COMPUTERS
PC shipments down 6.4%
Global PC shipments fell 6.4 percent in the fourth quarter — the first holiday-period slump since 2001 — as consumers and retailers shifted to tablets and smartphones, researcher IDC said on Thursday. Worldwide PC shipments declined 3.2 percent for all of last year, dragged down by lackluster holiday season demand, according to Framingham, Massachusetts-based IDC. In 2011, PC shipments rose 1.7 percent. Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) continued to hold the top spot in shipments worldwide for the fourth quarter and the year, IDC said. HP has 17 percent of worldwide PC shipments in the fourth quarter, followed by Lenovo Group (聯想) with 16 percent and Dell Inc with 11 percent.
MACROECONOMICS
India’s output slips 0.1%
India’s industrial output dipped marginally by 0.1 percent in November from a year ago, government data showed yesterday, raising hopes that the central bank would soon cut interest rates to boost sluggish growth. The figure matched market expectations, but was well below the previous month’s 8.3 percent growth and underlines the challenges the government faces as it seeks to kickstart the economy. Manufacturing output, which accounts for three-quarters of the index of industrial production, rose just 0.3 percent, while capital goods — such as factory plant equipment — plunged 7.7 percent, the data showed.
INTEREST RATES
Seoul maintains key rate
South Korea’s central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged for a third straight month yesterday, leaving the benchmark seven-day repo rate at 2.75 percent, following cuts in July and October. In a separate statement, the bank cut its growth forecast for this year to 2.8 percent, compared with the 3.2 percent it predicted in October, while growth next year was estimated at 3.8 percent. The bank cited persistent uncertainties such as the eurozone debt crisis and fiscal problems in the US for its decision.
AUTOMAKERS
Ford to double dividends
Ford Motor Co shares jumped 2.4 percent on Thursday after the US auto giant said it would double its dividend for this year due to the success of its restructuring plan, called the “One Ford Plan.” “Our ability to double our dividend in one year is a testament to our One Ford plan, which has enabled us to maintain a solid balance sheet, while at the same time growing our business to provide our shareholders with more return on their investments,” Ford chief financial officer Bob Shanks said. Ford’s most recent quarterly earnings came in at US$1.6 billion, better than expected. The company’s US sales last year rose 5 percent from 2011 to nearly 2.3 million vehicles.
APPAREL
Uniqlo raises profit forecast
Fast Retailing Co, Asia’s largest apparel retailer, climbed to a record in Tokyo trading after boosting its annual profit forecast on higher overseas sales of its Uniqlo clothing brand. The stock rose 4.8 percent to close at ¥23,640 yesterday in Tokyo. Net income will probably be ¥87 billion (US$987 million) for the year ending August, higher than its previous forecast of ¥84.5 billion, the Yamaguchi, Japan-based company said in a statement on Thursday. First-quarter net income rose 24 percent to ¥38.5 billion, the company said. Overseas sales jumped 51 percent for the three months ended November, aided by expansion in China, South Korea and Taiwan.
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],”