WORLD ECONOMY
IMF trims growth forecasts
The IMF yesterday cut its expectations for world economic growth this year and next, with chief economist Olivier Blanchard forecasting growth of 3 to 4 percent this year and by about the same rate next year. At the beginning of last month, the IMF had forecast in its six-monthly assessment of the economic outlook that the global economy would grow 4.8 percent this year and 4.2 percent next year. Blanchard said by telephone from the IMF’s headquarters in Washington that there would be differences between growth in regions, with economies in advanced countries growing by 1 to 2 percent and in emerging countries by 6 to 8 percent or more. Blanchard also described as “courageous” a decision by the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday to inject an extra US$600 billion into the US economy by means of a new round of quantative easing whereby the bank buys bonds.
INSURANCE
Swiss Re profit doubled in Q3
Swiss Re, one of the world’s biggest insurers, yesterday reported a near doubling of its third-quarter net profit, allowing it to repay crisis funding from US billionaire Warren Buffett. Swiss Re said in a statement that third-quarter net profit reached US$618 million, up 97 percent over the same period last year and well above analysts’ expectations. In 2008, Swiss Re posted its biggest-ever loss of 864 million Swiss francs, forcing the group to turn to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway for fresh funds in the form of a 20 percent stake in the company.
COMMUNICATIONS
UK probes News Corp bid
The British government has intervened to investigate a bid by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp to buy full control of satellite broadcaster BSkyB. Business Secretary Vince Cable yesterday asked the broadcasting regulator, Ofcom, to investigate whether the News Corp bid would damage competition. The European Commission also said it was reviewing News Corp’s bid.
AUTOMOBILES
Nissan profit jumps fourfold
Japanese automaker Nissan Motor yesterday said its quarterly net profit increased fourfold to ¥101.7 billion (US$1.18 billion) and raised its full-year forecast despite the pressures of a strong yen. The July-September figure was four times higher than the ¥25.5 billion posted for the same period a year ago. The automaker raised its full-year profit outlook to ¥270 billion from ¥150 billion in July. For the first half, the company posted a net profit of ¥208.4 billion, up 93 percent year-on-year.
SPORTSWEAR
Adidas raises 2010 targets
Adidas, the world’s second-biggest sports clothing and equipment maker, yesterday raised its full-year targets and gave an upbeat outlook for next year after unveiling a strong third-quarter profit. Adidas said third-quarter net profit jumped 25 percent from the same period a year earlier to 266 million euros (US$375 million) on sales that gained 20 percent to 3.47 billion euros, owing in part to foreign exchange effects. Adidas raised its full-year forecasts to an 8 percent sales increase and earnings per share of 2.68 euros to 2.70 euros. It had previously expected sales to gain between 3 and 8 percent and earnings per share of 2.50 euros to 2.62 euros. The German group also gave an outlook for next year, when it expects “further gradual improvements in the consumer environment.” As a result, sales by Adidas and it US brand Reebok are forecast to grow by about 5 percent and net profit by 10 to 15 percent.
Nvidia Corp earned its US$2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial intelligence (AI) chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from start-ups to Microsoft Corp, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet Inc. Almost as important to its hardware is the company’s nearly 20 years’ worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than 4 million global developers rely on Nvidia’s CUDA software platform to build AI and other apps. Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm Inc, Google and Intel Corp plans to loosen Nvidia’s chokehold by going
DECOUPLING? In a sign of deeper US-China technology decoupling, Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its iPhones, the Wall Street Journal said China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said. Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said. They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said. The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor
ENERGY IMPACT: The electricity rate hike is expected to add about NT$4 billion to TSMC’s electricity bill a year and cut its annual earnings per share by about NT$0.154 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has left its long-term gross margin target unchanged despite the government deciding on Friday to raise electricity rates. One of the heaviest power consuming manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC said it always respects the government’s energy policy and would continue to operate its fabs by making efforts in energy conservation. The chipmaker said it has left a long-term goal of more than 53 percent in gross margin unchanged. The Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded a power rate evaluation meeting on Friday, announcing electricity tariffs would go up by 11 percent on average to about NT$3.4518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to