ENERGY
Australian plants planned
Australian power-sector tycoon Trevor St Baker is to set out plans to build new coal-fired plants under proposals for A$6 billion (US$4.3 billion) of developments with a Chinese joint venture partner, the Australian newspaper reported. St Baker is to submit plans next week to Australian Minister of Energy Angus Taylor, the newspaper reported. The proposals would see a A$3 billion to A$4 billion power plant built in Victoria State, a A$2 billion coal plant installed in New South Wales and A$500 million for a new hydro facility in South Australia.
AUTOMAKERS
VW to pay Indian fine
Volkswagen Group (VW) on Friday said that it would pay a fine of 1 billion rupees (US$14.2 million) imposed by India for installing software on vehicles that allegedly cheated pollution testing devices, though it is still appealing the order. The company said it has challenged the National Green Tribunal’s order in India’s top court. Company spokesman Gagan Mangal declined to say whether the company had transferred the money to India’s Central Pollution Control Board. The company said in a statement that all Volkswagen cars were compliant with emissions regulations in India.
ELECTRONICS
Germany nixes Apple claim
Apple Inc was ordered to stop using part of a press release that claims all iPhones would still be available in Germany through phone companies and resellers after it was banned from distributing several versions of the device in the country. Qualcomm Inc on Thursday obtained a preliminary injunction stopping its rival from using a statement that Apple distributed to the press in response to the initial ruling. The court said Apple’s release was misleading, because the December judgement also ordered Apple to recall the products from resellers.
ENTERTAINMENT
Disney+ to be previewed
Walt Disney Co is to show off its Disney+ streaming service at an April 11 investors’ meeting, providing a peek at a platform that is to challenge Netflix Inc. The service, which is to include original movies and TV shows from Disney’s Marvel, Pixar and other brands, is to debut this year. It will be a third, more family-focused streaming service, on top of Disney’s existing ESPN+ and Hulu, which will soon be majority owned by the Burbank, California-based entertainment giant.
ENTERTAINMENT
Sony ditches R. Kelly
Sony Music has called it quits with singer R. Kelly, ending his contract with subsidiary RCA after a documentary aired accusing him of repeated cases of sexual abuse, media reports said on Friday. While Variety and Billboard reported the breakup, Sony Music did not immediately confirm it when contacted by reporters.
ZIMBABWE
Workers reject raise
Public workers have rejected a second offer to raise their salaries and demanded to be paid in US dollars, days after at least three people died in violent anti-government protests. Hundreds of people were detained on public order charges on Friday. Zimbabweans have seen their purchasing power eroded by soaring inflation, despite adopting the US dollar in 2009.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
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
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
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San