APPLICATIONS
Nintendo game a hit
Nintendo Co yesterday said its first smartphone game attracted more than 1 million users three days after release — good news for the Japanese game giant that was long reluctant to stray from its console-only policy. Nintendo last week released Miitomo — a free-to-play and interactive game, which allows users to create “Mii” avatars — as it tries to compete better with rivals. Users can customize the avatars’ outfit through in-app purchases and interact with characters created by other people or friends. The number of users for the game, rolled out in Japan on Thursday last, surpassed the 1 million mark on Saturday, a Nintendo spokeswoman said.
STOCK MARKET
Zhuhai Boyuan delisted
The Shanghai Stock Exchange has delisted investment firm Zhuhai Boyuan Investment Co (珠海市博元投資) for providing false information, an exchange statement said, the first time a listed company has been removed under new disclosure rules. The Shanghai exchange on Monday approved the delisting of Boyuan over “fake” financial information, including inflated assets, revenue and profit, the statement said. Both domestic and foreign investors have long had concerns over the reliability of Chinese corporate accounts and information after a series of scandals, but Boyuan was the first company struck from the bourse since new disclosure guidelines were introduced in 2014, according to the exchange and media reports.
ECONOMY
Ifo business index rises
Germany’s Ifo Institute said its index of business confidence, a closely watched gauge of economic activity in Europe’s largest economy, has risen after three months of declines. Munich-based Ifo yesterday said that its main index rose to 106.7 points from 105.7 points the month before. The increase was also more than anticipated. Market expectations were for a more modest rise to 106.0 points. Industrial firms saw stronger demand for consumer goods, the institute said in a statement. The improvement comes as fears about global trade and financial-market turmoil seem to be easing after a shaky start to the year. ING-DiBa economist Carsten Brzeski said that “German businesses seem to have shaken off fears of long-lasting global slowdown.” Germany’s economy grew by a quarterly rate of 0.3 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, and has a low unemployment rate of 4.3 percent that has helped buoy consumption.
BANKING
Analysts tout Citigroup split
Analysts at Keefe Bruyette & Woods Inc on Monday waded into the debate over breaking up the US’ biggest banks, releasing a report that urged Citigroup Inc to split up. In the report, the analysts said that Citigroup’s stock price is being held back by regulations that require big banks to hold large amounts of capital. The analysts said Citigroup could break up in several ways — by selling part of its Banamex unit in Mexico, splitting its consumer and corporate units in the US into two companies, or selling its international operations. Together, the moves could increase Citigroup’s market value by 57 percent, to US$198 billion, the analysts estimated. In a statement, a Citigroup spokeswoman said: “The board remains confident that the current strategy being executed by the existing management team will yield the best long-term results for shareholders.”
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
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