TRADE
South Korean exports rise
South Korean exports rose 0.4 percent last month from a year earlier, with the trade balance showing a surplus for the 15th straight month, government data showed yesterday. Exports increased to US$46.29 billion last month, helped by a mild recovery in the global economy, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Imports fell 0.5 percent to US$43.71 billion, leaving a trade surplus of US$2.58 billion, against a surplus of US$2.14 billion a year earlier. However, that was smaller than a surplus of US$3.29 billion logged in March, the trade ministry said.
ECONOMY
Indonesian inflation eases
Indonesian inflation eased to 5.57 percent on-year last month due to lower food prices after the government eased some import restrictions, official data showed yesterday. It slowed from 5.90 percent in March, but it was still above the upper limit of the central bank’s target range of 3.5 to 5.5 percent. In particular, a “drastic drop in garlic prices” helped to push inflation lower last month, statistics agency chief Suryamin said.
MANUFACTURING
Britain’s PMI up slightly
British manufacturing contracted by the narrowest of margins last month, and much less than expected, the first major set of data for the second quarter of the year showed yesterday. The Markit/CIPS Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 49.8 last month from an upwardly revised 48.6 in March, putting the sector within a whisker of the 50 line that separates growth from contraction. Economists had expected a much weaker reading of 48.5.
ECONOMY
Slovenia facing trouble
Slovenia moved a step closer on Tuesday to becoming the next eurozone member to need a bailout after Moody’s slashed its credit rating two notches to “junk” status. The announcement by the US ratings agency forced Slovenia’s finance ministry to pull a bond auction that it had hoped would raise a much-needed 2.2 billion euros (US$3 billion). The cut to “Ba1” from “Baa2” was made because of “turmoil” in Slovenia’s banking sector, a “marked deterioration” in government finances and “uncertain” funding prospects, Moody’s said.
ELECTRONICS
Sony execs drop bonuses
Dozens of Sony executives, including the firm’s boss, are forgoing bonuses this year in an “unprecedented” step to atone for a slump in its embattled electronics unit, a spokeswoman said yesterday. Chief executive Kazuo Hirai is among 40 top managers who will not get a bonus estimated at several hundred million yen (several million US dollars) “due to severe business circumstances, including stagnant performance in the electronics sector,” the spokeswoman said. Last year, seven top Sony executives gave up their bonuses “but the number this time is unprecedented,” she added.
COMPUTERS
IBM board raises dividend
IBM Corp said on Tuesday that its board had raised its regular quarterly dividend by 12 percent to US$0.95 and approved a plan to repurchase up to US$5 billion of its stock. The Armonk, New York-based technology company said this is the 18th year in a row that it has raised its quarterly dividend. Earlier this month, the company surprised investors when it reported a drop in quarterly earnings and sales. IBM’s stock rose US$3.39 to US$202.54 on Tuesday.
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],”