TECHNOLOGY
Sony board head to retire
Sony Corp board chairman Howard Stringer, who became the first non-Japanese executive to lead the company, said he would retire in June. Stringer, 71, will step down at the company’s annual shareholder meeting, the executive said on Friday in a speech at the Japan Society in New York. Kazuo Hirai, 52, succeeded him as chief executive officer almost a year ago. A surprise choice for CEO in June 2005, the Welsh-born Stringer struggled to bring Sony into a digital age where rivals offered phones and TVs with more features at often lower prices. Stringer said he would probably sit on boards in the healthcare and education fields, and would continue as chairman of the American Film Institute, among other pursuits.
CONSULTANCY
IBM to focus on data services
International Business Machines Corp (IBM) CEO Ginni Rometty sees “big data” services, which let customers mine vast troves of information to make better decisions, as the company’s biggest focus this year. “I want you to think about data as the next natural resource,” she told the audience of business and political leaders. Data-based insight helped reduce crime by 30 percent in Memphis, Tennessee, and correctly predicted the outcome of swing states for US President Barack Obama’s campaign, she said. For IBM, the capabilities are helping it break into new overseas markets and sell services covering a wider range of tasks — from traffic management to weather monitoring to payroll. About 80 percent of growth is coming from outside the US, she said.
BRAZIL
Staple food tax cut
Authorities are cutting all federal taxes on staple foods in a bid to tame inflation, after a report on Friday showed consumer prices rose more than analysts forecast for an eighth straight month. A weaker currency, record low borrowing costs and US$23 billion in tax cuts failed to kick-start the economy last year. Instead, the measures helped fuel inflation that is running faster than in Mexico, Colombia or Chile and approaching the 6.5 percent upper limit of the central bank’s target range. Eliminating the 9.25 percent PIS/Cofins taxes on staple foodstuffs will both rein in prices and stimulate the economy as Brazilians improve their ability to save and consume, President Dilma Rousseff said. The measure will reduce tax revenue by 7.3 billion reais (US$3.7 billion) annually. Consumer prices rose 0.6 percent last month, above the 0.49 percent forecast from 44 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, the national statistics agency said in Rio de Janeiro on Friday.
RESTAURANTS
McDonald’s sales steady
McDonald’s Corp, the world’s largest restaurant chain, said sales at stores open at least 13 months fell less than analysts estimated last month as low prices kept consumers coming to restaurants amid a weak economy. Global same-store sales fell 1.5 percent, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company said on Friday in a statement. Analysts projected a 1.6 percent drop, the average of 13 estimates compiled by Consensus Metrix. McDonald’s sales were helped by “everyday affordable prices,” CEO Don Thompson said in Friday’s release.
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
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
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