ENGINEERING
Siemens AG raises outlook
Siemens AG raised its profit outlook for the year, in a surprise move that highlights the company’s confidence the German maker of gas turbines and medical scanners can ride out a slowdown in China and sharp drop in oil prices. “We have a lot of self- help potential” for achieving 2020 growth targets, Siemens chief executive officer Joe Kaeser said in an interview with Bloomberg TV yesterday. Kaeser has pledged that the company, which also builds trains, would return to growth this year after several years of stagnating earnings, and that the remainder of a 1 billion euro (US$1.08 billion) cost reduction program would be completed. Full-year earnings per share will be between 6 euros and 6.40 euros, higher than a previous forecast of 5.90 euros to 6.20 euros, the Munich-based company said in a statement after the market closed on Monday.
AUTOMAKERS
Hyundai profits plummet
A strong local currency and slowing sales in the key Chinese market pummeled South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Co last year, with the automaker yesterday reporting its lowest annual profit in five years. Hyundai, along with its smaller affiliate Kia, forms the world’s fifth-largest automaking group. The firm’s net profit has fallen for three consecutive years since 2013 as a strong won, coupled with a weakening yen, blunted its price competitiveness against Japanese rivals in global markets. Net profit for last year was 6.5 trillion won (US$5.4 billion), down 15 percent from 2014 and the lowest since 2010, according to a statement from Hyundai. Sales in two major emerging markets, Russia and Brazil, are expected to shrink this year, chief financial officer Lee Won-Hee said, as well as in China, which accounts for about 20 percent of the firm’s entire sales.
MEDICAL EQUIPMENT
Royal Philips’ earnings rise
Royal Philips NV, the Dutch company that is separating lighting operations to focus on healthcare equipment, reported better-than-estimated profit in the fourth quarter as demand for medical gear in the US and China increased. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes and amortization rose 13 percent to 842 million euros, the Amsterdam-based company said in a statement yesterday. That compares with an average estimate by analysts of 798 million euros. Sales gained 8 percent to 7.1 billion euros, in line with estimates. “Overall, 2015 was a solid year for Philips,” chief executive officer Frans van Houten said in the statement. “For 2016, we continue to expect modest comparable sales growth.”
ELECTRONICS
Sony to buy Altair
Sony Corp agreed to buy Altair Semiconductor Ltd for US$212 million, acquiring technology to power the next generation of smart appliances as the firm looks for growth beyond chips for smartphone cameras. Altair, with modem chips for 4G cellular technology, is to help the company make component devices featuring both sensing and communication capabilities, Sony said in a statement yesterday. Altair, based in Hod Hasharon, Israel, makes chipsets that can connect security systems, power meters and cars to the Internet with the deal due to close next month. Sony chief executive officer Kazuo Hirai is moving the Tokyo-based company away from consumer electronics to focus on growth in image sensors, video games and movies. It agreed to buy Toshiba Corp’s image sensor operations last year to build up its chip business with growth in its devices unit contributing to the firm’s return to profit.
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