LG Electronics Inc, the world’s third-largest maker of mobile phones, may close some of its factories as the company faces falling revenue and profitability amid the global recession, chief executive officer Nam Yong said.
“We are now in the assessment stage,” Nam told reporters in Dubai yesterday. “No job cuts are expected in Korea.”
LG, which gets more than 70 percent of its revenue from overseas, said earlier this month it planned to reduce costs by 3 trillion won (US$2.2 billion) this year after it unexpectedly posted a record quarterly loss of 671.3 billion won as the global recession damped demand for handsets and televisions.
The company will probably be unprofitable in the current period, Citigroup Inc and JPMorgan Chase & Co said, as the economic slump forces consumers to slow spending on appliances, flat-panel TVs and mobile phones.
Separately, South Korea’s exports rose 0.4 percent to US$17.8 billion in the first 20 days of this month, helped by a weaker won, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.
A weaker won makes South Korean products more competitive, the ministry said. The won has plunged 16 percent so far this year, making it the worst performer among the 10 most-traded Asian currencies outside Japan. Seoul’s exports tumbled by a record 32.8 percent last month, foreshadowing a deepening slump in Asia’s export-driven economies.
NEW MARKET: The partnership opens up India to the Dutch company, which already has a strong hold in the semiconductor market of South Korea, Taiwan and China ASML Holding NV entered into a partnership agreement with Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd aimed at ramping up India’s goal to develop domestic chip-manufacturing capabilities. The Dutch company’s technology would help power Tata Electronics’ planned 300 millimeter (mm) semiconductor foundry in Gujarat, according to a joint statement from the two companies on Saturday. The signing of a memorandum of understanding coincides with a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Netherlands, which is looking to deepen bilateral relations with New Delhi. ASML, whose top customers include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co, makes lithography machines that can print
ROUGH RECORDS: Bonds in Japan, as well is in New Zealand, Australia and the US, are seeing the effects of a nervy market as stock exchanges across Asia edge down A deepening slump in Japanese government bonds added fuel to the selloff in global debt markets as rising oil prices stoked inflation fears and pushed yields to multi-decade highs. Japan’s 30-year yield yesterday surged as much as 20 basis points to the highest level since the tenor’s debut in 1999, before paring some of the move. Shorter-maturity Japanese debt was also under pressure, underscored by weak demand at a sale of five-year notes that offered a record-high coupon of 2 percent. Concerns over inflation and government spending rippling through markets including the US, Australia and New Zealand are being amplified in Japan,
The US has cleared about 10 Chinese firms to buy Nvidia Corp’s second-most powerful artificial intelligence (AI) chip, the H200, but not a single delivery has been made so far, three people familiar with the matter said, leaving a major technology deal in limbo as chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) seeks a breakthrough in China this week. Huang, who was not initially listed in a White House delegation to Beijing, joined the trip after an invitation from US President Donald Trump, a source said. Trump picked him up in Alaska en route to a summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping
Wall Street is licking its chops over an unprecedented slate of massive initial public offerings (IPOs) set to arrive in the coming months, beginning with Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) next month. That is expected to be followed by artificial intelligence (AI) rivals OpenAI and Anthropic PBC. The trio of mega listings, each eyeing valuations around US$1 trillion or more, constitutes a heady period of elevated risk and reward. SpaceX is targeting an IPO that would raise up to US$80 billion — about double the funds generated from all IPOs last year. OpenAI and Anthropic are eyeing IPOs raising US$60 billion. “We’re
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