COMMUNICATIONS
US to vote on 5G
US regulators are to vote next month on freeing airwaves for a new generation of faster wireless systems that could support remote surgery, guide cars and control electricity grids, US Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler said on Monday. The commission on July 14 is to consider steps to identify and open up “vast amounts of spectrum” for so-called 5G wireless systems that are 10 to 100 times faster than current mobile networks, Wheeler said in a speech in Washington.
WATCHES
Swiss exports fall
Swiss watch exports dropped last month, bringing the industry’s slump close to a full year as it faced plunging demand across Asia and Europe. Shipments fell 9.7 percent to 1.56 million Swiss francs (US$1.62 million), the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry said in a statement yesterday. Exports have declined for the past 11 months and had back-to-back monthly double-digit declines in March and April. Swiss watchmakers have been struggling with a wider slowdown in demand for timepieces across all of Switzerland’s main markets so far this year. Hublot and Zenith, owned by LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, have decided not to open any additional stores in Hong Kong amid a market that is “more adapted for closing stores rather than opening stores,” watch chief Jean-Claude Biver said on Monday last week.
COMMODITIES
Gold prices decline further
Gold fell for the third time in four days amid simmering anxiety over the outcome of a UK referendum on EU membership, with separate polls showing leads for both sides. Bullion for immediate delivery fell as much as 0.5 percent to US$1,282.95 per ounce and traded at US$1,284.28 at 2:35pm in Singapore, according to Bloomberg generic pricing. The metal fell as much as 1.6 percent on Monday, the biggest intraday drop in about a month, as investors bet that the referendum was swinging in favor of “Stay,” reducing haven demand. Gold has gained 21 percent this year as uncertainty in global financial markets turned investors to haven assets.
CURRENCIES
Pound hits three-week high
The British pound set a three-week high against the US dollar on Tuesday. The pound rose 0.2 percent in Asian trade to US$1.4707 and touched a peak of US$1.4728 at one point, its highest level since May 26.That was the third time the currency pair had tested the US$1.47 to US$1.48 band since last month and a clear break of those levels could spark a wave of short-covering in the pound. Traders said any break might have to wait until the markets see the results of tomorrow’s Brexit referendum.
FUEL
Chinese exports increase
China’s diesel exports last month increased to a record high as easing demand forced refiners to send surplus fuel overseas, while gasoline shipments rose amid swollen stockpiles. The nation’s outbound diesel shipments jumped to 1.48 million tonnes last month, while gasoline exports increased to 780,000 tonnes, the highest since December last year, data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs in Beijing showed yesterday. “China’s high fuel exports are a result of robust oil processing and sluggish domestic demand,” Shandong-based SCI International analyst Zhang Bin said.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”