RETAIL
Slower sales growth tipped
The world’s top luggage maker, Samsonite International SA, says the trade war between the US and China is damping sentiment among Chinese consumers and will play into slower sales growth in its second-biggest market. The luggage giant expects to see overall tariffs on its luggage and travel products rise an additional 10 percent — effectively increasing levies on its products to 30 percent — if the US enacts the next round of tariffs on up to US$200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
UNITED STATES
Q2 growth upgraded
The roaring growth of the economy in the second quarter was even faster than first reported, with new numbers showing a bigger boost in corporate spending, the government reported on Wednesday. GDP advanced at an annual rate of 4.2 percent in the second quarter, one-10th of a point faster than initial estimates last month and the fastest growth in almost four years, according to the Department of Commerce. The rate also was nearly twice the pace of first quarter growth. Analysts had been expecting a slight downward revision.
AIRLINES
More Etihad losses forecast
Etihad Airways will continue losing money through 2022, Fitch Ratings forecast, citing the “high execution risk” in the state-owned carrier’s turnaround plan. The credit ratings company affirmed the airline’s long-term rating at “A” with a stable outlook, given the support provided by the government of Abu Dhabi, Etihad’s owner. Fitch expects Etihad to remain the smallest among the three Persian Gulf carriers, compared with Emirates Airline and Qatar Airways.
SOUTH AFRICA
Utility, unions ink deal
Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd, the state-owned power utility, which generates most of the nation’s electricity, reached a pay deal with labor unions after strikes that crippled the grid. The National Union of Mineworkers and National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa signed a three-year wage agreement backdated to July 1. Pay is to increase 7.5 percent in the first year and 7 percent in each subsequent year, and employees will get a one-time cash payment of 10,000 rand (US$685) after tax, the unions said.
AUTOMAKERS
Tesla official takes leave
Tesla Inc’s head of human resources and facilities has been on a leave of absence as the electric-car maker has dealt with a period of intense tumult spurred by chief executive officer Elon Musk. Gabrielle Toledano, who joined Tesla as chief people officer in May last year from Electronic Arts Inc, confirmed that she was on leave when reached by telephone on Wednesday. A Tesla spokesman said the leave was prompted by Toledano’s request and her duties are being handled by other members of the human resources team.
ELECTRONICS
Apple acquires AR start-up
Apple Inc has acquired Akonia Holographics LLC, a six-year-old maker of displays for augmented-reality (AR) glasses, as the iPhone-maker explores a foray into the burgeoning field. Apple is said to be prepping to ship an augmented-reality headset or device as early as 2020. Akonia’s “HoloMirror” technology is designed to project full-color images onto the transparent glass lenses of its headsets, according to its Web site. Apple confirmed the deal via the typical statement it uses to verify acquisitions of smaller start-ups.
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
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
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
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