TECHNOLOGY
Spending to fall this year
Global spending on consumer technology is expected to slip this year due to factors including a strong US dollar and political uncertainty prompted by Britain’s vote to leave the EU and US president-elect Donald Trump. Consumer Technology Association senior director of market research Steve Koenig revealed the US trade group’s new forecast late on Tuesday, predicting the amount of money people around the world would spend on smartphones and other gadgets this year would be US$929 billion, compared with US$950 billion last year. Koenig said the “underpinning” of the global forecast was “uncertainty with the election of Trump and with Brexit.” “This air of uncertainty certainly is going to impact discretionary spending of consumers, business investment and investment by governments,” Koenig said.
JAPAN
PMI data encouraging
The nation’s manufacturing activity expanded at the fastest pace in a year last month as orders picked up, a private survey showed yesterday, in an encouraging sign that the struggling economy could be regaining momentum. The Final Markit/Nikkei Japan Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to 52.4 last month on a seasonally adjusted basis, higher than a preliminary reading of 51.9 and a final reading of 51.3 in November. The index remained above the 50 threshold that separates expansion from contraction for the fourth consecutive month and showed activity expanded at the fastest pace since December 2015. The final output component of the PMI also rose to a one-year high of 53.8 last month from 52.4 in November.
INDIA
Services sector contracting
The nation’s dominant services sector is set to contract for a second straight month, adding to evidence that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise ban on cash would trigger a sharp slowdown in Asia’s third-largest economy. The Nikkei India Services Purchasing Managers’ Index was at 46.8 last month, a report showed yesterday, little changed from 46.7 a month earlier. A number below 50 indicates a contraction. The data follows a similar survey on Monday which showed the manufacturing sector would shrink for the first time in a year, dragging down the composite PMI to 47.6, the lowest since at least 2013. The PMI data sets the tone for the government’s first growth forecast for the year through March, due tomorrow. Private economists have slashed forecasts for the fourth quarter of last year, saying a continued slowdown would strip the nation of its position as one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies.
AUTOMAKERS
Toyota workers relocating
Toyota Motor Corp is beginning to move hundreds of jobs out of its northern Kentucky headquarters as part of a nationwide consolidation. Workers have begun relocating from Toyota’s Erlanger plant and would continue to do so through the end of next year, the Kentucky Enquirer reported. The company, which is moving its facilities to the Dallas, Texas, suburb of Plano, said the move would affect 648 workers. All employees received a job offer as part of the restructuring, Toyota spokeswoman Kelly Stefanich said. Erlanger has been home to the Japanese automaker’s North American engineering and manufacturing headquarters since 1996. Erlanger City Administrator Marc Fields said the city is sad to see Toyota leave, but has been preparing for it since the firm announced its plans in 2014.
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
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
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