APPLICATIONS
Nintendo game a hit
Nintendo Co yesterday said its first smartphone game attracted more than 1 million users three days after release — good news for the Japanese game giant that was long reluctant to stray from its console-only policy. Nintendo last week released Miitomo — a free-to-play and interactive game, which allows users to create “Mii” avatars — as it tries to compete better with rivals. Users can customize the avatars’ outfit through in-app purchases and interact with characters created by other people or friends. The number of users for the game, rolled out in Japan on Thursday last, surpassed the 1 million mark on Saturday, a Nintendo spokeswoman said.
STOCK MARKET
Zhuhai Boyuan delisted
The Shanghai Stock Exchange has delisted investment firm Zhuhai Boyuan Investment Co (珠海市博元投資) for providing false information, an exchange statement said, the first time a listed company has been removed under new disclosure rules. The Shanghai exchange on Monday approved the delisting of Boyuan over “fake” financial information, including inflated assets, revenue and profit, the statement said. Both domestic and foreign investors have long had concerns over the reliability of Chinese corporate accounts and information after a series of scandals, but Boyuan was the first company struck from the bourse since new disclosure guidelines were introduced in 2014, according to the exchange and media reports.
ECONOMY
Ifo business index rises
Germany’s Ifo Institute said its index of business confidence, a closely watched gauge of economic activity in Europe’s largest economy, has risen after three months of declines. Munich-based Ifo yesterday said that its main index rose to 106.7 points from 105.7 points the month before. The increase was also more than anticipated. Market expectations were for a more modest rise to 106.0 points. Industrial firms saw stronger demand for consumer goods, the institute said in a statement. The improvement comes as fears about global trade and financial-market turmoil seem to be easing after a shaky start to the year. ING-DiBa economist Carsten Brzeski said that “German businesses seem to have shaken off fears of long-lasting global slowdown.” Germany’s economy grew by a quarterly rate of 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, and has a low unemployment rate of 4.3 percent that has helped buoy consumption.
BANKING
Analysts tout Citigroup split
Analysts at Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc on Monday waded into the debate over breaking up the US’ biggest banks, releasing a report that urged Citigroup Inc to split up. In the report, the analysts said that Citigroup’s stock price is being held back by regulations that require big banks to hold large amounts of capital. The analysts said Citigroup could break up in several ways — by selling part of its Banamex unit in Mexico, splitting its consumer and corporate units in the US into two companies, or selling its international operations. Together, the moves could increase Citigroup’s market value by 57 percent, to US$198 billion, the analysts estimated. In a statement, a Citigroup spokeswoman said: “The board remains confident that the current strategy being executed by the existing management team will yield the best long-term results for shareholders.”
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last