FRANCE
Stimulus measures unveiled
The government has unveiled a modest stimulus plan focusing on new technology and ecology, in an attempt to boost an economy that is back in recession and is weighing on overall European prospects. The 12 billion euro (US$15 billion) plan announced on Tuesday especially targets “green” investments, in energy, industry, transport, health and research. Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said revenue from the sale of state stakes in private companies will help finance the program, so that it would have a minimum impact on public finances. The government forecasts growth of just 0.1 percent this year.
TECHNOLOGY
Apple drops ‘Appstore’ case
Apple Inc dropped its lawsuit on Tuesday against rival Amazon.com Inc for using the term “Appstore” for its online shop for mobile gadget applications. A court order dismissing the case was signed on Tuesday in US federal court in Northern California, where Apple had filed the suit in 2011. The suit had claimed that Amazon’s use of the term Appstore infringed Apple’s rights for its App Store, where it sells mobile applications for its iPad and iPhone. Earlier this year, US District Judge Phyllis Hamilton ruled that Apple had failed to establish that Amazon made any false statement or had deceived customers.
TECHNOLOGY
RIM name change approved
Research In Motion Ltd (RIM) has won formal approval to change its name to BlackBerry. The Canadian company announced plans for the name change in January, when it unveiled new smartphones running a revamped operating system called BlackBerry 10. Since January, RIM has been going by BlackBerry in marketing materials. It has also changed its ticker symbol to “BBRY.” However, a legal name change required shareholders’ approval at Tuesday’s annual meeting. On Tuesday, BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins told shareholders the firm is in the second stage of its turnaround. Stage three, he says, includes profitability.
FINANCE
Macquarie to buy ING unit
Macquarie Group Ltd, Australia’s largest investment bank, agreed to buy ING Groep NV’s South Korean investment management unit to add 25.2 trillion won (US$22 billion) of assets. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter and would not have a material impact on earnings, ING, the biggest Dutch financial services company, said in a statement yesterday. Neither company disclosed detailed terms. The Sydney-based company said in a separate statement that the purchase will make it the largest foreign asset manager in South Korea. Amsterdam-based ING said it is planning to sell the rest of its insurance and investment management businesses in Asia, including ING Life Korea.
CLOTHING
Burberry enjoys growth
British luxury brand Burberry maintained its full-year guidance as it posted an 18 percent rise in first quarter underlying retail revenue, driven by robust demand for spring/summer fashion. The 157-year-old seller of raincoats and leather goods, known for its camel, red-and-black check pattern, said yesterday it made £339 million (US$503 million) of retail revenue in the three months to June 30. That compared with analysts’ average forecast of £316 million, according to a company poll, and £280 million in the same period last year. Comparable store sales growth was 13 percent, ahead of a fourth-quarter increase of 8 percent.
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