MICROCHIPS
Three-way alliance nears
Japanese microchip maker Elpida Memory Inc is in final talks to form a three-way business tie-up with Micron Technology Inc of the US and Taiwan’s Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), a report said yesterday. The alliance would have a 28 percent share of the global market for DRAM chips, the second-largest following Samsung Electronics Co of South Korea, which has a 45 percent share, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. Through the tie-up with Micron, which is also a leading maker of NAND flash memory, the Japanese firm would be able to widen its product line, while the partnership with Nanya would help it cut manufacturing costs, the Nikkei Shimbun reported at the weekend.
VIDEO GAMES
Taipei show starts on Feb. 2
The annual video game exhibition in Taipei will be held this year right after the Lunar New Year holiday at a bigger and more popular venue to accommodate a growing number of exhibitors and game enthusiasts. The Taipei Computer Association (TCA), which is organizing the event, has decided to move it to the Taipei World Trade Center Nangang Exhibition Hall. The products on display will range from online and PC games to smartphone applications and toy models, TCA said. The show will run from Feb. 2 to 6 and is expected to attract 300,000 visitors.
INTERNET
Google ‘thrives’ in China
Google Inc’s business in China is growing and “continues to thrive” amid demand for advertising services in the world’s most populous country, said Daniel Alegre, president of the company’s Asia-Pacific operations. Google ran afoul of Chinese authorities in 2010 for refusing to abide by local censorship rules and began redirecting users to pages in Hong Kong. Still, the company is focusing on products that are “non-sensitive” in China’s market, Alegre said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. Google is seeing strong demand for advertising with its mobile and desktop services, he said. “We never left China, and we continue to believe in the market,” Alegre said.
AVIATION
Australia sues AirAsia
AirAsia was yesterday slapped with a lawsuit by Australian regulators accusing the Asian budget carrier of failing to disclose the full price of fares on its Web site. The Malaysia-based airline, which flies international services out of Australia from the Gold Coast, Melbourne and Perth, with Sydney to be added from April, was named in documents lodged at the Federal Court in Melbourne. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the country’s consumer watchdog, claims some fares sold on AirAsia’s Web site do not display prices inclusive of all taxes, duties and fees.
STEEL
Global production up 6.8%
World steel production rose 6.8 percent last year to a record 1.527 billion metric tonnes, the World Steel Assocation said. Growth was 8.9 percent in China, 7.1 percent in the US, 1 percent in Germany, 5.7 percent in India and 17 percent in Turkey, the Brussels-based group said in a report on its Web site on Monday. Japan fell 1.8 percent, it said.
ELECTRICITY
S Korea sales growth slows
Electricity sales in South Korea rose 4.8 percent by volume last year to 455.1 billion kilowatt hours, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in an e-mailed statement. The increase compares with a rise of 10.1 percent in 2010, the statement said.
PHOTOGRAPHY
Kodak replaces restructurer
Eastman Kodak Co replaced its chief restructuring officer on Monday in a surprise move coming just days after it filed for bankruptcy protection. James Mesterharm, who works for the consultancy firm AlixPartners and was chief restructuring officer for Parmalat USA during the dairy company’s bankruptcy, will replace Dominic DiNapoli of FTI Consulting Inc, who was chosen last week. Kodak said in a statement that there was no “disagreement or difference of opinion” with DiNapoli and provided no further explanation for the change. The company also said FTI would continue to work alongside AlixPartners on certain matters during the bankruptcy.
HOUSEWARES
Macy’s sues Stewart firm
Macy’s Inc has sued Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc in a bid to block a licensing deal between the housewares company and J.C. Penney Co. The lawsuit was filed on Monday in New York State Supreme Court. Macy’s claims Martha Stewart Living’s deal with J.C. Penney violates the terms of an exclusive pact Macy’s has to sell Martha Stewart Living products at its stores. The complaint comes after J.C. Penney acquired a 16.6 percent stake in Martha Stewart Living and announced plans last month to open mini-Martha Stewart shops inside most of its stores, beginning next year.
PETROLEUM
Kuwait, Total reach deal
Kuwait Petroleum Corp has reached a deal with France’s Total to be a partner in a Kuwait-China refinery joint venture, the Kuwaiti oil minister was quoted as saying yesterday. Mohammad al-Baseeri said the deal was struck after Shell withdrew from talks in the US$9 billion refinery and petrochemical complex, Al-Jarida newspaper reported. KPC’s international arm, Kuwait Petroleum International, and China’s state-owned Sinpec (中國石化) signed an agreement more than two years ago to build the complex in Guangdong Province. Baseeri said the project is expected to come onstream in 2014 or 2015.
COFFEE
Starbucks to sell beer, wine
Starbucks Corp, which sells the coffee that helps many Americans get wound up for their day, is now offering some a way to wind down. The company plans to begin selling beer and wine in a small number of cafes in Atlanta and southern California by the end of this year as it explores an expansion beyond morning coffee and afternoon pick-me-ups. Starbucks is planning to add the alcoholic drinks and food such as savory snacks, cheese plates and hot flatbreads to menus in four to six outlets in each market. The company also is testing wine and beer sales in Spain.
INTERNET
YouTube uploads soar
YouTube said on Monday that 60 hours of video are being uploaded every minute to the video-sharing site and it is attracting more than 4 billion views a day. “In 2007 we started at six hours, then in 2010 we were at 24 hours, then 35, then 48,” the Google-owned YouTube said in a blog post. “And now ... 60 hours of video every minute, an increase of more than 30 percent in the last eight months,” YouTube said. “In other words, you’re uploading one hour of video to YouTube every second,” it said. YouTube also said it has exceeded 4 billion video views a day, up 25 percent in the past eight months.
WASHINGTON’S INCENTIVES: The CHIPS Act set aside US$39 billion in direct grants to persuade the world’s top semiconductor companies to make chips on US soil The US plans to award more than US$6 billion to Samsung Electronics Co, helping the chipmaker expand beyond a project in Texas it has already announced, people familiar with the matter said. The money from the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act would be one of several major awards that the US Department of Commerce is expected to announce in the coming weeks, including a grant of more than US$5 billion to Samsung’s rival, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), people familiar with the plans said. The people spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of the official announcements. The federal funding for
HIGH DEMAND: The firm has strong capabilities of providing key components including liquid cooling technology needed for AI servers, chairman Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday revised its revenue outlook for this year to “significant” growth from a “neutral” view forecast five months ago, due to strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers from cloud service providers. Hon Hai, a major assembler of iPhones that is also known as Foxconn, expects AI server revenues to soar more than 40 percent annually this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) told investors. The robust growth would uplift revenue contribution from AI servers to 40 percent of the company’s overall server revenue this year, from 30 percent last year, Liu said. In the three-year period
LONG HAUL: Largan Energy Materials’ TNO-based lithium-ion batteries are expected to charge in five minutes and last about 20 years, far surpassing conventional technology Largan Precision Co (大立光) has formed a joint venture with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI, 工研院) to produce fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, mobile electronics and electric storage units, the camera lens supplier for Apple Inc’s iPhones said yesterday. Largan Energy Materials Co (萬溢能源材料), established in January, is developing high-energy, fast-charging, long-life lithium-ion batteries using titanium niobium oxide (TNO) anodes, it said. TNO-based batteries can be fully charged in five minutes and have a lifespan of 20 years, a major advantage over the two to four hours of charging time needed for conventional graphite-anode-based batteries, Largan said in a
Taiwan is one of the first countries to benefit from the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, but because that is largely down to a single company it also represents a risk, former Google Taiwan managing director Chien Lee-feng (簡立峰) said at an AI forum in Taipei yesterday. Speaking at the forum on how generative AI can generate possibilities for all walks of life, Chien said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) — currently among the world’s 10 most-valuable companies due to continued optimism about AI — ensures Taiwan is one of the economies to benefit most from AI. “This is because AI is