ECONOMY
Ukraine fears hit Germany
The Ukraine crisis is beginning to rattle consumers in Europe’s top economy and cast a slight shadow over their optimism in the German economy, a poll showed yesterday. “Apparently the events in Ukraine are showing their first effects,” market research company GfK said in a statement. “Relating to the further economic development of Germany, citizens seem to be slightly unsettled for the first time,” it said. Overall, GfK’s headline household confidence index remained steady in April at 8.5 points. However, the outcome among households is in contrast to German businesses, whose confidence grew in April, according to the Ifo economic institute’s closely watched index.
EMPLOYMENT
Spain’s unemployment rises
Spain’s unemployment rate climbed to nearly 26 percent in the first quarter of this year, official data showed yesterday, as millions searched in vain for a job in a halting recovery from recession. Despite emerging from a two-year downturn in mid-last year, the latest figures showed the nation still failing to significantly dent one of the highest unemployment rates in the industrialized world. The unemployment rate climbed to 25.93 percent in the first three months of this year, up from 25.73 percent in the previous quarter, the National Statistics Institute said.
CHINA
Shanghai Disney adds cash
Disney says it and its Chinese partner will spend US$800 million more on their Shanghai theme park, bringing the total investment to nearly US$5.5 billion. The extra spending will go toward more attractions, entertainment and other offerings. Most of the additions are targeted to be completed by opening day, which is aimed for the end of next year. CEO Bob Iger said in a statement that Disney has been impressed with the growth of China’s economy, the expansion of the middle class and a significant increase in travel and tourism. Shanghai Shendi Group owns 57 percent of the park, while The Walt Disney Co holds the remaining 43 percent. Each will contribute a proportionate share of the extra investment.
SMARTPHONES
Cirrus to buy Wolfson
US handset maker Cirrus Logic Inc is to buy British microchip maker Wolfson Microelectronics PLC for an agreed £291 million (US$489 million) to boost its audio division, the two firms said yesterday. In a joint statement, the companies said the price per share represented a premium of 75 percent to Wolfson’s closing share price on Monday. Cirrus is a supplier to Apple Inc. Wolfson, an Edinburgh-based company which specializes in audio technology, is a supplier for the 3G version of Samsung’s Galaxy S4 smartphone, but its chips were not in the 4G model of the top-selling handset. It posted first-quarter results on yesterday showing an underlying operating loss of US$4.5 million.
ELECTRONICS
Samsung posts Q1 results
Samsung Electronics Co said yesterday its first-quarter net profit rose 5.9 percent from a year ago to 7.57 trillion won (US$7.3 billion), while operating profit declined for a second straight quarter.
The company posted operating profit of 8.49 trillion won — down 3.3 percent from a year ago, following a 6.0 percent decline in the fourth quarter. Sales for January-to-March period inched up 1.53 percent to 53.7 trillion won, the company said in a statement.
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],”