ECONOMY
Thailand’s inflation eases
Thailand’s headline inflation rate eased last month from a more than one-year high in December, showing a big wage rise last month has had only a limited impact so far, which gives the Bank of Thailand room to keep rates low to support the economy. Most economists think the central bank may leave its policy rate unchanged at 2.75 percent at its next meeting on Feb. 20. Annual inflation last month was 3.39 percent, as forecast and down from December’s 3.63 percent and compared with a median forecast of 3.40 percent in a Reuters poll. Core inflation — which strips out prices of fresh food and energy — was at 1.59 percent last month after 1.78 percent in December. That is well inside the bank’s core inflation target range of 0.5 percent to 3 percent.
ELECTRONICS
Panasonic back in black
Japanese electronics maker Panasonic Corp returned to the black last quarter as cost cuts and a weaker yen offset sliding sales. Osaka-based Panasonic yesterday reported a ¥61.4 billion (US$667 million) profit for the October-December period. It had a loss of ¥698 billion in the previous quarter and a loss of ¥197.6 billion a year earlier. Quarterly sales slipped 8 percent to ¥1.8 trillion. It said global demand weakened for flat panel TVs and digital products and devices, but sales grew in LED lighting and auto-related equipment.
JAPAN
Manufacturing jobs fall
Employment in the manufacturing sector has fallen below 10 million for the first time in five decades, as a new government vows to stoke the struggling economy. Official employment data released yesterday showed the number of industrial workers slipped to 9.98 million in December. That is the lowest level since 1961 as firms slash costs and ship manufacturing jobs to lower-cost nations overseas. Like many developed economies, the manufacturing sector has been hollowed out as Japan struggles to compete with China, South Korea and Taiwan.
TRADE
S Korean exports soar 12%
South Korea’s exports surged nearly 12 percent last month from a year ago, the sharpest pickup in almost a year, government data showed yesterday. Exports were up 11.8 percent at US$46.08 billion, compared to a revised 5.7 percent downturn in December, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said. Imports rose 3.9 percent on-year to US$45.21 billion, leaving an US$874 million trade surplus. Last month’s figure is a boost for the national economy, which is heavily reliant on export performance, but analysts pointed out that it was slightly skewed by having two more working days last month than in January last year. The ministry said exports to China had picked up momentum last month, and noted renewed confidence in the eurozone.
EUROZONE
Unemployment stabilizes
Chronic and rising unemployment across the eurozone appeared to stabilize in December last year, although EU data released yesterday still showed almost 19 million people without work in the 17-state single currency area. The Eurostat statistics agency put the unemployment rate at 11.7 percent, the same level as in November, after revising that month’s figure down from 11.8 percent. Across the wider EU, which includes countries such as Britain and Poland, the rate was 10.7 percent in December, or a little less than 26 million people on the dole.
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],”