AUSTRALIA
Inflation lower than expected
The government said yesterday inflation rose a weaker-than-expected 0.1 percent in the March quarter, fueling speculation the central bank will cut interest rates next week. The Consumer Price Index had been expected to rise 0.6 percent for the quarter and analysts said the disappointing figure essentially locked in a stimulatory rate cut when the Reserve Bank of Australia meets on Tuesday next week.
FRANCE
Consumer confidence climbs
Consumer confidence unexpectedly climbed for a second month this month on optimism that a 10-month rise in joblessness is slowing. Household sentiment improved to 88 from 87 last month, national statistics office Insee said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. Economists expected a reading of 87, according to the median of 14 estimates gathered by Bloomberg News.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Toshiba plans Thai factory
Toshiba said yesterday it would build a new chip factory in Thailand to replace one hit by record flooding last year that hammered Japanese manufacturers operating in the nation. The plant, scheduled to start production by the middle of next year, will be built in Prachinburi Province, about 140km northeast of Bangkok on a site with no major rivers nearby, Toshiba said.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Novartis earnings drop 18%
Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis AG has reported an 18 percent drop in earnings for the first quarter. Novartis said its net profit fell to US$2.33 billion from US$2.82 billion in the same period last year. The Basel-based company said in a statement yesterday that profits were affected by strong competition in the generic drugs market and manufacturing problems at a plant in Nebraska.
SEMICONDUCTORS
TI expects to beat estimates
Texas Instruments Inc (TI) forecast second-quarter revenue growth ahead of Wall Street estimates, signaling the end of a prolonged inventory-related decline in demand. The maker of chips used in everything from communications equipment to cars forecast current-quarter revenue of between US$3.22 billion and US$3.48 billion. This implies a mid-point above analyst expectations for US$3.29 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
SOFTWARE
Xbox infringes patent: ITC
The US International Trade Commission (ITC) on Monday issued a preliminary ruling that Microsoft infringed on Motorola Mobility patents in its hit Xbox 360 videogame consoles. Administrative law judge David Shaw backed four out of five Motorola claims that the company’s intellectual property was usurped in Xbox software for tasks such as efficiently moving video files or connecting wirelessly to the Internet.
UNITED STATES
Steel wire duties rejected
A trade panel on Monday rejected proposed duties on steel wire from China and Mexico after determining domestic producers were not harmed or threatened by the imports. The International Trade Commission voted 4-2 to deny duties in the case filed last year by steel wire companies in California, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Michigan and Oklahoma. The panel also denied duties last week in two other cases involving refrigerators from South Korea and Mexico and steel wheels from China.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
CUSTOMERS’ BURDEN: TSMC already has operations in the US and is a foundry, so any tariff increase would mostly affect US customers, not the company, the minister said Taiwanese manufacturers are “not afraid” of US tariffs, but are concerned about being affected more heavily than regional economic competitors Japan and South Korea, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said. “Taiwan has many advantages that other countries do not have, the most notable of which is its semiconductor ecosystem,” Kuo said. The US “must rely on Taiwan” to boost its microchip manufacturing capacities, Kuo said in an interview ahead of his one-year anniversary in office tomorrow. Taiwan has submitted a position paper under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act to explain the “complementary relationship” between Taiwan and the US
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