SOFTWARE
Apple buys WiFiSLAM
Apple Inc, whose mapping software has been criticized over misguided directions and inaccurate landmarks, bought startup WiFiSLAM to add location-identifying technology for when a user is inside a building. “Apple acquires smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans,” Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said, confirming the deal. The purchase is among several Apple has made in recent years to improve its navigation capabilities as it competes with Google Inc. Last year, Apple introduced its own mapping software to replace Google’s, a switch that resulted in user complaints and negative reviews.
SOUTH KOREA
Seoul starts new debt fund
The government is launching a US$1.35 billion fund that will ease the debt burdens of college students and low-income households. The Financial Services Commission yesterday said in a statement that the fund would cancel up to half the debt of individuals who have been unable to make repayments for six months. The fund was one of President Park Geun-hye’s campaign promises. The government estimates it needs 1.5 trillion won (US$1.35 billion) over five years for the scheme. The plan includes longer repayment times for loans and reducing interest rates for those earning less than 40 million won a year.
DEVELOPMENT
Japan retains grip on ADB
Japanese Vice Minister of Finance for International Affairs Takehiko Nakao is the sole nominee for the presidency of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), Philippine Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said in a mobile-phone text message yesterday, ensuring that Japan will maintain its hold on the top post at the lender. ADB member countries are voting on the next president in an election that began yesterday and runs through April 24. The nomination period closed on Sunday. Japan has held the presidency of the bank since the institution was founded in 1966, and it is tied with the US in having the largest voting power at the bank.
AUTOMOBILES
BYD Co profit plunges 94%
Chinese electric car producer BYD Co (比亞迪), which is partly backed by US investment titan Warren Buffett, said its net profit plunged more than 94 percent year-on-year last year, hit by slowing growth in the country. The company, based in Shenzhen, said in a statement on Sunday that net profit came in at 81.38 million yuan (US$12.92 million) last year, down from 1.38 billion yuan in 2011. A subsidiary of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway owns 9.56 percent of BYD.
ENERGY
Sinopec’s profits fall 12.8%
Chinese oil and gas giant Sinopec Corp’s (中國石化) annual net profit for last year fell 12.8 year-on-year, the company said, with high crude-oil costs and a slowdown in the global and Chinese economy weighing on its bottom line. Asia’s largest refiner by capacity said in a filing on late on Sunday to the Hong Kong stock exchange that its net profit for the year fell to 63.88 billion yuan from 73.23 billion yuan in 2011. The filing added that its revenue rose to 2.79 trillion yuan, an 11.2 percent increase from 2011’s 2.51 trillion yuan, but operating expenses rose 12 percent for the year, with a 16.4 percent increase in exploration expenses.
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
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)
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