ELECTRONICS
Bose, Beats dismiss lawsuit
Attorneys for Bose Corp and Beats Electronics LLC have agreed to dismiss a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Bose. Bose alleged in a federal court in Delaware in July that Beats was infringing on several Bose patents regarding noise-canceling headphones. Bose filed a parallel complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC) seeking to halt US imports of Beats Studio and Beats Studio Wireless headphones. Attorneys for Beats had filed an unopposed motion asking that the Delaware lawsuit be put on hold pending a final determination by the ITC, which is investigating Bose’s claims.
TECHNOLOGY
Silver Lake exits Web deal
Silver Lake Management LLC has shelved an attempt to acquire and combine photo-sharing Web sites Shutterfly and Snapfish, after it failed to reach a deal by Friday’s deadline, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Silver Lake, the biggest technology-focused buyout firm, decided against buying Snapfish from Hewlett-Packard Co after performing due diligence, the person said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. While the private-equity firm also decided not to pursue a deal with Shutterfly by the company’s deadline, Silver Lake is still open to returning to talks, the person said.
RETAIL
Comerci to sell 200 stores
Controladora Comercial Mexicana SAB is close to an agreement to sell the bulk of its 200 retail stores to Grupo Comercial Chedraui SAB in a transaction that will probably amount to more than US$4 billion, according to a person with knowledge of the deal. Comerci, as the Mexico City-based supermarket operator is known, would keep the real estate and lease it to Chedraui, which would use its own brand for the stores purchased, the person said on Saturday. Comerci has a market value of 55.2 billion pesos (US$4.09 billion). While final terms of the accord for its retail stores are yet to be set, Comerci is pushing for Chedraui to pay cash, the person said.
BANKING
Swaps changes agreed
Eighteen global banks have agreed to swaps contract changes designed to work with government rules for unwinding failed firms, a step that may help end the view that some financial companies are “too big to fail.” Counterparties of banks involved in resolution proceedings will delay contract termination rights and collateral demands under the plan announced by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA). The change is intended to give regulators more time to arrange orderly resolutions, ISDA, the main industry group for the US$700 trillion global swaps market, said in a statement released in Washington.
AMERICAN SAMOA
Investment to create jobs
Government officials expect up to 1,000 jobs to be created when a Filipino company invests US$100 million in a new food processing plant. Governor Lolo Matalasi Moliga on Friday said executives from AVM Bernardo Engineering are in the territory this week to finalize the paperwork for the project. The company expects to begin construction early next year. Operations would begin the following year. American Samoa Commerce Department director Keniseli Lafaele said the plant plans to first focus on frozen fish-based sausage, ham, nuggets and patties. The plant is also set to produce coconut water, mango and other juices.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI