■ Airlines
Japan Air reverses loss
Japan's biggest air carrier, the Japan Airlines Corp, said it earned ¥82.96 billion (US$79 million) in the first half of the year, reversing a loss from a year earlier as an increase in international travelers more than offset a rise in fuel prices. The profit compared with a loss of ¥57.59 (US$545 million) last year. Revenue in the period, which ended June 30, rose 14 percent to ¥1.08 trillion as the number of travelers increased following a slump related to the SARS outbreak last year. Rising exports of high-tech goods from Japan increased the airline's freight revenue. However, Japan Airlines warned that profit for the full year would fall short of its previous forecast because it expected fuel prices to remain high. The airline now forecasts net profit of ¥23 billion for the year ending next March, down from its earlier forecast of ¥36 billion, but up from a loss last year of ¥88.6 billion.
■ Fast food
McDonald's triples profits
The Japanese operation of McDonald's said its profit tripled for the first nine months of the year after it remodeled hundreds of stores and closed dozens of unprofitable outlets. McDonald's Holdings Japan, which is half-owned by the McDonald's Corp, reported net profit rose to ¥2.05 billion (US$19.2 million) for the nine months ended Sept. 30 from ¥672 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 3.2 percent to ¥230 billion, while same-store sales rose 4.5 percent for the period, the company said. New menu items such as the Chicken Filet-O and Hello Kitty happy meals helped drive the growth in sales.
■ Marketing
Golfer sues shipbuilder
A judge ordered a shipbuilder in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to stop using Tiger Woods' name and a photograph of his yacht for financial gain. The golfer's lawyers sued in federal court Oct. 29, contending his contract barred the boat manufacturer from using Woods to promote the company, but it did so anyway. US District Judge William Zloch said Christensen Shipyards agreed to a preliminary injunction stopping it from disclosing information about the 46.5m yacht and using or displaying Woods' name and likeness for any purpose. Lawyers for both parties didn't immediately return a call on Friday. A hearing is set for Monday. Woods' lawsuit accuses the Vancouver, Washington, shipyard of starting a "widespread national campaign" using his name and photos of the yacht. The lawsuit claims more than US$75,000 damages for Woods, citing privacy violation. Compen-satory damages could reach US$50 million because of Woods' celebrity, the lawsuit claims. Woods married Swedish model Elin Nordegren on Oct. 5 at a Barbados resort, and they later set out on the yacht Privacy with a crew.
■ Software
Microsoft widens warnings
Criticized for a program that only provided some of its largest customers with warnings on security problems in its products, Microsoft Corp now says it will give all computer users early word on such issues. Beginning this month, the Redmond software giant will make public in advance how many security fixes it plans to release in its regular monthly bulletin, how severe the problems are and what products are affected. Microsoft typically releases security patches on the second Tuesday of each month, with the early warnings posted on its security Web site the previous Thursday.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”