RETAILERS
Sears files for protection
Sears Canada on Thursday filed for court protection from creditors as the one-time retail giant seeks to adapt to a changed business landscape and tougher online competition. The company also announced that it was shutting 59 stores and laying off 2,900 staff at corporate headquarters in Toronto and across its retail network. Its revenues have dropped significantly in recent years as it cut 3,000 jobs — not including the latest round of layoffs — and closed half of its stores. Thursday’s announcement leaves it with fewer than 150 department stores, home stores and smaller retail outlets.
AIRLINES
Qatar Airways eyes purchase
State-owned Qatar Airways is attempting to buy 10 percent of American Airlines Group Inc, a surprising move that would trigger an antitrust review by the US government. American Airlines said in a regulatory filing on Thursday that the bid was unsolicited, but that the chief executive officers of both carriers had discussed the plan. American Airlines said that Qatar Airways initially intends to buy at least US$808 million in stock on the open market and eventually 10 percent of its stock, which would cost US$2.4 billion at the carrier’s midday stock price.
ELECTRONICS
Toshiba earnings delayed
Toshiba Corp yesterday again delayed the release of its long-overdue earnings, with the troubled conglomerate saying it needed more time to finish accounting work at its loss-hit US nuclear unit Westinghouse Electric Corp (WEC). Toshiba twice postponed nine-month earnings before it released unaudited results in April and last month warned that it likely lost ¥950 billion (US$8.6 million) in the fiscal year that ended in March. Yesterday, it slightly revised down its annual loss estimate to ¥995.2 billion. After markets closed, the Tokyo Stock Exchange said it would move Toshiba’s stock off its prestigious first section at the start of August, citing the company’s negative net worth last year.
AUTOMAKERS
Tesla considering music
Electric carmaker Tesla Inc on Thursday said it was considering ways to enter music streaming amid a report that it might launch a unique new service. The high-end automaker, which already has a tie-up with streaming leader Spotify Ltd in some international markets, said it was aiming at ways to please drivers. “We believe it’s important to have an exceptional in-car experience so our customers can listen to the music they want from whatever source they choose,” a Tesla spokesperson said. Technology news site Recode said that Tesla was discussing the creation of a service unique to the automaker that would be integrated into the cars, which are already connected to the Internet.
TELECOMS
Apple links to Virgin
Apple Inc is soon to start selling wireless plans from Virgin Mobile USA, the first new carrier offered by the iPhone makers since 2013, the companies said on Wednesday. Virgin Mobile USA struck the deal as part of a broader revamp of its business that will see it ditch Android phones in the coming years and become what it claims is the first iPhone-only network. The company will first be offered in Apple’s stores and then online. Apple currently offers AT&T Inc, Verizon communications Inc, Sprint Corp and T-Mobile US Inc, the last of which was added in 2013.
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
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],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained