-isolate and go through the screening process. The festival would not have been able to happen as scheduled without their active participation. Taitung truly is the happiest city in all of Taiwan.

The 51-day event will be held through August 30th. In conjunction with the balloon festival, this year Taitung County Government will continue to host a series of 8 Night Glow Concerts as well as 7 Starry Taitung live musical performances -- celebrating its 10th anniversary packed with events and great memories from dusk till dawn. If you are unable to make it to the festival in person, you can also log in to see the live stream of the balloon festival via the Tour Taitung official website as well as the Taiwan International Balloon Festival's official website. Links can be found here http://balloontaiwan.taitung.gov.tw

Post

Tonly Electronics Announces 2020 Interim Results

Pandemic in Europe and the U.S. Impacts Sales; Turnover Decreases Y-o-Y by 10.7% to Over HK$3.1 Billion

 

Results Highlights (For the six months ended 30 June 2020)


Turnover

1H 2020

(HK$'000)

1H 2019

(HK$'000)

Change (%)  

Audio products (1)

2,085,945

2,502,579

-16.6%

Headphones

397,491

421,474

-5.7%

Video Products (2)

87,440

137,077

-36.2%

Wireless Products (3)

85,409

-

-

IoT Related Products (4)

69,854

77,677

-10.1%

Ancillary Products (5)

343,725

304,866

12,7%

Other Businesses

71,453

74,503

-4.1%

Total

3,141,317

3,518,176

-10.7%

(1)      Mainly include smart voice speakers, wireless speakers, soundbars, home theatres, and mini speakers

(2)      Mainly include DVD players, BD players, and OTT set top boxes (STB)

(3)      Mainly include wireless router products

(4)      Mainly include smart plugs, smart gateways and other IoT products

(5)      Mainly include fabric covering for external sales, plastic injection structural parts, speakers, wireless modules, and other components

 

  • Profit attributable to the owners of the parent company decreased year-on-year by 30.5% to HK$ 68.3 million, attributable to factors including the reduction in the Group's sales volume and delayed work resumption as a result of the pandemic;
  • The turnover of audio products decreased by 16.6% year-on-year to HK$2,085.9 million, mainly due to a decrease in the orders from European and US customers as a result of the pandemic;
  • Wireless products is a new product category newly explored by the Group last year. Turnover of the category in the first half of 2020 amounted to HK$85.4 million;
  • Turnover of ancillary products increased by 12.7% to HK$343.7 million year-on-year, mainly due to the growth of ancillary product business supplementary to the parts and components of TV;
  • The Group's order amount has gradually recovered since May 2020. Orders from customers in mainland China are relatively stable. The Group is in a sound financial position with ample cash flow, which will support the recovery and development of the Group's business.

HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach - 24 July 2020 - Tonly Electronics Holdings Limited ("Tonly Electronics" or "the Group"; SEHK stock code: 01249) today announced its unaudited interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2020 ("the period under review").

 

During the period under review, the Group recorded a turnover of approximately HK$3,141.3 million, representing a decrease of 10.7% compared with the corresponding period last year, which was because the Group's primary market is in Europe and the US where the sales volume declined as a result of the novel coronavirus ( ''COVID-19'') pandemic, leading to a substantial decrease in orders from overseas customers. Gross profit during the period under review amounted to approximately HK$392.6 million, representing a decrease of 14.1% as compared to the corresponding period last year, primarily due to the reduction in the Group's production efficiency caused by failure of the Group to resume work and production after the Spring Festival Holidays as a result of the pandemic, delayed work resumption of employees and material supply, and imbalanced production. Operating profit and net profit for the period amounted to approximately HK$91.1 million and HK$70.4 million, respectively, representing a year-on-year decrease of 31.5% and 28.7%, respectively. Profit attributable to the owners of the parent company of the Group decreased year-on-year by 30.5% to HK$68.3 million.

 

During the period under review, the Group endeavoured to develop smart speaker, true wireless stereo (TWS) earphone product and ancillary product businesses. The pandemic's impact on the global smart audio products has been relatively smaller, resulting in a moderate growth in the Group's smart audio speaker business. Meanwhile, the new audio business decreased mainly because the overseas market declined as a result of the pandemic while the Bluetooth speaker market was in decline due to the impact of smart speakers. In particular, orders from key European and US customers of the Group decreased significantly during the first half of the year, with the overall sales revenue with a key customer of the Group decreasing over 30% in the first half of the year. In terms of TWS earphone, the Group has just entered this market, and the number of customers for this product is still small and its competitiveness is low. Shipment volume of TWS earphones remained low. Wireless products is a new product category newly explored by the Group last year. Currently, the product is still at the preliminary exploration and investment stage. As the Group started late in developing this product, its profitability is not high and its future prospects are beset by uncertainties.  But the category has already been contributing to the Group's turnover, recording turnover of HK$85.4 million in the first half of the year. Benefitting from the growth of ancillary product business supplementary to the parts and components of TV, turnover of the ancillary product business increased by 12.7% year-on-year to HK$343.7 million.

 

During the period under review, the Group's R&D expenses amounted to HK$134.5 million, accounting for 4.3% of its total revenue. The Group has its own R&D bases in Huizhou, Shenzhen and Xi'an in the PRC. To facilitate the development of the wireless product business, it has also set up a R&D base in Wuhan, the PRC. At the same time, the Group mainly invested in the development of smart products epitomised by smart voice speakers and has gradually established the development capability for ancillary products which are ancillary to the smart products. The Group also continued to invest R&D resources to develop TWS earphone products and entered the market of wireless products. The Group has been building its technical capabilities since last year to narrow the gap with first-tier TWS earphone companies and gradually increase the sales volume and market share of the Group's TWS earphones.

 

Looking ahead, as the room for development in the smart voice speakers market has contracted, and due to the adjustments in the supply chain management strategies by main customers, the growth of the Group's smart voice speakers may be subject to a certain degree of pressure in the future. In addition, due to the restrictions by the U.S. on chip supply from certain PRC enterprises, the Group is required to switch chip platform for some of its products in the future, which may lead to new R&D investments and longer R&D cycle for products.

 

Although the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the situation has eased as compared with the first half of the year. However, the pandemic still poses negative impacts on the Group for it to complete its target for the year. But a part of the Group's order amount has gradually begun to recover since May 2020, and its cash flow will support the recovery and development of the Group's business. Despite challenges to the Group's operations posed by the pandemic in the first half of the year, the Group will strive for a recovery of the overall business in the second half of the year, as compared with the results in the first half of the year.

About Tonly Electronics

Tonly Electronics Holdings Limited (SEHK stock code: 01249), a high-tech smart products manufacturer with competitive industrial advantages, is principally engaged in the research and development, manufacturing and sales of audio and video products as well as wireless smart interconnectivity products. It is also developing into smart business. The Group is committed to becoming a one-stop smart loT solutions provider based on the electroacoustic and wireless technologies. 

For more information, please visit its website at www.tonlyele.com.