ENERGY
Brazil eyes private funding
The Brazilian Congress has approved a measure to give private companies a larger role in exploring one of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves. The bill would remove a requirement that state oil company Petrobras must have at least a 30 percent stake in any operation in the massive off-shore reserve located off the southern coast between the states of Santa Catarina to Espirito Santo. The so-called “Pre-salt Reserve” produces about 1 million barrels of oil a day. The measure has been approved by the Brazilian Senate and Congress, which sent it on Thursday to Brazilian President Michel Temer. He is expected to sign it.
VIDEO GAMES
Japan Wii U sales to end
Nintendo Co is ending sales in Japan of its Wii U home console “soon,” although it is not saying exactly when, and similar announcements are expected in other regions. The Wii U, which went on sale in late 2012, is being replaced by Switch, set to go on sale globally in March next year. Nintendo said it would show it to reporters in Japan on Jan. 13. The Japanese video game manufacturer behind the Super Mario and Pokemon franchises has already shipped Wii U machines for US sales through March, company spokesman Kenichiro Matsuura said yesterday.
INTERNET
Russia may block LinkedIn
The Moscow City Court on Thursday ruled that professional networking Web site LinkedIn can be blocked under a controversial new law because it does not store local users’ data inside the nation. The court rejected an appeal by LinkedIn and upheld an August decision by a Moscow district court that the Web site was in breach of the law, after the Russian communications watchdog launched legal action. A representative of LinkedIn said users “give consent for their personal data to be used” and argued there had been no mass call from Russians for the Web site to be closed.
ELECTRONICS
Toshiba back in the black
Toshiba Corp yesterday said its half-year profit tripled, owing to cost cutting and the sale of its home appliances business, providing a boost to the firm as it tries to turn the page on an embarrassing accounting scandal. The conglomerate posted an April-to-September net profit of ¥115.3 billion (US$1.08 billion), well up from ¥37.3 billion the previous year. It also logged a ¥96.8 billion operating profit, reversing a loss the previous year, although it blamed a stronger Japanese currency and lower sales of TVs and PCs for a 4.3 percent decline in revenue to ¥2.58 trillion.
TOURISM
Euro Disney in the red
Euro Disney, which owns Disneyland Paris, on Thursday posted record annual losses in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris which weighed heavily on tourist bookings. During its financial year, which ended in September, group turnover fell 6.91 percent to 1.27 billion euros (US$1.38 billion) following a 10 percent drop in visitor numbers, a statement said. The statement was issued as France prepares to mark the first anniversary of the deadly attacks in the French capital which claimed 130 lives. Over the period, the group registered a net loss attributable to shareholders of 705 million euros, compared with 84.2 million the previous year.
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
FUTURE PLANS: Although the electric vehicle market is getting more competitive, Hon Hai would stick to its goal of seizing a 5 percent share globally, Young Liu said Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler and supplier of artificial intelligence (AI) servers powered by Nvidia Corp’s chips, yesterday said it has introduced a rotating chief executive structure as part of the company’s efforts to cultivate future leaders and to enhance corporate governance. The 50-year-old contract electronics maker reported sizable revenue of NT$6.16 trillion (US$189.67 billion) last year. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has been under the control of one man almost since its inception. A rotating CEO system is a rarity among Taiwanese businesses. Hon Hai has given leaders of the company’s six