■Internet
Bing a threat, Google says
Google chief executive Eric Schmidt on Friday said that Microsoft’s Bing search engine was the company’s main threat, not Facebook or Apple. “While it’s true Web search is not the only game in town, searching information is what it is all about,” Schmidt said in a Wall Street Journal interview video posted online. He described Apple as a well-respected competitor and Facebook as a “company of consequence doing an excellent job in social networking,” but said that Microsoft’s latest-generation search engine was Google’s main competition.
■Banking
Norway bank sues Citigroup
Norway’s central bank has sued Citigroup for allegedly providing false financial statements which led to losses of about US$835 million, a Citi official said on Friday. Norges Bank has complained that Citigroup repeatedly issued “untrue statements and non-disclosure of material information to investors” which led the bank to purchase Citi securities at inflated prices between 2007 and last year. A Citigroup official said the suit has no merit and the company will defend itself vigorosly.
■Software
Satyam plans to de-list
India’s fraud-hit software firm Satyam Computers has said it plans to de-list from the New York stock exchange as it may not be able to meet the US deadline to file restated financial accounts. The firm, rebranded as Mahindra Satyam, has not reported earnings data since its founder B. Ramalinga Raju revealed in January last year that he overstated the company’s accounts by billions of dollars. “We do not anticipate that we will be able to file restated US GAAP financial statements by the deadline,” the company said on Friday. The deadline to file accounts with the US Securities and Exchange Commission ends on Oct. 15.
■Multinationals
Unilever to sell business
Anglo-Dutch food and cosmetics giant Unilever said on Friday it would sell its tomato products business in Brazil to US-based Cargill for 600 million reals (US$350 million). Unilever said the transaction was in line with its strategy “of strengthening our portfolio by building strong categories with global reach.”
■Automobiles
GM recalls Cadillacs
General Motors (GM) has recalled 20,000 Cadillac CTS vehicles in the US due to increased risk of injury to short people who don’t wear seatbelts, a spokesman said on Friday. Crash testing showed the vehicle was not in compliance with federal regulations on the amount of force which reaches the legs of unbelted small people sitting in the front passenger seat, spokesman Alan Adler said. No known injuries were associated with the defect, which affects 2009 and 2010 model years of the Cadillac CTS and CTS-V, Adler said.
■Retail
US set for Halloween splurge
Americans are ready to spend far more on Halloween this year than last, an estimated US$5.8 billion. A survey by National Retail Federation showed the single largest expense will be on costumes for children, adults and pets. Americans will spend an average of US$66.28 on Halloween, including US$23.37 a costume, US$20.29 on candy and US$18.66 on decorations. The total represents a 17.7 percent increase from last year and will be roughly on par with 2008 levels, according to the poll of 9,291 people.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San