TRADE
WTO to rule on rare earths
The WTO has concluded that restrictions by China on the export of rare earths are not in line with global body’s rules, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The newspaper cited sources in countries that have challenged the Chinese measures, but said the WTO had not yet issued its findings. Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry confirmed the existence of an interim report, but could not comment on its contents, including the ruling. A final report was expected around year-end, a ministry spokesman said.
SOUTH KOREA
Output falls on auto dispute
South Korea’s industrial output fell last month, with labor disputes limiting production at leading automakers, government data showed yesterday. Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries shrank 2.1 percent from a month earlier and 3.6 percent from a year ago, Statistics Korea said. That also compares with a revised 1.6 percent month-on-month rise in August.
INTERNET
Baidu posts profit increase
Baidu Inc (百度), which operates China’s most popular search engine, yesterday said quarterly profit rose 1.3 percent as it invested to expand its fledgling mobile business. The Beijing-based firm earned 3 billion yuan (US$498 million) in the three months ended Sept. 30. Revenue rose 42.3 percent to 8.9 billion yuan, but sales and administrative costs more than doubled mainly due to mobile-related expenses. Development costs rose 77.5 percent.
TECHNOLOGY
Toshiba upgrades forecast
Toshiba Corp yesterday raised its full-year operating income forecast by 12 percent amid a rally in memorychip prices. It expects operating profit of ￥290 billion (US$2.9 billion) in the 12 months ending March 31, compared with a previous projection of ￥260 billion, the company said, while keeping its net income forecast at ￥100 billion.
GAMING
Nintendo returns to profit
Nintendo yesterday said it swung back to profitability in the six months to September thanks to a sharply weaker yen, but the Japanese videogames giant struggled with tepid sales of its Wii U console. The firm said net profit for the half-year period came in at ￥600 million, compared with a ￥28 billion loss a year earlier, but it still logged an operating loss of ￥23.3 billion. The company’s sales fell 2.2 percent to ￥196.6 billion.
AUTOMAKERS
Porsche cuts into VW profit
German auto giant Volkswagen (VW) yesterday said that one-off effects in connection with its takeover of Porsche hit profits in the third quarter. VW said it booked a net profit of 1.856 billion euros (US$2.55 billion) in the period from July to September, down from 11.265 billion euros. Operating profit rose 19.9 percent to 2.777 billion euros on a 3.6 percent increase in units sales to 2.387 million cars worldwide, while revenues fell 3.8 percent to 46.985 billion euros.
INTERNET
LinkedIn falls into red
LinkedIn Corp on Tuesday reported a loss of US$3.4 million, or US$0.03 per share, in the July-September period. It had earned US$2.3 million, or US$0.02s per share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 56 percent to US$393 million. LinkedIn forecast revenue of US$415 million and US$420 million for the current quarter, which is below Wall Street’s expectations of US$438.9 million.
SEMICONDUCTORS: The German laser and plasma generator company will expand its local services as its specialized offerings support Taiwan’s semiconductor industries Trumpf SE + Co KG, a global leader in supplying laser technology and plasma generators used in chip production, is expanding its investments in Taiwan in an effort to deeply integrate into the global semiconductor supply chain in the pursuit of growth. The company, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has invested significantly in a newly inaugurated regional technical center for plasma generators in Taoyuan, its latest expansion in Taiwan after being engaged in various industries for more than 25 years. The center, the first of its kind Trumpf built outside Germany, aims to serve customers from Taiwan, Japan, Southeast Asia and South Korea,
Gasoline and diesel prices at domestic fuel stations are to fall NT$0.2 per liter this week, down for a second consecutive week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to drop to NT$26.4, NT$27.9 and NT$29.9 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to fall to NT$24.8 per liter at CPC stations and NT$24.6 at Formosa pumps, they said. The price adjustments came even as international crude oil prices rose last week, as traders
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which supplies advanced chips to Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc, yesterday reported NT$1.046 trillion (US$33.1 billion) in revenue for last quarter, driven by constantly strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) chips, falling in the upper end of its forecast. Based on TSMC’s financial guidance, revenue would expand about 22 percent sequentially to the range from US$32.2 billion to US$33.4 billion during the final quarter of 2024, it told investors in October last year. Last year in total, revenue jumped 31.61 percent to NT$3.81 trillion, compared with NT$2.89 trillion generated in the year before, according to
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