AUTOMAKERS
Chrysler to recall vehicles
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV is doing a second recall of 703,000 minivans and SUVs with a defective ignition switch that can rotate out of position, similar to the faulty General Motors Co part tied to dozens of deaths. The action covers the 2008-2010 Dodge Grand Caravan, Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Journey, the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a document posted on its Web site on Friday. The company previously tried to fix the switch defect, which can lead vehicles to stall, lose power and disable their air bags, in recalls announced in 2011 and last year. GM’s ignition-switch defect, now linked to 57 deaths in crashes, led to the recall of 2.59 million small cars.
INTERNET
Google planning VR Android
Internet giant Google Inc is making a version of its Android operating system to power virtual reality (VR) apps, the Wall Street Journal reported. The California-based company has set up a team of “tens of engineers” to build the version of the operating system that can be integrated in future devices, the Journal said on Friday, citing two sources familiar with the project. It added that Google plans to distribute it for free, much as it did with Android in a move that made it the most popular operating system for smartphones. However, Google’s project faces fierce competition from Facebook Inc, owner of virtual reality headgear star Oculus Rift, among others. The technology made headlines early in the week as headgear makers took center stage at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco.
STEELMAKERS
China’s steel exports drop
Steel exports from China, the world’s largest producer, fell for the first time in six months as new tax rules for some shipments began to slow sales. The country shipped 7.8 million tonnes of steel products last month, down 24 percent from 10.29 million tons the previous month, according to data released yesterday by the customs administration in Beijing. The government canceled export-tax rebates starting on Jan. 1 for alloys that contain the chemical element boron as part of its efforts to cut oversupply in the industry. The slowdown comes after shipments by the country that accounts for about half the world’s steel output surged to a record last year amid weak domestic demand. China has set its economic growth target for this year at about 7 percent, down from last year’s goal of about 7.5 percent. Steel prices fell more than 4 percent this year in Shanghai after plunging 27 percent last year.
CENTRAL BANKS
Oil prices hurting Canada
The impact of plunging oil prices is hitting Canada’s economy earlier than expected and might lead to disappointing first-quarter growth, Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz said in an interview with the Globe and Mail. Canada’s central bank chief said economic growth in the first quarter might be weaker than the 1.5 percent annualized rate the bank anticipated in January, while second-quarter growth would exceed the central bank’s 1.5 percent projection. Poloz said Canada’s economy experienced the initial effects of the oil-price decline in the fourth quarter, which was earlier than he expected. The earlier-than-anticipated impact of oil’s slide might mean the economic slowdown is front-loaded, although the Bank of Canada has not formally adjusted its projections for the first half, the Globe reported, citing Poloz.
EXTRATERRITORIAL REACH: China extended its legal jurisdiction to ban some dual-use goods of Chinese origin from being sold to the US, even by third countries Beijing has set out to extend its domestic laws across international borders with a ban on selling some goods to the US that applies to companies both inside and outside China. The new export control rules are China’s first attempt to replicate the extraterritorial reach of US and European sanctions by covering Chinese products or goods with Chinese parts in them. In an announcement this week, China declared it is banning the sale of dual-use items to the US military and also the export to the US of materials such as gallium and germanium. Companies and people overseas would be subject to
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) yesterday said that Intel Corp would find itself in the same predicament as it did four years ago if its board does not come up with a core business strategy. Chang made the remarks in response to reporters’ questions about the ailing US chipmaker, once an archrival of TSMC, during a news conference in Taipei for the launch of the second volume of his autobiography. Intel unexpectedly announced the immediate retirement of former chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger last week, ending his nearly four-year tenure and ending his attempts to revive the
WORLD DOMINATION: TSMC’s lead over second-placed Samsung has grown as the latter faces increased Chinese competition and the end of clients’ product life cycles Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) retained the No. 1 title in the global pure-play wafer foundry business in the third quarter of this year, seeing its market share growing to 64.9 percent to leave South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co, the No. 2 supplier, further behind, Taipei-based TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report. TSMC posted US$23.53 billion in sales in the July-September period, up 13.0 percent from a quarter earlier, which boosted its market share to 64.9 percent, up from 62.3 percent in the second quarter, the report issued on Monday last week showed. TSMC benefited from the debut of flagship
TENSE TIMES: Formosa Plastics sees uncertainty surrounding the incoming Trump administration in the US, geopolitical tensions and China’s faltering economy Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), Taiwan’s largest industrial conglomerate, yesterday posted overall revenue of NT$118.61 billion (US$3.66 billion) for last month, marking a 7.2 percent rise from October, but a 2.5 percent fall from one year earlier. The group has mixed views about its business outlook for the current quarter and beyond, as uncertainty builds over the US power transition and geopolitical tensions. Formosa Plastics Corp (台灣塑膠), a vertically integrated supplier of plastic resins and petrochemicals, reported a monthly uptick of 15.3 percent in its revenue to NT$18.15 billion, as Typhoon Kong-rey postponed partial shipments slated for October and last month, it said. The
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