ELECTRONICS
EU investigating Apple
The European Commission is probing whether Apple Inc is using anti-competitive iPhone sales tactics and technical restrictions to squeeze out rival smartphone makers from the European market, according to documents seen by the Financial Times. According to a questionnaire sent last week to several European mobile network operators, the commission is focusing on distribution terms that might favor Apple by ensuring no rival can secure a better sales deal, the newspaper said. Apple said its contracts comply with EU laws, according to the report. The inquiry is at a preliminary stage.
GREEN ENERGY
India to auction four projects
India plans to auction four solar-thermal power projects with a combined 120 megawatts of capacity, the Hindu Business Line reported, without citing where it got the information. The state-run Solar Energy Corp of India will call for bids in a year, the newspaper reported. The projects will be eligible for 10.2 billion rupees (US$183 million) of government grants, it said. Solar Energy Corp has set a tariff of 5.83 rupees per kilowatt-hour for the power generated. Developers offering the biggest discount to that rate will win the auction, the paper said.
FINANCE
RBS chief executive sought
The directors of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) have held recent talks on identifying a replacement for its chief executive Stephen Hester, Sky News said on Sunday, citing sources. Sky News said Philip Hampton, chairman of the state-backed lender, called a meeting of the bank’s non-executive directors earlier this month to inform them he was drawing up a list of potential replacements for Hester, including Standard Chartered finance director Richard Meddings. RBS declined to comment when contacted by Reuters. Sky News said there was no suggestion that any of Hampton’s candidates had been approached about replacing Hester and cited sources saying it was prudent for RBS’ board to be examining options for the leadership of the company through what is expected to be a lengthy reprivatization process.
FINANCE
HSBC sells yuan bonds
HSBC Holdings PLC sold the first yuan-denominated bonds in Singapore as Standard Chartered PLC markets 1 billion yuan (US$163 million) of debt in the city-state. HSBC priced 500 million yuan of two-year notes through its Singapore branch at 2.25 percent, according to an e-mailed statement. Standard Chartered is marketing three-year notes at between 2.75 percent and 2.875 percent, a person familiar with the matter said. DBS Group Holdings Ltd is also looking to issue yuan bonds in Singapore, as it begins clearing services from yesterday for yuan. Singapore is the third offshore hub for Dim Sum note sales after Hong Kong and Taiwan.
NORTH KOREA
Salary controls relaxed
A government economist said the government introduced new economic management methods last month that relax state control of workers’ salaries. Economist Ri Ki-song said the change introduced on April 1 should not be seen as “reform and opening.” He said Pyongyang was sticking to socialist ownership of the means of production. Enterprises will be allowed to set salaries from money left over after repaying the state for its investment and putting aside funds for continued operation of their businesses.
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) suffered its biggest stock decline in more than a month after the company unveiled new artificial intelligence (AI) chips, but did not provide hoped-for information on customers or financial performance. The stock slid 4 percent to US$164.18 on Thursday, the biggest single-day drop since Sept. 3. Shares of the company remain up 11 percent this year. AMD has emerged as the biggest contender to Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market of AI processors. The company’s latest chips would exceed some capabilities of its rival, AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) said at an event hosted by
TECH JUGGERNAUT: TSMC shares have more than doubled since ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022, as demand for cutting-edge artificial intelligence chips remains high Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday posted a better-than-expected 39 percent rise in quarterly revenue, assuaging concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) hardware spending is beginning to taper off. The main chipmaker for Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc reported third-quarter sales of NT$759.69 billion (US$23.6 billion), compared with the average analyst projection of NT$748 billion. For last month alone, TSMC reported revenue jumped 39.6 percent year-on-year to NT$251.87 billion. Taiwan’s largest company is to disclose its full third-quarter earnings on Thursday next week and update its outlook. Hsinchu-based TSMC produces the cutting-edge chips needed to train AI. The company now makes more
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