ELECTRONICS
Sony to develop game phone
Sony Corp’s phone venture with Ericsson AB signaled it is developing a smartphone with a slide-out controller designed to play games, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing an interview with the head of the venture. Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB chief executive Bert Nordberg said he’s aware of speculation about a new product that would take advantage of Sony’s experience in developing its portable game device, the report said.
DAIRY
Yoplait fights for Nestle
The head of French dairy food company Yoplait said in a newspaper interview on Sunday that Swiss food giant Nestle would make an “ideal” partner, with major investment planned in China and India. Yoplait, the world’s second-biggest dairy food producer, is in the midst of a battle to take over a 50 percent stake in the company that investment group PAI wants to sell. Chief executive Lucien Fa told the newspaper Le Matin Dimanche that he wanted to break with the company’s franchise system and take greater control of operations in local markets.
AUTOMOTIVE
Nissan eyes US dollars
Japanese auto giant Nissan wants to move production and support functions to US dollar-linked economies, including the US and China, to avoid currency volatility, the Financial Times reported yesterday. Nissan chief executive Carlos Ghosn, who also heads France’s Renault, said the company wanted to correct a “big imbalance” in its costs and revenues due to making cars in Japan that are then sold in the US and dollar-linked economies in Asia.
EXCHANGES
Bourse to stop floor trading
Deutsche Boerse AG plans to stop floor trading by the end of May next year, the Financial Times Deutschland reported. The operator of the Frankfurt exchange is likely to fully switch to Xetra electronic trading “earlier than planned,” the German newspaper reported. Deutsche Boerse previously expected to complete the change in March 2012, FTD said.
TRADE
China signs Botswana deals
A delegation led by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping (習近平) signed several agreements with Botswana on Sunday to further strengthen ties between the two countries. The two signed an agreement on economic and technical cooperation with a grant of about US$6 million, as well as other accords on infrastructure and energy development. Xi was expected to leave Gaborone yesterday morning after visiting Botswana Diamond Trading Company (DTCB). DTCB is a 50/50 joint venture partnership between Botswana and De Beers. It is the world’s largest diamond sorting and valuing operation.
TELECOMS
Firms forced to apologize
Two of China’s leading Internet firms have been forced by the government to issue public apologies over a nasty spat marked by accusations of unfair market practices and privacy infringement. Tencent (騰訊), parent company of the popular instant messaging service QQ, and security software developer Qihoo 360 (奇虎360) issued the apologies late on Sunday after being ordered to do so by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The public feud began in September when Tencent encouraged users to download its upgraded security software. Qihoo 360 subsequently accused QQ of trying to scan its users’ personal data and it issued tools to block QQ components.
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
Intel Corp is joining Elon Musk’s long-shot effort to develop semiconductors for Tesla Inc, Space Exploration Technologies Corp and xAI, marking a surprising twist in the chipmaker’s comeback bid. Intel would help the Terafab project “refactor” the technology in a chip factory, the company said on Tuesday in a post on X, Musk’s social media platform. That is a stage in the development process that typically helps make chips more powerful or reliable. The chipmaker’s shares jumped 4.2 percent to US$52.91 in New York trading on Tuesday. The Terafab project is a grand plan by Musk to eventually manufacture his own chips for
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