THAILAND
Stimulus program unveiled
The government yesterday unveiled a 316 billion baht (US$10.2 billion) package of government spending and loans to counter an economic slowdown caused by a US-China trade dispute and currency strength. The package includes help for farmers and low-income families, as well as initiatives to bolster consumer spending and investment, Minister of Finance Uttama Savanayana said in a briefing in Bangkok. The proposal needs approval from the Cabinet. “We want to support the economy in the second half of the year so people have more confidence and spend money,” Uttama said. About 200 billion baht of the package would be loans from state banks, while 100 billion baht would come from the annual budget, about evenly split between fresh stimulus spending and already allocated funds, he said.
SPORTS
Tsai buys Nets for US$3.5bn
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (阿里巴巴) executive vice chairman Joe Tsai (蔡崇信) is paying about US$3.5 billion for the Brooklyn Nets and their arena, the Barclays Center, a person familiar with the deal said. The agreement to buy the basketball team and stadium from Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov might be announced as soon as yesterday, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the deal is not yet public. Tsai has a net worth of US$10.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He previously bought a 49 percent stake in the team at a US$2.3 billion valuation, which is a record for a US pro sports franchise. He had until 2021 to exercise the option to take control of the club.
TECHNOLOGY
Nvidia beats Q2 estimates
Nvidia Corp’s second-quarter sales and profit topped analysts’ estimates, suggesting that a slump in orders might be easing amid a revival in demand for graphics chips and parts used in data centers. Revenue in the quarter that ended July 28 was US$2.58 billion and profit excluding certain costs was US$1.24 a share, the Santa Clara, California-based company said in a statement on Thursday. Analysts, on average, had estimated adjusted earnings per share of US$1.14 on sales of US$2.54 billion. Sales in all business lines rose from the previous quarter, Nvidia said, a sign it is addressing challenges that had stalled growth. CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) has said that a slowdown in orders for computer gaming chips and processors for artificial intelligence tasks was temporary as customers worked through stockpiles of unused parts. Revenue has now shrunk for three straight quarters, and Nvidia forecast another decline of about 9 percent for the current period.
TECHNOLOGY
Apple claims 2.4m US jobs
Apple Inc on Wednesday said that it was either directly or indirectly responsible for 2.4 million US jobs, up 20 percent from the 2 million the technology company estimated in 2017. The iPhone maker said that its direct workforce grew from 80,000 to 90,000 in the two-and-a-half years since its last US job estimate. However, most of the estimated growth came from companies such as Broadcom Inc, which make parts in the US for Apple products, and from third-party software developers making apps for Apple devices. App-related jobs totaled 1.9 million, up by 325,000 from its previous estimate, the Cupertino, California-based company said in a news post on its Web site. Apple did not say how it arrived at its estimates or how the research was funded.
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
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
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last