■ Semiconductors
Chip glut contracts
Global semiconductor oversupply contracted more than expected in the fourth quarter as chipmakers cut surplus stockpiles that had bloated to a two-year high, market researcher ISuppli Corp said. The glut, defined as the excess inventory relative to historical averages for each quarter, fell 38 percent to US$1 billion in the fourth quarter, compared with a two-year high of US$1.6 billion in the third quarter, ISuppli said, citing a preliminary tally. ISuppli had projected excess inventory in the fourth quarter of US$1.5 billion. As growth in chip sales is forecast to slow this year, excess inventory will continue to be a concern and the industry should be on "yellow alert," according to ISuppli. STMicroelectronics NV and Royal Philips Electronics NV, Europe's largest chipmakers, yesterday forecast that sales and profit from microchips will drop this quarter. Global chip sales may shrink this year for the first time since 2001, according to researcher IC Insights Inc.
■ Mobile Phones
NTT DoCoMo profit rises
Japan's top mobile-phone operator NTT DoCoMo yesterday said a discount war hurt revenue but the December quarter's net profit still rose more than 50 percent owing to gains on the sale of its AT&T Wireless stake. The net profit rose 53.1 percent to ?756.54 billion (US$7.3 billion) in its third quarter on the back of a gain of ?501.78 billion from the sale of its 16 percent stake in AT&T Wireless, NTT DoCoMo said. The pretax profit rose by 49.5 percent to ?1.25 trillion. The operating profit fell 10.9 percent to ?751.35 billion on sales of ?3.64 trillion, down 4.8 percent from a year earlier, after being hit by deeper family discounts and free e-mail services. Japan will allow subscribers to switch carriers without changing phone numbers next year, which is posing a challenge, company president and chief executive officer Masao Nakamura said.
■ Breweries
Molson merger vote held
Shareholders of Canada's Molson brewery were to vote yesterday on a merger with US-based Coors, a potential tie-up which would create the world's fifth largest beermaker. A majority is needed among shareholders of the family-owned Molson brewery when they gather at a Montreal hotel to vote. The two firms are steeped in brewing history, with Molson, founded in 1786, as Canada's oldest brewer, while Coors dates its founding back to 1873. The merger is expected to generate annual savings of US$175 million by 2007. The deal would create a company to be named Molson Coors Brewing Co, which would be the world's fifth biggest brewer by volume.
■ Taxes
US pressured to cut rates
European nations have been lowering corporate-tax rates as they compete for foreign investment, pressuring the US for similar cuts, the Wall Street Journal said, citing John Breaux, a former Democratic senator from Louisiana on a White House-backed tax-reform panel. Ireland cut its rate to 12.5 percent from 24 percent between 2000 and 2003, prompting European countries to make similar changes, the newspaper said. This month, the Netherlands lowered its corporate-tax rate by three percentage points to 31.5 percent, Portugal has dropped its rates about 10 points to 27 percent, and Austria lowered its rates about nine points to 25 percent. The changes are prompting US companies to expand in Europe rather than at home, the paper said.
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
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
‘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)