TECHNOLOGY
Ouya teams up with Xiaomi
US video game service Ouya Inc is turning to Asia to capture the growth that has eluded the startup on its home turf. The Santa Monica, California-based firm has partnered with Xiaomi Inc (小米) to take its games to Chinese living rooms via the smartphone maker’s new streaming boxes and smart TVs, an Ouya executive and a source at Xiaomi close to the deal said. Xiaomi, which in three years became China’s top smartphone seller ahead of Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co, harbors ambitions beyond mobile gadgets. Last year, it expanded into the TV and set-top box business. Ouya CEO Julie Uhrman said details were still being settled, but it was likely Ouya would get a dedicated channel on Xiaomi software installed on those devices, on which gamers could shop for and download a selection of its independently developed games later this year.
TEXTILES
Gap Q2 beats forecasts
Gap Inc, the largest US apparel-focused retailer, posted second-quarter profits that topped analysts’ estimates as bargain-hunting shoppers snapped-up discounted clothing at its Old Navy chain. Net income rose 9.6 percent to US$332 million, or US$0.75 per share, from US$303 million, or US$0.64, a year earlier, the San Francisco-based company said in a statement on Thursday. Excluding gains from an asset sale, profit was US$0.70 a share. Analysts had estimated US$0.69, on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Net sales rose 2.9 percent to US$3.98 billion in the period ending Aug. 2. Chief executive officer Glenn Murphy is working to maintain sales growth as the choppy economic recovery restrains shoppers’ appetites for new fashions. The chain’s lower-priced Old Navy brand led the company’s sales gains for the second straight quarter.
ENERGY
BP expanding in Australia
BP PLC, the operator of the biggest oil refinery in Australia, plans to spend A$10 billion (US$9.3 billion) this decade expanding its filling station network and developing oil and gas projects such as the Browse venture. The company will open a dozen new filling stations over the next 12 months while seeking to increase the fleet through acquisitions, Andy Holmes, president of BP’s Australasia business, said in an interview. He declined to elaborate on potential takeover targets. The London-based group plans to spend about A$2.3 billion over the next five years on its downstream unit, which also includes the Kwinana refinery in Perth. BP is seeking to expand its retail business even as it scales back refining in Australia while companies, including Trafigura Beheer BV, the world’s third-largest independent oil trader, and Vitol Group, gain a foothold in the industry. BP also plans to spend more than A$1 billion on a deep-water drilling campaign off the southern coast, Holmes said.
FINANCE
LSEG net profit surges
The London Stock Exchange Group’s (LSEG) net profit jumped nearly 50 percent in the first quarter on the back of a resurgence in stock market flotations, it said yesterday. Earnings after taxation soared to £52 million (US$86 million) in the three months to June, compared with £35.4 million a year earlier, the group said in a results statement. Pre-tax profit jumped 40 percent to £83.6 million in the reporting period, while sales rallied by a fifth to £299.9 million. The group’s performance was also lifted by clearing house unit LCH.Clearnet, in which it bought a majority holding in 2012.
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
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],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day