BANKING
Credit Suisse fine spurs loss
Credit Suisse AG has posted a second-quarter net loss of 700 million Swiss francs (US$779 million) after paying the largest penalty ever imposed in a US criminal tax case. Switzerland’s second-biggest bank calls the steep loss — a striking contrast to the SF1.045 billion profit it posted in the same quarter last year —a direct result of resolving the US government’s case against the bank for helping wealthy US citizens avoid paying taxes through secret offshore accounts. The Zurich-based bank pleaded guilty in May to aiding US tax evaders and agreed to pay about US$2.6 billion to the US government and regulators. “We deeply regret the past misconduct that led to this settlement and we take full responsibility for it,” CEO Brady Dougan said yesterday.
INTERNET
Hit series boosts Netflix
Netflix’s second-quarter earnings more than doubled, as new episodes from hit series Orange is the New Black helped the Internet video service surpass 50 million worldwide subscribers for the first time. The gains announced on Monday include an additional 570,000 US subscribers, slightly more than Netflix’s management predicted. The quarter is typically the company’s slowest of the year, as people spend more time outdoors instead of watching video. Investors applauded the second-quarter results, pushing Netflix’s stock up US$4.05 to US$456 in extended trading. The shares have surged by 23 percent this year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has increased 7 percent.
INTERNET
Facebook adds save button
Facebook Inc on Monday began letting people squirrel away links to check out later. The feature is being added as users increasingly connect with the social network from mobile devices while on the go, with little time to explore Internet content. Letting people save items for later scrutiny encourages people to return and spend more time on Facebook, increasing opportunities for the social network to cash in on money-making tools such as advertising. California-based Facebook said users have the option of keeping saved items private or sharing them with friends via the social network.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Toshiba sues Hynix in leak
South Korea’s SK Hynix Inc on Monday said Japanese rival Toshiba Corp is seeking ¥109.15 billion (US$1.08 billion) in damages in a lawsuit filed over the suspected leak of NAND flash memorychip technology. Toshiba is also seeking to have SK Hynix destroy all information about the technology in question, and cease production and sales of NAND memory products using that technology, according to a regulatory filing by SK Hynix. The South Korean firm said it would seek to have the lawsuit dismissed.
INTERNET
China users hit 632m
China has 632 million Internet users, the China Internet Network Information Center said on Monday. Its Internet population — defined as those who have gone online at least once in the past six months — has increased by 14 million since January, the center said. Mobile-phone users represent a large share of the online population, it said, with 527 million people in China accessing the Internet using mobile devices in the six months to June. However, use of social networks has dropped, with 257 million people using social networking sites during the period, down 7.4 percent from 278 million in December.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
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
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
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure