GERMANY
‘Less slow’ growth forecast
The economy would likely grow “less slowly” this quarter than in the third quarter as a surge in exports loses steam, the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology said in its report for this month. Export growth to the country’s European partners in particular was ebbing as the debt crisis dents their economic performance, the ministry said. Meanwhile, inflation eased fractionally last month, continuing to come down from a three-year high recorded in September, official data showed yesterday. The consumer price index rose by 2.4 percent on a 12-month basis last month, compared with 2.5 percent in October, national statistics office Destatis said in a statement. On a monthly basis, the cost of living was unchanged.
INTERNET
Google launches ‘Currents’
Google Inc is joining a crowd of companies packaging digital content in a magazine-like format for mobile devices. The Internet search leader released its version, called “Currents,” on Thursday. It works on smartphones and computer tablets running on Google’s Android software, as well as Apple Inc’s operating system and its iPhone and iPad. Currents is late to the competition. It will be trying to catch up to Flipboard, one of the most popular applications on the iPad, and Zite, which is owned by Time Warner Inc’s CNN. Yahoo Inc released a similar product called Livestand last month. Google said more than 150 publishers have agreed to provide material to Currents. The participating publishers include Forbes, PBS, Huffington Post and AllThingsD.
MINING
Vale, clients talk pricing
Brazilian conglomerate Vale, the world’s leading iron ore producer, said it was negotiating with its main clients, Taiwan’s China Steel Corp (中鋼) and Luxembourg-based Arcelor Mittal, to give them a more favorable pricing system. “We came under pressure from our clients for a change in the pricing system,” Jose Carlos Martins, Vale’s executive officer for ferrous mineral, said during a company event in London that was Web cast on Vale’s Web site on Thursday. The new system will make it possible to readjust iron ore contracts based on prices closer to those on the spot market, where prices are currently more favorable to the clients. Martins said the switch was “inevitable” as clients seek more liquidity.
AUTOMAKERS
Ford to pay dividends again
Ford Motor Co said it would resume paying a dividend this spring for the first time since 2006. The company said on Thursday it would pay a quarterly dividend of US$0.05 per share on March 1 next year for shareholders of record as of Jan. 31. The automaker had stopped paying a dividend in September 2006, when it was deeply in debt. However, Ford said it had made enough improvements in its balance sheet to resume the dividend. Ford reported its 10th straight profitable quarter in the third quarter of this year.
RETAILERS
Wal-Mart starts graft probe
Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the world’s largest retailer, began an internal investigation into whether some of its actions violated US anti-corruption laws. The company is probing permitting, licensing and inspections of stores, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday, and has disclosed the investigation to the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing did not say where the actions in question took place. Wal-Mart has also hired legal counsel and other advisers to assist in the probe, the filing said.
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],”