JAPAN
BOJ easing on hold
The central bank is unlikely to expand its unprecedented economic stimulus for now, Minister for Finance Taro Aso said, citing a surplus of money in the economy and weak domestic demand. “At this point, the government is not thinking about anything like that, and probably the Bank of Japan [BOJ] will not undertake additional monetary easing right now,” Aso said in an interview with public broadcaster NHK that aired on Friday evening in Tokyo. Bank Governor Haruhiko Kuroda earlier in the day said that monetary easing is having the intended effects and the economy has continued to recover modestly.
INDUSTRY
GE Q3 profit declines
Industrial conglomerate General Electric Co on Friday reported a decline in third quarter profit, but strong performances from its core units helped the company top Wall Street expectations. The Fairfield, Connecticut-based company said profit fell 29 percent to US$2.51 billion, or US$0.25 per share. Meanwhile, revenue fell 1 percent to US$31.68 billion. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and to account for discontinued operations, came to US$0.32 per share.
TECHNOLOGY
Pay cut for Micron executive
Micron Technology Inc chief executive officer Mark Durcan asked the company’s board to have his annual salary reduced by half to US$525,000 as the biggest US maker of computer memory struggles with sluggish sales. The Boise, Idaho-based company on Friday said in a filing that the reduction takes effect today. Micron’s revenue is projected to shrink 24 percent to US$3.49 billion for the quarter ending next month.
STEEL
Tata plans UK job cuts
India’s Tata Steel Ltd is set to announce more than 1,000 job layoffs in the UK, reports said on Friday, in a major blow to the UK steel industry. The job cuts would mainly fall at the plant in Scunthorpe, England, which employs 3,000 people and is the biggest steelworks in the UK. Jobs would also be shed in Scotland, at the Clydebridge and Dalzell plants, said media reports, which spoke of between 1,000 and 1,200 layoffs. Tata Steel declined to comment on the reports.
AVIATION
United boss hospitalized
United Continental Holdings Inc chief executive Oscar Munoz, appointed on Sept. 8, has been hospitalized, the company said on Friday. The Wall Street Journal reported that Munoz suffered a heart attack and is being treated at a Chicago hospital. United Continental, the parent of United Airlines, acknowledged that Munoz was hospitalized, but did not explain why.
COMPUTING
Twitter shares boosted
Former Microsoft Corp chief executive Steve Ballmer on Friday said that he has taken a 4 percent stake in Twitter, expressing confidence in the messaging platform’s new management team. The stake in Twitter by Ballmer would be worth about US$800 million at current share prices. Twitter shares have risen about 25 percent this month after Jack Dorsey was named chief executive officer on a permanent basis.
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) and Episil Technologies Inc (漢磊) yesterday announced plans to jointly build an 8-inch fab to produce silicon carbide (SiC) chips through an equity acquisition deal. SiC chips offer higher efficiency and lower energy loss than pure silicon chips, and they are able to operate at higher temperatures. They have become crucial to the development of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence data centers, green energy storage and industrial devices. Vanguard, a contract chipmaker focused on making power management chips and driver ICs for displays, is to acquire a 13 percent stake in Episil for NT$2.48 billion (US$77.1 million).
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