AUSTRALIA
Prospects are good: Swan
Treasurer Wayne Swan said market volatility caused by the sovereign debt crisis in Europe should not damp confidence in the nation’s prospects. “The situation in Europe will continue to have an impact on our region, our economy and our budget bottom line,” Swan said in his weekly economic note published yesterday. “But Australians should remain confident about our prospects, based on our strong fundamentals, our very low debt, low unemployment and our massive investment pipeline.” The jobless rate was 5.2 percent last month versus 9.1 percent in the US, and 10 percent in Europe in August. The nation’s sovereign debt burden of 27 percent is the developed world’s second-lowest, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
CAMERAS
Woodford dismisses probe
The ousted chief executive of Japan’s Olympus Corp says the company is not doing enough to investigate a massive US$687 million payment to mysterious financial advisers as part of a takeover. Olympus says outside lawyers and accountants will be part of what it called an independent review. But former chief executive Michael Woodford on Saturday dismissed the gesture, contending that the review was not genuinely independent. “You need forensic accountants going in quickly, very quickly,” he said. Olympus shares lost half their value — shedding more than US$4 billion — last week in the wake of Woodford’s dismissal and his allegations of financial wrongdoing.
AUTOMOBILES
MAN to invest more in Brazil
Volkswagen-owned truck and bus maker MAN will invest US$570 million in Brazil from next year to 2016 as it aims to double production in Latin America’s largest market, local media reported on Saturday. MAN — which makes 77,000 vehicles a year at its plant in Resende, Rio de Janeiro State — wants to boost production under the MAN and Volkswagen brands to more than 140,000 units, MAN Latin America president Roberto Cortes told O Globo daily. “It is the largest sum announced by MAN Latin America in its 30-year history,” said Cortes, after meeting Friday with Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in Brasilia.
MEDIA
Myspace an error: Murdoch
News Corp’s purchase of Myspace was a “huge mistake” and the social network was mismanaged “in every possible way” following the acquisition, chief executive Rupert Murdoch said on Friday. Murdoch, addressing shareholders at the media and entertainment company’s annual meeting in Los Angeles, said News Corp’s 2005 purchase of Myspace for US$580 million was seen as “fantastic” at the time. “We paid US$600 million,” he said. “We could have sold it for US$6 billion a month later.” However, Myspace, was quickly eclipsed by Facebook, which has grown to more than 800 million members as Myspace’s numbers have dwindled. News Corp sold Myspace in June for US$35 million, just 6 percent of its purchase price, to Specific Media, a digital ad-targeting platform.
TRADE
Iran-Turkey trade booms
Trade between Iran and Turkey will reach US$15 billion this year, the state-run Press TV news channel reported, citing Iranian ambassador to Turkey Bahman Hosseinpour. The value of goods and services traded between the two countries totaled US$10.6 billion during the first eight months of this year, Hosseinpour said in the report published on Saturday.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which supplies advanced chips to Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc, yesterday reported NT$1.046 trillion (US$33.1 billion) in revenue for last quarter, driven by constantly strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, falling in the upper end of its forecast. Based on TSMC’s financial guidance, revenue would expand about 22 percent sequentially to the range from US$32.2 billion to US$33.4 billion during the final quarter of 2024, it told investors in October last year. Last year in total, revenue jumped 31.61 percent to NT$3.81 trillion, compared with NT$2.89 trillion generated in the year before, according to
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
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