■ Bank of America
Japanese workers fired
Bank of America Corp, the third-largest US bank, fired half of its employees in Japan, where it has operated for 53 years, saying business won't recover soon in an economy that had three recessions in the past decade. The cuts will leave Bank of America with 110 people in Tokyo and 2,000 in Asia, spokeswoman Susan Beard said. There are no job cuts planned outside Japan, she said. Bank of America eliminated 8,726 jobs last year and wants to reduce expenses by US$1 billion a year because the stalled US economy is eroding demand for loans and stock and bond sales. Securities firms operating in Japan cut 7,400 jobs last year, retreating from a stock market that lost three-quarters of its value since 1990. "Some foreign firms are finding it impossible to endure the war of attrition," said Tsuyoshi Segawa, an equity strategist at Shinko Securities Co.
■ Phone chips
Intel combines features
Intel Corp, the world's biggest maker of computer chips, plans to start shipping a cellphone chip that combines computing, memory and signal functions, a first Intel hopes will capture sales. Selling a single semiconductor that does the work of three will allow a cell phone to be smaller, have a longer battery life and be less expensive, said Dennis Sheehan, director of marketing in Intel's wireless computing group. Intel builds the PXA800F chip using a single factory process, a step that allows the product to be built in mass quantities for lower costs, he said. Intel is trying to take sales from Texas Instruments Inc, the biggest maker of chips to power mobile phones, as demand for personal computers slows. Texas Instruments is working on its own multifunction chip, which it expects to start shipping before the end of next year, said Alain Mutricy, a vice president of the company.
■ News Corp
Results beat expectations
News Corp reported second-quarter results slightly ahead of expectations Wednesday, as gains in its film entertainment and cable networks businesses offset mixed results in its television and newspaper divisions and continuing losses related to its Gemstar investment. In a conference call, executives said that while they are still interested in acquiring a US satellite provider, they will not be drawn into a prolonged battle. For the three months ending Dec. 31, the media conglomerate earned US$239 million, or 24 cents per US share, compared with a loss of US$606 million, or US$0.50 per share, at the same time in 2001 when results were hurt by a US$909 million write-down of the company's sports contracts. Year-to-date, the media conglomerate has earned US$401 million, or US$0.36 per US share, up from a loss of US$533 million, or US$0.45 per share.
■ Flat screens
Pioneer to delay production
Pioneer Corp, Japan's largest maker of car navigation systems, expects to delay for a year the mass production of new flat-screen displays initially targeted for smaller products such as mobile phones. Pioneer planned to begin mass producing the screens last year, with monthly production capacity of 500,000 panels, Executive Vice President Katsuhiro Abe said in an interview. It is currently making samples at subsidiary Tohoku Pioneer Corp.
The government is aiming to recruit 1,096 foreign English teachers and teaching assistants this year, the Ministry of Education said yesterday. The foreign teachers would work closely with elementary and junior-high instructors to create and teach courses, ministry official Tsai Yi-ching (蔡宜靜) said. Together, they would create an immersive language environment, helping to motivate students while enhancing the skills of local teachers, she said. The ministry has since 2021 been recruiting foreign teachers through the Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program, which offers placement, salary, housing and other benefits to eligible foreign teachers. Two centers serving northern and southern Taiwan assist in recruiting and training
WIDE NET: Health officials said they are considering all possibilities, such as bongkrekic acid, while the city mayor said they have not ruled out the possibility of a malicious act of poisoning Two people who dined at a restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Department Store Xinyi A13 last week have died, while four are in intensive care, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday. All of the outlets of Malaysian vegetarian restaurant franchise Polam Kopitiam have been ordered to close pending an investigation after 11 people became ill due to suspected food poisoning, city officials told a news conference in Taipei. The first fatality, a 39-year-old man who ate at the restaurant on Friday last week, died of kidney failure two days later at the city’s Mackay Memorial Hospital. A 66-year-old man who dined
‘CARRIER KILLERS’: The Tuo Chiang-class corvettes’ stealth capability means they have a radar cross-section as small as the size of a fishing boat, an analyst said President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday presided over a ceremony at Yilan County’s Suao Harbor (蘇澳港), where the navy took delivery of two indigenous Tuo Chiang-class corvettes. The corvettes, An Chiang (安江) and Wan Chiang (萬江), along with the introduction of the coast guard’s third and fourth 4,000-tonne cutters earlier this month, are a testament to Taiwan’s shipbuilding capability and signify the nation’s resolve to defend democracy and freedom, Tsai said. The vessels are also the last two of six Tuo Chiang-class corvettes ordered from Lungteh Shipbuilding Co (龍德造船) by the navy, Tsai said. The first Tuo Chiang-class vessel delivered was Ta Chiang (塔江)
EYE ON STRAIT: The US spending bill ‘doubles security cooperation funding for Taiwan,’ while also seeking to counter the influence of China US President Joe Biden on Saturday signed into law a US$1.2 trillion spending package that includes US$300 million in foreign military financing to Taiwan, as well as funding for Taipei-Washington cooperative projects. The US Congress early on Saturday overwhelmingly passed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024 to avoid a partial shutdown and fund the government through September for a fiscal year that began six months ago. Under the package, the Defense Appropriations Act would provide a US$27 billion increase from the previous fiscal year to fund “critical national defense efforts, including countering the PRC [People’s Republic of China],” according to a summary