CHINA
Manufacturers post gains
A gauge of activity at manufacturers posted its first gain since November last year, as factories recovered from a seasonal dip at the start of the year and export demand shrugged off threats of a trade war. The manufacturing purchasing managers index (PMI) rose to 51.5 last month, versus the 50.6 estimate in Bloomberg’s survey and 50.3 in February. The non-manufacturing PMI, covering services and construction, stood at 54.6, the statistics bureau said yesterday, compared with 54.4 in February. Levels above 50 indicate improvement. Manufacturing output surged last month as factories brought production back online after the Lunar New Year holiday, a statement by the statistics bureau said.
FRANCE
Inflation on rebound
Inflation bounced back last month, data showed on Friday, bolstering hopes that consumer prices in the eurozone are finally moving toward more growth-friendly levels. Annual inflation spiked to 1.5 percent this month, up from 1.2 in February, mostly thanks to price rises in services, food and tobacco products, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies said in a first estimate. The figures from the eurozone’s second-biggest economy came a day after powerhouse Germany reported a rebound in inflation to 1.6 percent last month.
IRELAND
Guinness on Good Friday
Guinness was flowing in pubs yesterday, Good Friday, for the first time in 90 years. Lines of people were reported as pubs opened at 7am to serve alcohol, thanks to legislation that overturned the 1927 ban on pubs opening on Good Friday in time for thirsty locals and tourists. The Vintners’ Federation of Ireland welcomed the change, saying it would add 40 million euros (US$49 million) in sales. Federation chief executive Padraig Cribben said “the Good Friday ban is from a different era and is rightfully consigned to history.” The change means pub owners had a choice whether to open, “like all other businesses who were never subject to a ban,” Cribben said.
TELECOMS
Huawei profits rebound
Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies Co (華為) saw it profits rebound last year, helped by strong smartphone sales as it ramps up R&D spending despite suffering setbacks in its US ambitions. Huawei on Friday announced net profit climbed 28 percent last year to 47.5 billion yuan (US$7.5 billion), recovering from a near-stagnant 2016. The company said it sold 153 million phones and reported a 32 percent jump in revenues from its consumer goods business. However, its total turnover faltered, with growth halved to 15.7 percent for a total of 604 billion yuan.
BROADCASTING
Netflix travels Europe
Europeans on vacation can enjoy their online entertainment such as Netflix or BBC iPlayer as if at home all across Europe. “As of April 1, wherever you are traveling to in the EU, you will no longer miss out on your favorite films, TV series, sports broadcasts, games or e-books, that you have digitally subscribed to at home,” an EU statement said. The EU hopes the measure should prevent users from using illegal broadcast services or virtual networks.
DECOUPLING? In a sign of deeper US-China technology decoupling, Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its iPhones, the Wall Street Journal said China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said. Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said. They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said. The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor
Nvidia Corp earned its US$2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial intelligence (AI) chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from start-ups to Microsoft Corp, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet Inc. Almost as important to its hardware is the company’s nearly 20 years’ worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than 4 million global developers rely on Nvidia’s CUDA software platform to build AI and other apps. Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm Inc, Google and Intel Corp plans to loosen Nvidia’s chokehold by going
OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to
ENERGY IMPACT: The electricity rate hike is expected to add about NT$4 billion to TSMC’s electricity bill a year and cut its annual earnings per share by about NT$0.154 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has left its long-term gross margin target unchanged despite the government deciding on Friday to raise electricity rates. One of the heaviest power consuming manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC said it always respects the government’s energy policy and would continue to operate its fabs by making efforts in energy conservation. The chipmaker said it has left a long-term goal of more than 53 percent in gross margin unchanged. The Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded a power rate evaluation meeting on Friday, announcing electricity tariffs would go up by 11 percent on average to about NT$3.4518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)