ECONOMY
China hit by weak demand
Factories and workshops last month saw their output slow sharply, data showed yesterday, as the world’s second-largest economy grapples with tighter credit and weaker demand. Industrial production rose 6.5 percent from a year ago, the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics said, compared with 7.6 percent in March. Other figures also disappointed. Last month retail sales rose 10.7 percent year-on-year, below the previous month’s reading, while fixed-asset investment excluding rural areas — a gauge of spending on real estate, roads and bridges — rose 8.9 percent in the first four months of the year, compared with 9.2 percent in January to March.
ECONOMY
Thailand in recovery
The Thai economy saw a slight pick-up in the first quarter of the year, data showed yesterday, as the nation recovers from a dip caused by the death of its former king. The first three months of the year saw GDP expand 3.3 percent year-on-year, up from 3 percent the previous quarter. Thai National Economic and Social development board Secretary-General Porametee Vimolsiri said growth was fueled by “the agriculture sector, government spending and growth in the export sector.” The economy was expected to grow between 3.3 percent and 3.8 percent this year, compared with last year’s 3.2 percent, he said.
DEVELOPMENT
AIIB expects 85 members
The China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) expects to have 85 members by the end of this year, its president, Jin Liqun (金立群), said on Sunday. “Now we have 77 members. By the end of this year, we expect to have about 85 members, including Hong Kong,” Jin said at the Belt and Road Forum in Beijing. On Saturday, AIIB said its board of governors had adopted resolutions approving seven applicants to join the bank, bringing the total approved membership to 77. The seven — Bahrain, Cyprus, Samoa, Bolivia, Chile, Greece and Romania — are to officially join once they deposit their first installment of capital with the bank.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Thermo Fisher eyes Patheon
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc is in talks to buy Patheon NV, the Dutch maker of drug ingredients, according to people with knowledge of the matter. An agreement could be reached as early as this week, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Thermo Fisher has a market value of about US$67 billion in New York, while Patheon is worth about US$3.8 billion based on its current share price. Talks could still falter, and there is no certainty a deal will be reached, the people said. Thermo Fisher and Patheon could not immediately be reached for comment.
AUTOMAKERS
Audi, Porsche recall SUV’s
Audi and Porsche are recalling a about 300,000 sports utility vehicles (SUVs) because they might develop cracks that cause fuel to leak, which raises the risk of fire. Volkswagen Group of America’s Audi recall covers 240,487 Q5 and Q7 vehicles, with model years ranging from 2013 to 2017. Porsche’s separate recall covers 51,497 vehicles, including certain 2015 to 2017 Macan S and Macan Turbo vehicles and 2017 Macan, Macan Turbo with the Performance Package and Macan GTS vehicles.
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