JAPAN
Toyota still on top
Toyota remains Japan’s No. 1 global brand, but its value has fallen by nearly a fifth because of the recent massive recalls that dented consumer trust in the quality of its cars, according to an international consultant. An Interbrand report released yesterday said that the value of the Toyota Motor Corp brand dropped 16 percent to US$25.66 billion compared with its last report released a year ago. Toyota’s Lexus luxury model nameplate, which placed seventh last year, dropped to eighth, losing 19 percent of its value, Interbrand said. Interbrand said Honda Motor Co placed second, followed by electronics makers Canon Inc and Sony Corp, and then video-game maker Nintendo Co.
ELECTRONICS
Infineon raises targets
German semiconductor company Infineon yesterday raised its sales and profit margin targets for this year after posting a more than three-fold increase in net profit for the first quarter of its fiscal year. The company said it now expected sales to gain around 15 percent, compared with a previous forecast of 10 percent. The group’s 2010-2011 profit margin is estimated at close to 20 percent, up from the previous range of 15 percent to 20 percent. In the first three months of the year that began on Oct. 1, Infineon rang up 922 million euros (US$1.3 billion) in sales, a leap of 34 percent from the same period a year earlier. The group’s profit margin came to 19.2 percent.
TECHNOLOGY
Oracle settles lawsuit
Oracle Corp has agreed to pay US$46 million to settle a lawsuit over alleged kickbacks to win government work. The US Department of Justice charged that Sun Microsystems Inc, which Oracle bought last year, and other technology companies paid kickbacks to Accenture PLC for Accenture to recommend that federal agencies buy Sun products. The justice department said last year that the lawsuit covered software contracts that ran from 1998 to 2006 and were worth hundreds of millions of US dollars.
BANKING
Deutsche Bank expects drop
Germany’s leading Deutsche Bank expects net profit of about 600 million euros (US$822.99 million) in the fourth quarter, a nearly 54 percent drop from a year ago due to recent acquisitions and restructuring costs. The year before, Deutsche Bank had achieved net profit of 1.3 billion euros and Dow Jones Newswires analysts had agreed on an estimate of about 800 million euros for this year. Pre-tax profit for the fourth quarter was expected to be around 700 million euros, compared with 756 million a year earlier, the bank said late on Monday. Deutsche Bank publishes its annual results on Thursday.
BANKING
BOA cuts down on bonuses
Bank of America Corp (BOA) senior executives will not get cash bonuses for last year and chief executive Brian Moynihan will not receive a base salary increase this year, according to a securities filing on Monday. This year, Moynihan will have a base pay half as large as some of his chief rivals, with much of his compensation tied up in long-term awards. The head of the largest US bank by assets was paid US$950,000 in last year’s base salary. BOA’s board did increase the base pay for other senior executives. The salaries for chief financial officer Charles Noski, investment banking chief Thomas Montag and consumer bank head Joe Price will rise to US$850,000 this year from US$800,000.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
A move by US President Donald Trump to slap a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports is expected to place Taiwan-made steel, which already has a 25 percent tariff, on an equal footing, the Taiwan Steel & Iron Industries Association said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, association chairman Hwang Chien-chih (黃建智) said such an equal footing is expected to boost Taiwan’s competitive edge against other countries in the US market, describing the tariffs as "positive" for Taiwanese steel exporters. On Monday, Trump signed two executive orders imposing the new metal tariffs on imported steel and aluminum with no exceptions and exemptions, effective