CHEMICALS
DuPont cutting 1,500 jobs
The DuPont Co said on Tuesday that it would cut about 1,500 jobs and take other steps to increase its competitiveness, after weak demand for a key industrial pigment and uncertainty in the solar panel market led to a sharp drop in third-quarter earnings. The chemical company, based in Wilmington, Deleware, reported net income of US$10 million, or US$0.01 per share, compared with US$452 million, or US$0.48 per share, for the same period last year. Revenue from continuing operations totaled about US$7.4 billion, down 9 percent from US$8.1 billion.
CHEMICALS
Dow dropping 2,400 jobs
Dow Chemical said on Tuesday it planned to cut 5 percent of its global workforce, or 2,400 people, and shut 20 plants in an effort to slash costs as the global economy slows. The company will also cut capital investment on programs it no longer sees as priorities, for another US$50 million in savings, it said. The shuttered facilities will include plants in Tessenderlo, Belgium; Delfzijl, the Netherlands; Ribaforada, Spain; Birch Vale, UK; Kina Ura, Japan; and in the US, in Midland, Michigan, and Solon, Ohio.
SOFTWARE
SAP’s Q3 profit down 51%
Business software maker SAP AG saw its third-quarter profit fall from a year ago because of a large one-time gain booked then. Net profit came in at 618 million euros (US$802.59 million), down 51 percent from 1.25 billion euros a year ago. Revenue grew 16 percent to 3.95 billion euros, while operating earnings — which exclude the court decision — rose 10 percent. However, the Walldorf, Germany-based company said its business was developing strongly, with increased sales in North America and China outweighing flat revenue in Europe.
BREWING
Heineken misses estimates
Heineken NV, the world’s third-biggest brewer, reported sales growth that missed estimates as sales fell in Western Europe. Revenue increased 4 percent in the third quarter, the company said yesterday in a statement, compared with the first half’s 4.5 percent growth and the 5 percent median estimate of nine analysts compiled by Bloomberg. The consolidated volume of beer sold rose 2.2 percent, compared with the median estimate of 3.2 percent. Both figures were reported on an organic basis, which excludes the effects of acquisitions and disposals.
ELECTRONICS
LG reports quarterly profit
South Korean consumer electronics maker LG Electronics Inc reported a third straight quarterly profit yesterday as it sold more smartphones designed for faster wireless networks. LG Electronics said its net profit totaled 157 billion won (US$142 million) for the three months ending Sept. 30, compared with a 414 billion won loss a year earlier. Sales fell 4 percent to 12.4 trillion won as LG sold fewer low-end cellphones and the weak economy pressured demand for TVs. The result sent its shares up 2 percent in Seoul.
BANKING
UBS mulling job cuts
The Wall Street Journal says the Swiss bank UBS is preparing to cut about 400 jobs. The Journal reports that the cuts will come in the investment banking division of UBS. The paper says the bank could shed thousands of additional jobs later. The paper says the bank could begin notifying employees of the cuts yesterday. It quotes people involved in the process. The bank declined to comment.
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
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
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)