STEELMAKERS
ThyssenKrupp to sell assets
The biggest German steelmaker, ThyssenKrupp, has announced a 10 billion euro (US$14.5 billion) divestment program, which will notably lead to retrenchment in Brazil and in the US. The main sell off concerns its Stainless Global division, worth about 5.9 billion euros, for which “all options [for] continuation of the business activities outside the group are to be investigated,” the company said in a statement on Thursday. ThyssenKrupp said it would also be selling its Waupaca group, specializing in iron casting in the US, along with its Brazilian Automotive Systems business and other automotive activities.
TOBACCO
JT to close Austria factory
Japan Tobacco (JT) said it planned to close its Austrian factory by early next year and cut related administrative staff, entering negotiations with labor union representatives toward shedding 320 jobs. “We have formalized intent to close the Hainburg factory, followed by the commencement of consultations with the local works council,” the company said in a statement issued on Thursday. Along with the plant closure, some of the Vienna-based administrative functions are also expected to be rationalized.
LABOR
Lucasfilm to face suit
A former Lucasfilm software engineer is suing the movie studio along with Silicon Valley technology titans for what he portrayed as a conspiracy to curb pay for workers. A suit filed on behalf of Siddarth Hariharan in a California state court on Wednesday contended that the accused firms, and perhaps as many as 200 more, illegally fixed workers’ pay by agreeing not to recruit talent from one another. The suit listed named defendants as Adobe, Apple, Google, Intel, Intuit, Lucasfilm and Pixar.
AUTOMAKERS
BYD awaits approval
Chinese car and battery maker BYD Co (比亞迪) says it is awaiting approval from China’s stock regulators for a share offering on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The China Securities Regulatory Commission is due to review the application on Monday. MidAmerican Energy, a subsidiary of billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, holds a 9.9 percent stake in BYD, which says it plans to use proceeds from the share sale for a US$338 million expansion. BYD also has shares listed in Hong Kong.
AIRLINES
Qatar negotiates huge order
Qatar Airways is in advanced negotiations to place a giant order for 60 airliners built by the European firm Airbus, the Les Echos newspaper reported yesterday. The order, which would be announced at the Le Bourget air show next month, would be for 50 A320 NEO aircraft, the re-engined version of the medium-range A320, and for 10 to 20 A380 superjumbo jets. The airline would also place an additional 50 options to buy A320 NEO aircraft and options to buy an additional 10-20 A380 planes, the report said.
TECHNOLOGY
CEO issues apology
Sony CEO Howard Stringer apologized to users of its PlayStation Network, breaking his silence on one of the biggest Internet security break-ins ever. Stringer’s comments come after he faced criticism of his leadership since Sony revealed hackers had compromised the data of more than 100 million accounts. Stringer said Sony would restore network services “in the coming days,” but gave no date.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”