ELECTRONICS
ASML’s Q1 earnings triple
ASML Holding NV, Europe’s largest supplier of equipment to computer chipmakers, such as Intel and Samsung, said its first-quarter earnings more than tripled on strong customer demand and it expects record profits this year despite fallout from the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters in Japan. Net profit was 395 million euros (US$570 million), from 107 million euros, while revenues were up 95 percent to 1.45 billion euros, the company said yesterday. Chief executive Eric Meurice said computer chipmakers were “cautious” about how the disasters would affect their supply lines.
ELECTRONICS
Cisco to shut down Flip unit
US networking giant Cisco announced on Tuesday it is shutting down its Flip video camera business, which it bought just two years ago for US$590 million. Cisco’s surprise decision to shut down the unit was part of what the company said was a move to exit aspects of its consumer businesses and focus on other priority areas. Cisco said the shutdown of Flip would result in restructuring charges of up to US$300 million this fiscal year and the elimination of 550 jobs.
TELECOMS
Updated Symbian launched
Nokia Corp on Tuesday launched its first smartphones to run on the updated Symbian software with new icons, enhancements and a faster browser. Nokia said the two models have longer battery life, better text input and new Ovi Maps applications with improved search and public transport routes. The Nokia E6, with a standard QWERTY keypad and high-resolution touch display, is aimed at corporate customers, while the Nokia X7 is an entertainment-focused handset with a 4-inch display made for games.
PETROLEUM
OPEC raises growth forecast
OPEC on Tuesday raised its growth forecast for world oil demand this year, expecting little import from recent events in Japan and Libya. World oil demand will now grow by 1.39 million barrels per day (bpd), or 1.61 percent, to 87.94 million bpd, the cartel said in its latest monthly report. In its previous report, OPEC put this year’s average daily demand at 87.74 million bpd.
ELECTRONICS
Schneider denies Tyco talks
Schneider Electric SA said it is not currently in discussions with Tyco International Inc about a potential strategic transaction between the two companies. The French maker of electronic components has been working with bankers to explore a possible bid for the US maker of fire security systems, according to three people familiar with the considerations. Schneider made a preliminary bid that valued Tyco at about US$30 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
FOOD
KKR to buy Masan stake
Investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR) is to pay US$159 million for a stake in Vietnam’s Masan Consumer Corp in the country’s largest private equity transaction, the companies said yesterday. The US-based KKR will buy a 10 percent stake in the leading fish sauce producer in the Southeast Asian country, despite a troubled economy and soaring inflation that have deterred investors and worried economists. The deal, which values Masan Consumer at about US$1.6 billion, is KKR’s first investment in the frontier market of Vietnam — which saw annual economic growth of 6.8 percent last year — and its fourth in Southeast Asia.
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
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
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