ELECTRONICS
G-Flex to debut in Europe
South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc said yesterday it would start selling its first curved-screen smartphone — seen as a first step to fully flexible products — in Europe next month. The “G-Flex” was introduced in Seoul in October last year and will hit the stores in 20 European nations, including France, Germany, Sweden and the UK, the firm said in a statement. The G-Flex is curved on the vertical axis of the handset, which LG says offers a more immersive viewing experience and fits the contour of the face. LG said the new phone — already available in Asia — would also be introduced in the US by the end of March. LG, the world’s fourth-largest smartphone maker, did not provide any pricing details. Curved screens are still at a nascent stage in display technology, which is shifting toward flexible panels that are bendable, or can even be rolled or folded.
AUTOMAKERS
Peugeot to raise funds
PSA Peugeot Citroen, Europe’s second-largest automaker, is planning a two-step capital increase of 3 billion euros (US$4.1 billion) to shore up its financing as the unprofitable French manufacturer consumes cash. Dongfeng Motor Corp in the first phase may contribute funds through a sale reserved for Peugeot’s Chinese partner and then participate in a broader rights offering after that, the Paris-based automaker said. The French state may also buy shares in both sales, Peugeot said. The 118-year-old manufacturer is seeking a cash injection after burning through 4 billion euros in the past two years as demand in its European home region sank. The new funding is equal to 81 percent of Peugeot’s value and follows a share sale in March 2012 to raise 1 billion euros in which General Motors Co bought a 7 percent stake that it later sold.
CONSUMER GOODS
Unilever beats expectations
Unilever, the maker of Magnum ice cream and TRESemme shampoo, reported fourth-quarter sales growth that beat estimates, led by a rebound in emerging markets. Revenue excluding acquisitions and currency fluctuations rose 4.1 percent in the three months through last month, the London-and Rotterdam-based company said yesterday in a statement. The median estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg was for growth of 3.9 percent. The quantity of goods sold gained 2.7 percent, more than the 2.5 percent forecast by analysts. The quarter benefited from an improved performance in emerging markets, where growth had been slipping. Sales in those regions rose 8.4 percent, better than the third quarter’s 5.9 percent gain. Unilever generates 57 percent of its revenue from countries such as India and China, and said on Sept. 30 last year that slowing growth would weigh on sales.
ENERGY
Shell sells gas project stake
Royal Dutch Shell said on Monday it had agreed to sell stakes in a gas project in Western Australia for US$1.14 billion as part of the oil company’s drive to improve its return on investment. Shell said it is selling an 8 percent stake in the Wheatstone and nearby Iago gas fields, as well as a 6.4 percent stake in the related Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project to Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co (KUFPEC). The move raises KUFPEC’s holding in the LNG project, in which the state company is already a partner, to 13.4 percent. “We are refocusing our investment to where we can add the most value with Shell’s capital and technology,” Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
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
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last