TECHNOLOGY
Microsoft says apps growing
Microsoft Corp chief executive officer Steve Ballmer, in a surprise appearance at a technology trade show in Las Vegas, said the number of applications for new Windows tablets has increased fivefold since late October last year. There are four times more applications for Windows RT computers now than there were when the device was introduced, Ballmer said on Monday at the International Consumer Electronics Show. He said that more apps — including Twitter Inc, Dropbox Inc and Time Warner Inc’s CNN — are coming soon. Ballmer is trying to drum up interest in the latest flavor of Microsoft’s operating system as he plays catch-up to Apple Inc in the US$63.2 billion market for tablets. Early demand for some Windows tablets has appeared “disappointing,” FBR Capital Markets analysts said.
FINANCE
Citigroup fires executive
Citigroup Inc fired Richard Cookson, the chief investment officer of its private bank, as the third-biggest US bank by assets pares costs. Citigroup will no longer rely on one person to lead the firm’s investment strategy and will instead seek to “better leverage the existing in-house expertise across Citi,” including its markets and banking research teams, the New York-based firm said in an internal memo, a copy of which was obtained by the media. Chief executive officer Michael Corbat, 52, last month said that Citigroup will cut about 11,000 jobs, while also shutting branches and pulling back from some emerging markets as revenue at global banks dries up. Cookson’s dismissal was part of the announced job cuts, a person familiar with the matter said.
GERMANY
Trade surplus growing again
The national trade surplus returned to growth in November last year despite a fall in exports, official figures showed yesterday. The trade surplus in Europe’s biggest economy rose to 17.0 billion euros (US$22.3 billion) for the month compared with 15.7 billion euros in October, national statistics office Destatis said. In seasonally adjusted terms, the figure was 14.6 billion euros, which was below the forecast of 15.1 billion euros made by analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires. The country exported goods worth 94.1 billion euros in November, falling from 98.4 billion a month earlier. However, Destatis said that exports remained at the same level as a year earlier, driven by exports to countries outside the EU, which rose by 5.6 percent, while exports to other areas — notably the eurozone — fell sharply.
ELECTRONICS
Sony Mobile looks to parent
Sony Mobile Communications, the phone arm of Japan’s largest electronics company, said closer ties with its parent following a buyout last year are helping it create new products and win market share. The unit developed technology that lets its devices connect with other Sony Corp products after a venture with Ericsson AB ended, Sony Mobile chief marketing officer Steve Walker said in an interview in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Monday. The division has also gained from tapping into the group’s marketing budget, he added. Sony is focusing more on smartphones after customers shunned the devices it made with Ericsson in favor of Apple Inc’s and Samsung Electronics Co’s devices. The push has helped Sony boost its global market share to at least 5 percent from 3.6 percent in the first quarter of last year, Walker said. He reiterated Sony’s earlier target to boost smartphone shipments by 51 percent to 34 million units in the fiscal year ending on March 31.
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],”