FINANCE
Athens, Lisbon seek advice
Greece and Portugal, two countries engulfed by the European debt crisis, have turned to the World Bank for technical assistance, seeking advice from an institution focused on reducing global poverty, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said. The two governments have officially asked for the paid advice, though details are still being sorted out, Kim told reporters on Sunday on the sidelines of G20 meetings in Mexico City. The bank’s expertise that could be useful includes improving the business environment and public expenditures, he said.
TELECOMS
Mexican firm wins iFone suit
A Mexican telecommunications firm named iFone has declared victory in a trademark battle with Apple Inc’s iPhone, exposing the US company to a potential compensation payment. The Mexican firm said in a statement that a court denied Apple’s bid to protect the iPhone name in a case that began in 2009, when iFone sued the California-based company because the similar-sounding names caused confusion. Apple introduced the iPhone to the Mexican market in 2007, four years after the Mexican telecoms services company says it registered the name iFone.
JAPAN
Tax officials auction gems
Tax inspectors are selling off at least US$2 million worth of diamonds on an Internet auction site after seizing them from people who had not paid their taxes. The five jewels include one with a starting price of ¥40.8 million (US$507,000) that experts say is a flawless 7.5 carat rock more than 1.3cm in diameter. Gemologists graded the diamond “D,” meaning it is totally colorless. In a series of auctions starting on Friday, the diamonds will go under the virtual hammer in week-long sales, with ¥25.6 million being the lowest starting price for any of the stones.
CANADA
India interested in oil,gas
Indian companies are interested in investment opportunities in the country’s oil sands and liquefied natural gas markets, High Commissioner to India Stewart Beck said. The top diplomatic representative in India told reporters on Sunday that negotiations between the two countries on a treaty to protect investors in each nation will “take more time.” He said talks continue on an agreement that would allow local companies to export uranium to India.
AUTOMOBILES
Hyundai, Kia damage brand
Hyundai Motor Co and Kia Motors Corp, South Korea’s top two carmakers, have harmed the value of their brands by overstating the mileage of some of their vehicles sold in the US in the past two years, market researcher Interbrand Corp said. “This is going to damage their brand value, though it is difficult to give a number,” Masamichi Nakamura, executive director of Tokyo-based Interbrand Japan, said by telephone yesterday. Hyundai ranks 53th among the top 100 global brands this year with a US$7.5 billion brand value, and Kia, worth US$4.1 billion, is 87th, according to Interbrand.
AVIATION
United breaks in Dreamliner
United Airlines’ inaugural flight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner has touched down at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. United is the first US airline to get Boeing’s newest plane. United CEO Jeff Smisek was on Sunday’s flight from Houston to Chicago and called the 787 the “world’s leading airplane.”
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],”