■ELECTRONICS
Panasonic to close 27 plants
Panasonic Corp said yesterday it will slash 15,000 jobs and shut down 27 plants worldwide to cope with plunging demand for its TVs, semiconductors and other electronics products. The world’s largest maker of plasma display TVs also announced a net loss for the October to December quarter and lowered its forecast for the fiscal year through next month to a net loss of ¥380 billion (US$4.2 billion), its first annual loss in six years. The Osaka-based manufacturer plans to cut the jobs — half of which will come in Japan — by the end of March next year. They amount to about 5 percent of its 300,000-strong global work force. Panasonic also will shutter 14 overseas plants and 13 plants in Japan to adjust production and cut costs, company spokesman Akira Kadota said.
■SPAIN
Unemployment surges
The number of people out of work in Spain rose to a 12-year high last month as companies shed tens of thousands of jobs due to the collapse of a decade-long property boom, official data showed on Tuesday. By the end of last month there were more than 3.3 million out of work, up 6.35 percent or 198,838 over the previous month, the labor ministry said. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said he expects the situation will start to improve in March and April when 32,000 public works projects get under way across the country which will create over 300,000 jobs. The labor ministry does not calculate a monthly percentage unemployment rate but according to the latest quarterly figures it hit 13.91 percent in the last three months of last year, the highest rate in the 27-nation EU. The government expects it will rise to 15.9 percent this year before gradually starting to fall.
■ELECTRONICS
Motorola reports Q4 loss
Motorola reported a huge fourth-quarter loss on Tuesday and said it was suspending its dividend and looking for a new chief financial officer. The Illinois-based company reported a net loss of US$3.57 billion in the final three months of last year, or US$1.57 per share, and a net loss of US$4.16 billion for the full year. Motorola also released a grim outlook for the current quarter, forecasting a loss of US$0.10 to US$0.12 per share. Motorola’s stock plunged on Wall Street losing 11.01 percent on Tuesday, to close at US$4.04.
■ENTERTAINMENT
Music giants near merger
Music industry giants Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc and Live Nation Inc are on the verge of an all-stock merger, the Wall Street Journal said yesterday, citing people close to the matter. The deal to create a combined company called Live Nation Ticketmaster would be a “merger of equals,” the Journal said, bringing together the concert promoter and the ticket selling artist-management company. If approved by both company boards, the new firm would be able to manage music from its creation in the studio to live concerts, handling everything from recording music to sponsoring tours and selling tickets, the Journal said.
■ENERGY
Refiner unions avert strike
Union negotiators tentatively agreed to a new labor contract with refiners on Tuesday, averting a strike by as many as 24,000 workers that could have crimped US supplies of gasoline and other fuels. The agreement sets minimum levels for wages and benefits. Final details were to be released yesterday by the United Steelworkers union, which represents 30,000 workers.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source