■LCD PANELS
AU Optronics wins case
Four LG Display Co patents for flat-panel televisions and computer displays were not infringed by Taiwan-based AU Optronics Corp (友達光電) and are valid, a federal judge ruled on Friday. The decision came as part of a series of claims and counterclaims in which Seoul-based LG contended AU and another Taiwanese electronics firm, Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子), infringed its patents. LG failed “to establish infringement by a preponderance of the evidence,” and AU “has not established invalidity,” District Judge Joseph Farnan Jr wrote in a 69-page opinion released in Wilmington, Delaware.
■MANUFACTURING
Chinese activity accelerates
China’s manufacturing activity accelerated last month, as the purchasing managers index rose to 55.7, marking the 14th straight month of expansion, a government survey showed yesterday. Last month’s figure compares with 55.1 in March. A reading above 50 means the sector is expanding, while a reading below 50 indicates an overall decline. The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing warned of increasing inflationary expectations after input prices continued to rise last month.
■TRADE
S Korean surplus grows
South Korea’s trade surplus grew last month as exports continued to benefit from surging overseas demand, the government said yesterday. Exports jumped 31.5 percent from a year earlier to US$39.876 billion last month, while imports came in at US$35.466 billion, up 42.6 percent, the Ministry of Knowledge and Economy said. Last month’s trade surplus stood at US$4.41 billion, up from the March trade surplus of a revised US$1.8 billion.
■AVIATION
US airlines iron out deal
Continental Airlines Inc and UAL Corp’s United Airlines have ironed out the last remaining wrinkle in their merger talks, paving the way for a deal that would create the world’s largest carrier, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday. The airlines have agreed to an exchange ratio of 1.05 UAL shares for each Continental share in all-stock deal yet to be approved by the companies’ boards, the sources said.
■INTERNET
Google, Berlin agree deal
Germany said on Friday that Google had agreed to address thorny privacy concerns before launching its Street View navigation service in the country, ending a row between the firm and Berlin. Google “has agreed to start its new ‘Street View’ service only when all the objections raised by citizens have been fully taken into account,” German Consumer Protection Minister Ilse Aigner said in a statement after talks with the Internet firm. Street View, already available for cities in Taiwan, the US, Japan, Australia and some parts of Europe, allows users to view on the Web panoramic still photos at street level.
■INTERNET
Kindle update released
Amazon.com Inc’s Kindle e-reader is getting access to Facebook and Twitter, along with several other enhancements, as part of a software update being sent wirelessly to the devices. In a posting on Amazon’s Web site, the company says the new software would let users share book passages on their Twitter and Facebook accounts. The update would also let people sort books and documents into collections and lock their Kindle with a password. There would also be larger font options and the ability to zoom in on PDF documents.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last