AUSTRALIA
Central bank keeps rate
The central bank held the official interest rate steady at 2.75 percent yesterday, with an uptick in the economy expected over time and hopes for a further fall in the mining-powered dollar. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) judged monetary policy as “appropriate for the time being” at its monthly board meeting, keeping rates on hold for a second consecutive month. RBA governor Glenn Stevens said the economy was growing at below-average pace and that was “expected to continue in the near term as the economy adjusts to lower levels of mining investment” with the peak of a decade-long China-led boom.
TECHNOLOGY
Dell debt financing secured
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn said he secured US$5.2 billion in debt financing to support his latest attempt to scuttle the planned leveraged buyout of Dell Inc by founder Michael Dell. Icahn and his affiliates obtained the financing with help from Jefferies Group LLC, which committed US$1.6 billion, he said yesterday in an open letter to Dell shareholders and directors. Icahn also called on the Round Rock, Texas-based company’s special committee handling the proposed buyout to “engage in a direct, face-to-face sit-down meeting” with his group. The disclosure of committed financing comes as Icahn attempts to counter a proposed US$24.4 billion buyout of the struggling PC maker by chief executive officer Dell and private-equity firm Silver Lake Management LLC.
UNITED STATES
Manufacturing rebounds
Manufacturing activity rebounded last month from a contraction in May, but remained lackluster, according to a closely watched report released on Monday. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said its purchasing managers index (PMI) for manufacturing rose to 50.9 last month, up 1.9 points from May’s contraction-territory level of 49. A PMI reading above 50 indicates expansion, while one below reflects contraction. Of the 18 manufacturing industries surveyed, 12 reported growth. Manufacturing grew for all but one month in the first half of this year, according to ISM data.
MEDIA
CEO requested to stay on
The Walt Disney Co’s board wants chairman and chief executive officer Robert Iger to stick around a bit longer. The media conglomerate said on Monday that the board extended Iger’s tenure through June 30, 2016, when his contract is due to expire. Disney said that the terms of Iger’s contract were not changed. Prior arrangements had Iger, 62, remaining CEO until April 1, 2015, and then as executive chairman for another 15 months to help in the transition to Disney’s next CEO. The extension suggests Disney’s board has yet to make a decision on Iger’s successor. Iger has been CEO since September 2005.
GAMBLING
Web site’s casino bid denied
An appeals court in the US has rejected a bid by the world’s largest online poker Web site to regain the right to buy an Atlantic City casino. In a decision made public on Monday, the New Jersey court sided with the Atlantic Club in its battle with PokerStars. The ruling upheld a lower court ruling issued last month. The Atlantic Club canceled a deal for the PokerStars Web site to buy the casino when the online giant could not get preliminary ownership approval from state casino regulators in time.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks