PHARMACEUTICALS
Roche cuts 4,800 more jobs
Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche yesterday announced it was shedding 4,800 jobs worldwide as part of a cost-cutting program, amounting to about 6 percent of its workforce. It said it would also transfer another 800 posts from its Swiss headquarters to other parts of the group and outsource 700 more jobs. In total, 6,300 jobs are affected by the cost-cutting exercise which Roche first announced in September and hopes will generate 1.8 billion Swiss francs (US$1.813 billion) of savings next year and SF2.4 billion from 2012. The restructuring will cost about SF2.7 billion.
AUTOMOBILES
Toyota R&D center for China
Toyota yesterday said it would invest nearly US$700 million to set up its first fully-fledged research and development base in China in response to demand in the country’s booming auto market. Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing (China) Co Ltd will build the plant at an economic development zone in Changshu, near Shanghai, with plans to begin operations next spring. “It will be Toyota’s first full-fledged research and development company in China,” a company spokeswoman said in Tokyo. Toyota, which fully owns the company, plans to invest a total of US$689 million dollars to purchase land, build research facilities and a test track, she said.
SOFTWARE
Thumbs-down on break-up
Microsoft Corp chief executive officer Steve Ballmer and chairman Bill Gates, responding to a request to consider breaking up the company to boost the return for investors, say they aren’t in favor of the idea. The executives made the remarks after a question at an investor meeting in Bellevue, Washington. Microsoft, which makes most of its money from its Office and Windows computer software, also offers everything from Xbox video-game machines to mobile- phone programs to Hotmail Web e-mail services. A breakup doesn’t make sense because the computer industry is consolidating, Ballmer said: “I don’t think it would be useful. It creates economic dis-synergies.”
INTERNET
Facebook fixes bug
Facebook said on Tuesday a bug in a system designed to detect fake profiles had disabled a number of legitimate accounts on the social network. Facebook did not say how many accounts were disabled by the bug, which primarily affected women’s accounts, according to technology blogs. “Earlier today, we discovered a bug in a system designed to detect and disable likely fake accounts,” a spokesman said. “Upon discovering the bug, we immediately worked to resolve it. It’s now been fixed, and we’re in the process of reactivating and notifying the people who were affected.”
TELECOMS
Google offers iPhone app
Google launched a Google Voice for the iPhone application on Tuesday after a lengthy dispute with Apple that drew the attention of US government telecom regulators. Google Voice allows users to merge their home, office and mobile phones into a single number. It also allows them to make cheap international phone calls, send free SMS messages and provides transcripts of voicemail messages. Google Voice for iPhone is available for immediate downloading from Apple’s online App Store. The service is only available in the US for the moment and requires a Google Voice account.
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