MACHINERY
December orders fell 7%
Japan’s machinery orders fell at the fastest pace in three months in December as a faltering global economy and gains by the yen dimmed the outlook for exporters. Orders, an indicator of capital spending, decreased 7.1 percent from November, the Cabinet Office said in Tokyo yesterday, after surging 15 percent that month. For the full year, core orders rose 7.8 percent. Bookings are expected to rise 2.3 percent in the January-March period from the previous quarter, supported by the government’s massive spending programs to rebuild areas hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
INTERNET
Zuckerberg’s bonus rate set
Facebook’s top executives — including CEO Mark Zuckerberg — are eligible for twice-a-year bonuses of up to 45 percent of their base salaries and other earnings, according to a Wednesday regulatory filing. Facebook Inc said in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it would pay Zuckerberg, 27, a base salary of US$500,000 per year. Zuckerberg’s 45 percent target bonus will be based on his performance. Chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg will receive a base salary of US$300,000. Her target bonus is also 45 percent. David Ebersman will continue to serve as chief financial officer and he will get a base salary of US$300,000.
AUTOMOBILES
Toyota to expand US plant
Toyota said it would expand its factory in Princeton, Indiana, and add 400 jobs so it can build more Highlander sports utility vehicles (SUV).
The hiring and expansion will come next year. Toyota said it would invest US$400 million in the factory to build 50,000 more Highlanders per year. The plant built more than 101,000 units last year. The company said it plans to stop making Highlanders in Japan and move that production to Indiana. After the changes, Toyota will be able to build about 255,000 Highlanders a year in Princeton and in China. The Princeton plant currently employs nearly 4,000 people who make Sienna minivans and the Highlander and Sequoia SUVs.
AIRLINES
Airlines to check A380s
Qantas Airways and Korean Air will carry out inspections for wing cracks on their Airbus A380 superjumbo planes earlier than previously scheduled, after European air safety officials ordered global checks, warning of a safety risk if the defects were not fixed. “This condition, if not detected and corrected, may lead to a reduction of the structural integrity of the aeroplane,” the European Air Safety Agency said in its directive to airlines. Singapore Airlines has been carrying out precautionary inspections of its A380s since Jan. 20 and has been forced to repair eight aircraft, the airline said. Australia’s Qantas Airways has already grounded one A380 for a week after discovering 36 separate wing cracks after a turbulent flight from London.
MINING
Rio Tinto profit falls 59%
Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto yesterday reported a 59 percent slump in annual net earnings to US$5.8 billion and its chief refused his bonus due to write-offs from its aluminium business. An impairment charge of US$8.9 billion related to its troubled Alcan assets, undercutting record profit of US$15.5 billion last year, prompted Rio chief Tom Albanese to forgo his bonus. The record profit, on unprecedented cashflows of US$27.4 billion, were up 11 percent from a year ago.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure