RETAIL
Walmart tests home service
Wal-Mart Stores Inc is testing a service that lets a delivery person walk into someone’s home when they are not there to drop off packages or put groceries in the refrigerator. “This may not be for everyone, but we want to offer customers the opportunity to participate in tests today and help us shape what commerce will look like in the future,” Walmart e-commerce strategy head Sloan Eddleston said on Friday in a blog post. The retailer said it is trying out the service with a small group of tech-savvy Walmart.com shoppers in Silicon Valley. It said the in-home delivery service is aimed at busy families that do not have time to stop at a store or unpack their groceries.
RIDE-SHARING
Uber reviewing Asia business
Uber Technologies Inc, facing a US federal probe into whether it broke laws against overseas bribery, has embarked on a review of its Asia operations and notified US officials about payments made by staff in Indonesia, people with knowledge of the matter said. As the US Department of Justice looks into a possible criminal case, Uber is working with law firm O’Melveny & Myers LLP to examine records of foreign payments and interview employees, the people said this week. Attorneys are focused on suspicious activity in at least five Asian countries: China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and South Korea.
ASIA-PACIFIC
Confidence falls amid tension
Business confidence among Asian companies fell for the first time in three quarters in the July-to-September period as escalating geopolitical tensions outweighed an improved performance by most economies in the region, a Thomson Reuters/INSEAD survey showed this week. The Asian Business Sentiment Index, representing the six-month outlook of 86 firms, slipped to 69 for this quarter from 74 three months earlier. The decline was the first drop from a previous quarter since the final quarter of last year. A reading above 50 indicates a positive outlook.
OIL
TEN drilling to restart
Tullow Oil PLC on Saturday said it would restart drilling by the end of the year after a ruling in a maritime boundary dispute between Ghana and the Ivory Coast. “Tullow will now work with the government of Ghana to put in place the necessary permits to allow the restart of development drilling in the TEN fields,” the London-based oil firm said in a statement. Tullow Oil Ghana boss Charles Darku said that TEN’s output would be maintained at 50,000 barrels a day until the end of the year.
TELECOMS
Softbank to accept merger
Softbank Group Corp, the majority owner of Sprint Corp, is willing to accept a stock-for-stock merger with T-Mobile US that values Sprint at or near its current market price, people familiar with the matter said. While the two sides have not yet agreed on an exact value, Softbank does not expect to receive much of a premium to Sprint’s current share price and might accept a deal that values the fourth-ranked US wireless carrier at about its US$34 billion market capitalization, the people said. At current market values, a stock-for-stock merger would give Softbank nearly 33 percent of the combined company and Deutsche Telekom AG, the majority owner of T-Mobile, about 39 percent.
purpose: Tesla’s CEO sought to meet senior Chinese officials to discuss the rollout of its ‘full self-driving’ software in China and approval to transfer data they had collected Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk arrived in Beijing yesterday on an unannounced visit, where he is expected to meet senior officials to discuss the rollout of "full self-driving" (FSD) software and permission to transfer data overseas, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. Chinese state media reported that he met Premier Li Qiang (李強) in Beijing, during which Li told Musk that Tesla's development in China could be regarded as a successful example of US-China economic and trade cooperation. Musk confirmed his meeting with the premier yesterday with a post on social media platform X. "Honored to meet with Premier Li
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Dutch brewing company Heineken NV on Friday announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. The first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, Heineken made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. It also outlined its efforts to make the brewery “net zero” by 2030. Heineken has been in the Taiwanese market for 20 years, Heineken Taiwan managing director Jeff Wu (吳建甫) said. With strong support from local consumers, the Dutch brewery decided to transition from sales to manufacturing in the country, Wu said. Heineken assumed majority ownership and management rights
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI