TECHNOLOGY
iPad owners richer, older
US owners of iPads tend to be older and richer than people who buy rival tablet computers, according to a study released on Friday by NPD Group. The industry trackers Tablet Adoption and Insights Report showed that more than 40 percent of iPad owners had household incomes of US$100,000 or more, with only 26 percent of those owning non-Apple tablets rising into that bracket. Apple’s cheapest iPad costs US$499. Most of its rivals offer cheaper devices with Amazon’s Kindle Fire selling for just US$199. As tablet computers become more mainstream, the demographic disparity is lessening because of younger people with lower incomes getting the devices, according to NPD.
COURIER
UPS persists with TNT bid
United Parcel Service Inc (UPS) is pressing ahead with talks to buy TNT Express NV after Europe’s second-largest package-delivery company rejected a US$6.43 billion takeover offer. The “highly conditional” bid of 9 euros a share, 42 percent more than Friday’s closing price in Amsterdam, was turned down by TNT’s supervisory and executive boards, the Hoofddorp, Netherlands-based company said in a statement. UPS confirmed that discussions were continuing. “This is a low enough offer that UPS could write a check for it in a heartbeat,” said Kevin Sterling, a BB&T Capital Markets analyst in Richmond, Virginia. “The euro keeps weakening and TNT’s position keeps weakening, so TNT isn’t exactly negotiating from a position of strength here.” Acquiring TNT would extend the European reach of Atlanta-based UPS, which is already the world’s largest package-delivery company.
TECHNOLOGY
Spectrum plan approved
The US Congress approved legislation on Friday that would free up the spectrum for next generation wireless networks to meet the surging growth of mobile devices. A bill passed by the House and the Senate extending payroll tax cuts and jobless benefits also called for the Federal Communications Commission to auction the wireless spectrum for commercial use. Wireless carriers and technology companies have been demanding access to more of the airwaves to allow them to keep pace with the explosive growth of Internet-connected smartphones and tablet computers. The auction plan calls for the sale of some spectrum that is currently used by television broadcasters. Some of the proceeds from the sale would be used to build a nationwide network for police, fire and other emergency services.
CHINA
Central bank to cut RRR
The People’s Bank of China said yesterday it would cut commercial banks’ reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 0.50 percentage points from Friday onward to ease restrictions on lending, state media reported. The reduction by the central bank in the amount banks must hold in reserve will decrease the ratio for most large banks to 20.5 percent, effectively increasing the amount they can lend, Xinhua news agency reported. The move is a sign the government is continuing to ease restrictions put in place to curb surging inflation and property prices, and follows the central bank’s last cut, which took effect on Dec. 5 last year. “This RRR cut is very good news to the market. It will help release liquidity and allow banks to extend more loans,” HSBC economist Ma Xiaoping (馬小平) told Dow Jones Newswires. “The cut reflects that stimulating economic growth is currently the government’s priority,” Ma 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],”