CHINA
FDI falls, but exports rise
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China fell again last month and government spokesman Shen Danyang (沈丹陽) said yesterday it was too early to forecast a recovery in trade despite a 9.9 percent rise in exports last month. The decline in FDI added to mixed signals about the health of China’s economy following Thursday’s report that growth slowed to 7.4 percent in the third quarter. Retail sales and factory output improved, prompting suggestions a recovery might be taking shape. FDI fell 6.8 percent from a year earlier to US$8.4 billion, the Ministry of Commerce reported. FDI includes investment in factories and other assets, but excludes shares and other financial assets.
TECHNOLOGY
Court upholds tablet verdict
Britain’s Court of Appeal has backed a judgement that Samsung Electronics Corp’s Galaxy tablet computer is “not as cool” as Apple’s iPad — and therefore does not infringe Apple Inc’s rights. The panel’s upholding of the findings of a lower court endorses the judgement, which made headlines around the world when it was handed down in July. Judge Colin Birss had then gushed over Apple’s design, while knocking back the company’s case against its rival. On Thursday, the Court of Appeal agreed unanimously with Birss, with Judge Robin Jacob ordering Apple to publicize the court rulings to make sure consumers knew that Samsung had not copied its design.
TECHNOLOGY
NEC to return to profit
Japanese information technology firm NEC Corp said yesterday it has revised its half-year forecast from a loss to a healthy net profit, with reports saying demand for Apple Inc’s iPhones was helping the company. For the first six months to last month, NEC now predicts a net profit of ¥8 billion (US$100 million), compared with its earlier forecast of a net loss of ¥24 billion. It expects an operating profit of ¥47 billion on sales of ¥1.45 trillion, against its previous forecast of a ¥1 billion profit on sales of ¥1.4 trillion.
AUTOPARTS
A123 wins approval for loan
A123 Systems Inc, the US electric-car battery maker that filed for bankruptcy earlier this week, won court approval to borrow as much as US$15.5 million from Johnson Controls Inc while it prepares to sell its assets. A123 is scheduled to return to court on Oct. 30 to seek approval of the remainder of the US$72.5 million loan. Wanxiang Group Corp (萬向集團), China’s largest autoparts maker, plans to bid for assets of bankrupt A123, a lawyer for the Chinese company said. Wanxiang had planned to invest as much as US$465 million in A123, giving the Hangzhou-based company a stake of as much as 80 percent, A123 said in an Aug. 16 statement.
TECHNOLOGY
Google, Samsung unveil PC
Google Inc and Samsung Electronics Corp are introducing a lightweight laptop computer with a price similar to smaller tablet computers. The computer unveiled on Thursday sells for US$249 and runs on an operating system revolving around Google’s Chrome Web browser. Like other so-called Chromebooks, the laptop does not have a hard drive. The low-priced laptop represents Google’s latest challenge to the Windows operating system used in most PCs. It goes on sale early next week, just days before Microsoft Corp releases Windows 8. Most of the PCs running on Windows 8 are expected to sell for between US$500 and US$1,000.
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
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
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