PRIVACY
Internet giants back Apple
Facebook Inc and Twitter Inc are siding with Apple Inc in its fight against a court order requiring the company to help investigators break into an iPhone used by one of the San Bernardino mass shooters. A US judge ordered Apple to produce software that would give investigators access to the iPhone at issue. Apple has until Tuesday next week to challenge the order, setting the stage for a legal clash that experts say could change the relationship between tech companies and government authorities in the US and around the world. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said on Twitter that the microblogging site stands with Apple. Facebook said in a statement that it condemns terrorism and also appreciates the essential work of law enforcement in keeping people safe, but added it would “fight aggressively” against requirements for companies to weaken the security of their systems.
INSURANCE
Allianz SE profit rises 16%
Allianz SE, Europe’s biggest insurer, said fourth-quarter profit rose 16 percent, missing analyst estimates, on claims from natural catastrophes. Net income rose to 1.42 billion euros (US$1.57 billion) in the quarter from 1.22 billion euros a year earlier, the Munich, Germany-based company said in a statement yesterday. That compares with the 1.56 billion euro average of six estimates compiled by Bloomberg. “Our business is healthy and well-diversified. This makes us confident that we will continue to deliver strong earnings,” CEO Oliver Baete, 50, said in the statement. Allianz wants to achieve annual earnings per share growth of 5 percent on average from this year to 2018. Allianz plans to increase its dividend by 6.6 percent to 7.30 euros per share for last year.
MANUFACTURING
Applied forecasts sales rise
Applied Materials Inc, the largest maker of machinery used to produce computer chips, predicted sales this quarter that might beat analysts’ estimates, indicating that the electronics industry is still optimistic about future demand. Revenue in the current three-month period is to rise 5 percent to 10 percent from the previous period, the Santa Clara, California-based company said on Thursday in a statement. That indicates sales of US$2.37 billion to US$2.48 billion, compared with an average analyst estimate of US$2.28 billion. Earnings per share, minus certain items, are expected to be US$0.30 to US$0.34 compared with an average analyst estimate of US$0.27. Investors use Applied Materials earnings and forecast as a pointer to the confidence of chipmakers in future demand because of the time and expense it takes to build, equip and upgrade factories.
BRAZIL
Economy contracts 4.08%
The central bank on Thursday said the economy contracted 4.08 percent last year, the worst performance since the indicator was created in 2003. The data also showed that the economy shrank 0.15 percent in 2014 in non-seasonally adjusted figures. The results were broadly in line with market expectations. The average forecast of 15 financial institutions surveyed by the financial newspaper Valor was a 4.1 percent drop. The nation’s official statistics agency is to publish its GDP figures for last year at the beginning of next month. Brazil is experiencing its deepest recession since the 1930s. Last month, the IMF forecast its economy would shrink by 3.5 percent this year. Meanwhile, credit agency Standard & Poor’s on Wednesday said it has downgraded Brazil’s sovereign credit rating to two notches below investment-grade territory.
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],”
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
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