RETAIL
Wal-Mart sues Visa
Wal-Mart Stores Inc has sued Visa Inc for allegedly conspiring with banks to fix transaction fees, the latest salvo of a multiyear legal fight between retailers and card issuers. The world’s biggest retailer seeks at least US$5 billion in damages for what it claims are violations of US federal antitrust laws that could triple that sum. Wal-Mart, one of dozens of large merchants that dropped out of a nationwide, multibillion dollar antitrust settlement with Visa and MasterCard Inc to pursue their own lawsuits, filed its complaint in federal court in Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Tuesday. The settlement Wal-Mart withdrew from, initially valued at US$7.25 billion, was approved by a Brooklyn, New York, federal judge in December last year.
METALS
Rusal posts US$3.22bn loss
Rusal, the world’s largest aluminum producer, yesterday said its net loss blew out to more than US$3 billion last year as it was hit by record low metal prices and one-off restructuring charges. The Hong Kong-listed Russian giant said it lost US$3.22 billion, compared with a loss of US$528 million in 2012, while revenue slumped 10.4 percent to US$9.76 billion. However, chief executive Oleg Deripaska forecast an uptick in demand for aluminum over the next two years, in line with a global economic recovery. In a filing to the Hong Kong stock exchange, Rusal said the price of aluminum had tumbled 8.6 percent last year to a record low of US$1,845 per tonne as demand tailed off. “2013 was another challenging year for the aluminum industry, despite consumption growth of 6 percent to 51.7 million tonnes,” Deripaska said.
ELECTRONICS
Panasonic sets 2018 goal
Panasonic Corp plans to boost sales by about 34 percent during the next five years as it seeks to expand in areas targeted for growth, including its lithium-ion battery business. The consumer electronics company targets ¥10 trillion (US$98 billion) in revenue in the 2018 fiscal year, president Kazuhiro Tsuga told reporters in Tokyo on Thursday. That compares with the ¥7.48 trillion in the fiscal year ending on Monday, according to the average of 19 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Panasonic is a third of the way through its three-year plan to achieve an operating profit of at least ¥350 billion by the year ending March 2016 by focusing on growing businesses after consecutive record losses. The automotive and industrial systems unit, which supplies Tesla Motors Inc with battery cells, accounts for about a third of sales and is targeted for growth as the company ends production of plasma TVs.
ENTERTAINMENT
Amazon eyeing TV market
Online retailer Amazon.com Inc plans to enter the battle for living-room viewership in the coming months, launching a free, ad-supported streaming TV service, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing anonymous sources. Amazon is likely to stream original, self-produced TV series and perhaps licensed programming for free to viewers, the Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The newspaper said it was unclear how such a service would be delivered to consumers. Amazon has said it will hold a press conference in New York on Wednesday next week, amid rife speculation that it will unveil a streaming device, such as a set-top box, to rival the Apple TV and Google Chromcast. Speculation is that Amazon is close to revealing a streaming device, a set-top box or a small plug-in device that can pipe video into the living room.
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
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last