COMPUTERS
Apple papers auctioned
The founding papers that set up Apple Computers Inc sold on Tuesday in New York for just under US$1.6 million, 10 times the maximum amount expected by Sotheby’s auctioneers. “The 1976 document, which once belonged to Ronald G. Wayne, one of Apple’s founders along with Steven P. Jobs and Stephen G. Wozniak, is the first chapter in the story of one of America’s most important companies,” Sotheby’s said. It sold for US$1,594,500. Pre-auction estimates by Sotheby’s ranged from US$100,000 to US$150,000. The buyer was Eduardo Cisneros, CEO of Miami-based Cisneros Corp.
ELECTRONICS
Intel in mobile project deal
Intel Corp and INSIDE Secure late on Tuesday unveiled an alliance which would enable the US chip colossus to make processors that let mobile gadgets act as wallets, tickets, car finders and more. An agreement between the firms gives Intel access to software and hardware technology at INSIDE, which specializes in near-field communications that gives chips the ability to securely exchange data wirelessly at short range. The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the agreement.
TRAVEL
Thomas Cook closing shops
Thomas Cook reported a worse-than-expected decline in full-year operating profit and said it would close 200 of its underperforming shops in Britain, as it looks to reduce its debt and restore confidence among investors. Europe’s second-biggest travel firm by sales, which secured a rescue package from its banks last month, said the move is part of a turnaround plan which would enable it to deliver annual profit improvements of £110 million (US$171 million). The company said its operating profit for the year to yesterday fell £58 million to £304 million.
SINGAPORE
Growth forecast at 3 percent
The central bank said a survey of analysts shows the economy would likely grow 3 percent next year, less than the previous estimate. The survey of 21 analysts released yesterday by the central bank showed growth would likely be led by financial services expanding 4.2 percent and manufacturing up 3.4 percent. Analysts had expected the economy would grow 4.9 percent next year in the September survey. Analysts expect the economy will expand 5.2 percent this year.
INDIA
Inflation edges lower
India said inflation inched down to 9.1 percent last month, the lowest level in a year, but still too high to be sustainable. Business leaders complain that 13 consecutive rate hikes by the central bank have not tamed inflation, which has averaged about 10 percent for two years now. Falling food prices helped lower inflation last month, but a plunging rupee is driving up the cost of fuel and manufactured goods, government data showed.
GERMANY
Ifo slashes growth forecast
The Munich-based Ifo Institute yesterday slashed its economic growth forecast for Germany next year, saying its economy can avoid a recession unless the eurozone debt crisis worsens. Ifo cut next year’s growth forecast to 0.4 percent from 2.3 percent and lowered its outlook for this year to 3 percent from 3.3 percent. While hiring will slow next year, unemployment will still decline as the population shrinks, it said. “The global economic development in the forecasting period depends decisively on the ability to manage the European debt crisis,” Ifo said in a statement.
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