SOLAR PANELS
Suntech in bankruptcy court
Suntech Power Holdings Ltd (尚德電力), one of the world’s biggest solar panel manufacturers, was forced into bankruptcy court on Wednesday, becoming the latest casualty of a painful slump in the global solar industry. Suntech Power said eight Chinese banks asked a court to declare it insolvent after the company missed a US$541 million payment to bondholders last week. Suntech said it would not oppose the petition. “While we evaluate restructuring initiatives and strategic alternatives, we are committed to continuing to provide high-quality solar products to our global customer base,” Suntech chief executive officer David King (金緯) said in a statement.
CHINA
Manufacturing picks up
The nation’s manufacturing rebounded modestly this month after dipping during the country’s biggest public holiday the month before, a survey showed yesterday, in a sign of gradual recovery in the world’s second-biggest economy. HSBC’s preliminary version of its purchasing managers’ index for this month rose to 51.7 on a 100-point scale. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. The reading “implies that the Chinese economy is still on track for gradual growth recovery,” HSBC’s chief China economist Qu Hongbin (屈宏斌) said in a statement.
MINING
Rare earths found on seabed
Japanese researchers said yesterday they have found a rich deposit of rare earths on the Pacific seabed, with reports suggesting it could be up to 30 times more concentrated than Chinese reserves. Mud samples taken from 5,800m below the waves contained highly concentrated amounts of the precious minerals, which are vital for high-tech manufacturing and used in products including wind turbines and iPods. Scientists believe the seabed contains about 6.8 million tonnes of the materials, the equivalent of 220 to 230 years worth of rare earths used in Japan.
TECHNOLOGY
Oracle reports flat Q3
Oracle Corp on Wednesday reported flat earnings for its fiscal third quarter, hurt by a drop in sales of hardware systems and new software. Shares tumbled in after-hours trading on the weaker-than-expected results. Revenue from new software licenses and online subscriptions fell 2 percent year-on-year to US$2.3 billion. The company had predicted that number would rise by 3 percent to 13 percent. Sales of hardware systems products dropped 23 percent.
SHIPPING
FedEx cuts profit forecast
Global package delivery giant FedEx on Wednesday reported lower quarterly earnings and slashed its profit guidance for this fiscal year, citing weakness in the international freight market. FedEx reported net income of US$361 million for the third quarter that ended February 28, down 31 percent from a year earlier. Revenue rose 4 percent to US$11 billion, about US$100 million below the firm’s forecast.
AIRLINES
Lufthansa hit by strikes
German airline Lufthansa said yesterday it has canceled more than 670 European flights owing to warning strikes by ground staff and other divisions within the group. Already on Wednesday, Lufthansa had said it would cancel most of its domestic and short-haul flights between 5am and midday local time at the airports of Frankfurt, Munich, Dusseldorf, Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne as well as several other locations.
BYPASSING CHINA TARIFFS: In the first five months of this year, Foxconn sent US$4.4bn of iPhones to the US from India, compared with US$3.7bn in the whole of last year Nearly all the iPhones exported by Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) from India went to the US between March and last month, customs data showed, far above last year’s average of 50 percent and a clear sign of Apple Inc’s efforts to bypass high US tariffs imposed on China. The numbers, being reported by Reuters for the first time, show that Apple has realigned its India exports to almost exclusively serve the US market, when previously the devices were more widely distributed to nations including the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. During March to last month, Foxconn, known as Hon Hai Precision Industry
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and the University of Tokyo (UTokyo) yesterday announced the launch of the TSMC-UTokyo Lab to promote advanced semiconductor research, education and talent development. The lab is TSMC’s first laboratory collaboration with a university outside Taiwan, the company said in a statement. The lab would leverage “the extensive knowledge, experience, and creativity” of both institutions, the company said. It is located in the Asano Section of UTokyo’s Hongo, Tokyo, campus and would be managed by UTokyo faculty, guided by directors from UTokyo and TSMC, the company said. TSMC began working with UTokyo in 2019, resulting in 21 research projects,
Ashton Hall’s morning routine involves dunking his head in iced Saratoga Spring Water. For the company that sells the bottled water — Hall’s brand of choice for drinking, brushing his teeth and submerging himself — that is fantastic news. “We’re so thankful to this incredible fitness influencer called Ashton Hall,” Saratoga owner Primo Brands Corp’s CEO Robbert Rietbroek said on an earnings call after Hall’s morning routine video went viral. “He really helped put our brand on the map.” Primo Brands, which was not affiliated with Hall when he made his video, is among the increasing number of companies benefiting from influencer
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) yesterday expressed a downbeat view about the prospects of humanoid robots, given high manufacturing costs and a lack of target customers. Despite rising demand and high expectations for humanoid robots, high research-and-development costs and uncertain profitability remain major concerns, Lam told reporters following the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Taoyuan. “Since it seems a bit unworthy to use such high-cost robots to do household chores, I believe robots designed for specific purposes would be more valuable and present a better business opportunity,” Lam said Instead of investing in humanoid robots, Quanta has opted to invest
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