Vietnam’s manufacturing sector is suffering supply chain problems caused by the COVID-19 outbreak in China, which may delay production of Samsung Electronics Co’s new phones, the nation’s Ministry of Industry and Trade said yesterday.
“Car, electronics and phone manufacturers are experiencing difficulty in acquiring supplies and materials due to disruptions from the virus,” the ministry said in an e-mailed statement.
“Vietnam relies much on China for materials and equipment, which makes the country become vulnerable when an outbreak happens,” it said.
Vietnam on Thursday eased some health-related restrictions on cross-border trade to prop up economic activity, but some strict measures are still in place.
Samsung, Vietnam’s largest single foreign investor, is an example, the ministry said.
The outbreak would have an impact on its production of two new phone models as most of the components are sourced from China.
“Samsung is considering using sea or air transport to import needed components, but it would lift up the cost and would hardly meet the production schedule and demand,” Samsung said.
“We are making our best effort to minimize impact on our operations,” it said.
Although the ministry has not reported any plants being shut down because of the virus, the biggest problems facing car and electronics manufacturers are securing alternative materials and goods, along with inventory management.
“If the epidemic is not contained in the next 1 to 1.5 months, we will run out of inventory. Domestic TV’s and phone’s output will sharply decline,” the trade ministry said, citing a report by the Vietnam Electronics Business Association.
The government said that it would stick to this year’s economic growth target of 6.8 percent and take steps to ease the effects of the outbreak.
The Vietnamese Ministry of Health yesterday said that 15 out of 16 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country had recovered, while 28 suspected cases were being quarantined in the hospital.
In Italy’s storied gold-making hubs, jewelers are reworking their designs to trim gold content as they race to blunt the effect of record prices and appeal to shoppers watching their budgets. Gold prices hit a record high on Thursday, surging near US$5,600 an ounce, more than double a year ago as geopolitical concerns and jitters over trade pushed investors toward the safe-haven asset. The rally is putting undue pressure on small artisans as they face mounting demands from customers, including international brands, to produce cheaper items, from signature pieces to wedding rings, according to interviews with four independent jewelers in Italy’s main
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has talked up the benefits of a weaker yen in a campaign speech, adopting a tone at odds with her finance ministry, which has refused to rule out any options to counter excessive foreign exchange volatility. Takaichi later softened her stance, saying she did not have a preference for the yen’s direction. “People say the weak yen is bad right now, but for export industries, it’s a major opportunity,” Takaichi said on Saturday at a rally for Liberal Democratic Party candidate Daishiro Yamagiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture ahead of a snap election on Sunday. “Whether it’s selling food or
CONCERNS: Tech companies investing in AI businesses that purchase their products have raised questions among investors that they are artificially propping up demand Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday said that the company would be participating in OpenAI’s latest funding round, describing it as potentially “the largest investment we’ve ever made.” “We will invest a great deal of money,” Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei. “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” Huang did not say exactly how much Nvidia might contribute, but described the investment as “huge.” “Let Sam announce how much he’s going to raise — it’s for him to decide,” Huang said, referring to OpenAI
The global server market is expected to grow 12.8 percent annually this year, with artificial intelligence (AI) servers projected to account for 16.5 percent, driven by continued investment in AI infrastructure by major cloud service providers (CSPs), market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. Global AI server shipments this year are expected to increase 28 percent year-on-year to more than 2.7 million units, driven by sustained demand from CSPs and government sovereign cloud projects, TrendForce analyst Frank Kung (龔明德) told the Taipei Times. Demand for GPU-based AI servers, including Nvidia Corp’s GB and Vera Rubin rack systems, is expected to remain high,
RSS