TELECOMS
T-Mobile, MetroPCS in talks
The parent of cellphone company T-Mobile USA on Tuesday said it was in talks to buy smaller MetroPCS Communications Inc, a deal that could shore up two struggling smaller players in the US wireless industry. Deutsche Telekom AG, the German company that owns T-Mobile USA, said “significant issues have not yet been finalized” and no decision has been made on a deal. MetroPCS also confirmed the talks. T-Mobile USA is the country’s fourth-largest cellphone company, with 33.2 million subscribers. Adding the 9.3 million subscribers of Dallas-based MetroPCS, the industry’s No. 5, would still leave T-Mobile trailing No. 3 Sprint Nextel Corp.
TRANSPORTATION
India eyes bullet trains
India is in talks to buy its first bullet trains for the nation’s creaking and accident-prone network, but the new fleet will run at only a fraction of its top speed, a report said yesterday. The government is speaking to Japanese, French and German manufacturers to purchase six new trains, which are capable of running at speeds of up to 325km per hour, the Hindustan Times reported.
APPAREL
Uniqlo sales soar
The operator of Japan’s cheap-chic clothing giant Uniqlo looks set to book annual sales worth almost ￥1 trillion (US$12.8 billion) this business year, a report said yesterday, as it embarks on a rapid overseas expansion. Fast Retailing is expected to report ￥930 billion in sales in the 12 months to August when it gives its results this month, the Nikkei Shimbun said, adding the figure was 10 percent up on last year. Sales will continue to boom over the next 12 months, the paper said, taking the company well past ￥1 trillion.
CONSUMER GOODS
Tesco profits drop 6.8%
British supermarket giant Tesco yesterday said that net profits slid almost 7 percent in the first half of the group’s financial year, hit by tough economic conditions in Asia and Europe. Earnings after taxation slid 6.8 percent to ￡1.283 billion (US$2.067 billion) in the 26 weeks to Aug. 25, compared with the same period of the company’s previous fiscal year, Tesco said in a results statement. Pre-tax profits meanwhile slumped 12 percent to ￡1.7 billion in the reporting period.
ELECTRONICS
Microsoft to open ‘pop-ups’
Scores of real-world Microsoft stores will “pop up” in the US and Canada on Oct. 26 to showcase the technology giant’s latest gadgets, including the new Surface tablet computer. Microsoft Web sites on Tuesday promised that temporary, holiday-season shops with a “curated collection of Microsoft’s coolest products” would open their doors on the date. The list of more than 60 locations for the shops included New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Vancouver and Toronto.
AUTOMAKERS
US sales grow 13 percent
US auto sales roared ahead last month, gaining 13 percent from a year earlier to 14.94 million units and posting the best sales pace since March 2008, industry data showed on Tuesday. Asian automakers were the big winners as Toyota and Honda’s sales continue to rebound from last year’s supply shortages, while Chrysler also managed to post a 12 percent gain. General Motors and Ford both saw their market share slip by about two points as their sales stalled last month, but the two largest automakers expressed optimism for future growth.
DOLLAR CHALLENGE: BRICS countries’ growing share of global GDP threatens the US dollar’s dominance, which some member states seek to displace for world trade US president-elect Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 100 percent tariffs against a bloc of nine nations if they act to undermine the US dollar. His threat was directed at countries in the so-called BRICS alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have applied to become members and several other countries have expressed interest in joining. While the US dollar is by far the most-used currency in global business and has survived past challenges to its preeminence, members of the alliance and other developing nations say they are fed
TECH COMPETITION: The US restricted sales of two dozen types of manufacturing equipment and three software tools, and blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities US President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled new restrictions on China’s access to vital components for chips and artificial intelligence (AI), escalating a campaign to contain Beijing’s technological ambitions. The US Department of Commerce slapped additional curbs on the sale of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and chipmaking gear, including that produced by US firms at foreign facilities. It also blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities that it accused of acting on Beijing’s behalf, although it did not name them in an initial statement. Full details on the new sanctions and Entity List additions were to be published later yesterday, a US official said. The US “will
COLLABORATION: The operations center shows the close partnership between Taiwan and Japan in the field of semiconductors, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo said Tokyo Electron Ltd, Asia’s biggest semiconductor equipment supplier, yesterday launched a NT$2 billion (US$61.5 million) operations center in Tainan as it aims to expand capacity and meet growing demand. Its new Taiwan Operations Center is expected to help customers release their products faster, boost production efficiency and shorten equipment repair time in a cost-effective way, the company said. The center is about a five-minute drive from the factories of its major customers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) advanced 3-nanometer and 2-nanometer fabs. The operations center would have about 1,000 employees when it is fully utilized, the company
Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has retired from the company and stepped down from its board of directors just as the company is in the middle of trying to execute a turnaround plan. Intel chief financial officer David Zinsner and Intel Products CEO Michelle Johnston Holthaus are serving as interim co-CEOs while the board searches for Gelsinger’s replacement, the company said in a statement. Frank Yeary, independent chair of the board of Intel, is to serve as interim executive chair, the company said. Gelsinger’s departure is hitting at a tumultuous time for the US chipmaker. Once the industry leader in
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