HOTELS
Mandarin Oriental breached
High-end hotel chain Mandarin Oriental said on Thursday that the credit card systems at some of its hotels in the US and Europe were hacked. Several companies have been the target of cyberattacks in the last year, including retailer Home Depot and bank JPMorgan Chase. The company, however, did not specify which of its hotels were affected. It also did not give details on the extent of the hack or how many customers reported fraudulent charges on their credit cards as a result. Mandarin Oriental operates about 30 hotels in cities across the world. The company said it has removed the bad software from its systems and that it is still investigating the breach.
PANELS
Japan Display to build plant
Japan Display Inc yesterday said it would spend US$1.4 billion on a new smartphone and tablet screen factory. The plant, which is expected to produce 25,000 sheets of LCD a month, isto be constructed in the central Japanese city of Hakusan at a cost of ¥170 billion (US$1.4 billion), the company said. The plant, which would boost Japan Display’s screen production by about 20 percent, is expected to start operating next year “to satisfy growing demand for ever-advancing displays,” it said in a statement.
GERMANY
Industrial production rises
Industrial production rose by 0.6 percent in January, a fifth consecutive monthly increase that was propelled by a surge in construction activity. Yesterday’s Federal Statistical Office’s report compared with economists’ forecast of a 0.5 percent month-on-month rise. It followed a 1 percent increase in December last year, revised upward from an initial reading of 0.1 percent. On Thursday, official data showed a much-larger-than-expected 3.9-percent drop in factory orders in January, but economists said that did not appear to be a substantial setback.
CURRENCIES
Mexican peso drops sharply
The Mexican peso dropped on Thursday to its lowest level against the US dollar since March 2009, when the nation was in deep recession. The currency closed at 15.50 pesos against the US dollar, shedding almost 1 percent from 15.35 pesos a day earlier, according to the private Banamex bank. Monterrey Institute of Technology financial expert Oliver Ambia said the depreciation of the peso was due to “low international oil prices and the country’s bad image due to lack of security,” which has affected foreign investor sentiment.
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
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
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
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks