INTERNET
Instagram crash draws ire
Photograph-sharing site Instagram was not working on Saturday and frustrated users quickly turned to social network Twitter and other Web sites to share their complaints. On the company’s official Twitter feed, it confirmed there was a problem, calling it “a feed delivery issue,” and said it was working to fix it. The downed service quickly prompted complaints and jokes on Twitter and other sites, often linked to the popularity of sharing photographs of meals with the service. The company did not immediately clarify what had caused the problem or say when it would be fixed.
MINING
Anglo American seeks pay
Anglo American PLC is seeking compensation from Venezuela at a World Bank tribunal over the 2012 cancelation of mining concessions by former Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez’s government. The World Bank’s International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes said on its Web site the claim was introduced on Thursday, but gave no more details. Venezuela faces more than 20 international compensation cases in disputes largely stemming from the Chavez era from 1999 to last year. Anglo American had a 91.4 percent stake in the Loma de Niquel project until the government canceled 13 concessions and refused to renew three others, according to the company’s Web site.
BANKING
Greek bank to boost reserve
Greece’s Eurobank on Saturday said its board had approved a 2.86 billion euro (US$4 billion) capital increase, in the latest move by one of the country’s biggest lenders to bolster its reserves. “The general meeting approved ... the increase of the share capital of the bank by up to 2.864 billion euros,” the bank said in a statement. Up to 9.54 billion in new shares will be issued and according to reports, the capital hike is expected to be completed by next month. The offer price per share cannot be lower than 0.30 euros, the bank said. Shares in the bank closed down 4.2 percent on Friday at 0.43 euros.
E-COMMERCE
Writers resume Google fight
The Authors Guild says that Google Inc is stealing business from retailers and has asked a New York federal appeals court to find that the Internet giant is violating copyright laws with its massive book digitization project. The guild filed papers with the second US Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday. It asked the appeals court to reinstate its lawsuit alleging that Google’s effort to create the world’s largest digital library violates the rights of authors. It said Google was driving potential book purchasers away from retailers, boosting its advertising revenues and stifling competition through the project. In November last year, a judge had ruled in favor of the Mountain View, California-based company.
MANUFACTURING
Symrise to close rivals’ gap
Symrise AG’s planned 1.3 billion euro purchase of French flavors and pet-food additive maker Diana Group helps the German company close the gap on larger rivals Givaudan SA and International Flavors and Fragrances Inc. The company has entered into exclusive talks with owner Paris-based buyout firm Ardian Sarl, formerly known as Axa Private Equity. A deal is expected to be completed in the third quarter, Holzminden, Germany-based Symrise said in a statement. It expects the acquisition to be earnings accretive from next year.
Taiwan’s exports soared 56 percent year-on-year to an all-time high of US$64.05 billion last month, propelled by surging global demand for artificial intelligence (AI), high-performance computing and cloud service infrastructure, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) called the figure an unexpected upside surprise, citing a wave of technology orders from overseas customers alongside the usual year-end shopping season for technology products. Growth is likely to remain strong this month, she said, projecting a 40 percent to 45 percent expansion on an annual basis. The outperformance could prompt the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and
Two Chinese chipmakers are attracting strong retail investor demand, buoyed by industry peer Moore Threads Technology Co’s (摩爾線程) stellar debut. The retail portion of MetaX Integrated Circuits (Shanghai) Co’s (上海沐曦) upcoming initial public offering (IPO) was 2,986 times oversubscribed on Friday, according to a filing. Meanwhile, Beijing Onmicro Electronics Co (北京昂瑞微), which makes radio frequency chips, was 2,899 times oversubscribed on Friday, its filing showed. The bids coincided with Moore Threads’ trading debut, which surged 425 percent on Friday after raising 8 billion yuan (US$1.13 billion) on bets that the company could emerge as a viable local competitor to Nvidia
BARRIERS: Gudeng’s chairman said it was unlikely that the US could replicate Taiwan’s science parks in Arizona, given its strict immigration policies and cultural differences Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登), which supplies wafer pods to the world’s major semiconductor firms, yesterday said it is in no rush to set up production in the US due to high costs. The company supplies its customers through a warehouse in Arizona jointly operated by TSS Holdings Ltd (德鑫控股), a joint holding of Gudeng and 17 Taiwanese firms in the semiconductor supply chain, including specialty plastic compounds producer Nytex Composites Co (耐特) and automated material handling system supplier Symtek Automation Asia Co (迅得). While the company has long been exploring the feasibility of setting up production in the US to address
OPTION: Uber said it could provide higher pay for batch trips, if incentives for batching is not removed entirely, as the latter would force it to pass on the costs to consumers Uber Technologies Inc yesterday warned that proposed restrictions on batching orders and minimum wages could prompt a NT$20 delivery fee increase in Taiwan, as lower efficiency would drive up costs. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi made the remarks yesterday during his visit to Taiwan. He is on a multileg trip to the region, which includes stops in South Korea and Japan. His visit coincided the release last month of the Ministry of Labor’s draft bill on the delivery sector, which aims to safeguard delivery workers’ rights and improve their welfare. The ministry set the minimum pay for local food delivery drivers at
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