ENERGY
Brazil eyes private funding
The Brazilian Congress has approved a measure to give private companies a larger role in exploring one of the world’s largest oil and gas reserves. The bill would remove a requirement that state oil company Petrobras must have at least a 30 percent stake in any operation in the massive off-shore reserve located off the southern coast between the states of Santa Catarina to Espirito Santo. The so-called “Pre-salt Reserve” produces about 1 million barrels of oil a day. The measure has been approved by the Brazilian Senate and Congress, which sent it on Thursday to Brazilian President Michel Temer. He is expected to sign it.
VIDEO GAMES
Japan Wii U sales to end
Nintendo Co is ending sales in Japan of its Wii U home console “soon,” although it is not saying exactly when, and similar announcements are expected in other regions. The Wii U, which went on sale in late 2012, is being replaced by Switch, set to go on sale globally in March next year. Nintendo said it would show it to reporters in Japan on Jan. 13. The Japanese video game manufacturer behind the Super Mario and Pokemon franchises has already shipped Wii U machines for US sales through March, company spokesman Kenichiro Matsuura said yesterday.
INTERNET
Russia may block LinkedIn
The Moscow City Court on Thursday ruled that professional networking Web site LinkedIn can be blocked under a controversial new law because it does not store local users’ data inside the nation. The court rejected an appeal by LinkedIn and upheld an August decision by a Moscow district court that the Web site was in breach of the law, after the Russian communications watchdog launched legal action. A representative of LinkedIn said users “give consent for their personal data to be used” and argued there had been no mass call from Russians for the Web site to be closed.
ELECTRONICS
Toshiba back in the black
Toshiba Corp yesterday said its half-year profit tripled, owing to cost cutting and the sale of its home appliances business, providing a boost to the firm as it tries to turn the page on an embarrassing accounting scandal. The conglomerate posted an April-to-September net profit of ￥115.3 billion (US$1.08 billion), well up from ￥37.3 billion the previous year. It also logged a ￥96.8 billion operating profit, reversing a loss the previous year, although it blamed a stronger Japanese currency and lower sales of TVs and PCs for a 4.3 percent decline in revenue to ￥2.58 trillion.
TOURISM
Euro Disney in the red
Euro Disney, which owns Disneyland Paris, on Thursday posted record annual losses in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris which weighed heavily on tourist bookings. During its financial year, which ended in September, group turnover fell 6.91 percent to 1.27 billion euros (US$1.38 billion) following a 10 percent drop in visitor numbers, a statement said. The statement was issued as France prepares to mark the first anniversary of the deadly attacks in the French capital which claimed 130 lives. Over the period, the group registered a net loss attributable to shareholders of 705 million euros, compared with 84.2 million the previous year.
RUN IT BACK: A succesful first project working with hyperscalers to design chips encouraged MediaTek to start a second project, aiming to hit stride in 2028 MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it is engaging a second hyperscaler to help design artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators used in data centers following a similar project expected to generate revenue streams soon. The first AI accelerator project is to bring in US$1 billion revenue next year and several billion US dollars more in 2027, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a virtual investor conference yesterday. The second AI accelerator project is expected to contribute to revenue beginning in 2028, Tsai said. MediaTek yesterday raised its revenue forecast for the global AI accelerator used
TEMPORARY TRUCE: China has made concessions to ease rare earth trade controls, among others, while Washington holds fire on a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods China is effectively suspending implementation of additional export controls on rare earth metals and terminating investigations targeting US companies in the semiconductor supply chain, the White House announced. The White House on Saturday issued a fact sheet outlining some details of the trade pact agreed to earlier in the week by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that aimed to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Under the deal, China is to issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite “for the benefit of US end users and their suppliers
Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV’s China unit yesterday said that it had established sufficient inventories of finished goods and works-in-progress, and that its supply chain remained secure and stable after its parent halted wafer supplies. The Dutch company suspended supplies of wafers to its Chinese assembly plant a week ago, calling it “a direct consequence of the local management’s recent failure to comply with the agreed contractual payment terms,” Reuters reported on Friday last week. Its China unit called Nexperia’s suspension “unilateral” and “extremely irresponsible,” adding that the Dutch parent’s claim about contractual payment was “misleading and highly deceptive,” according to a statement
Artificial intelligence (AI) giant Nvidia Corp’s most advanced chips would be reserved for US companies and kept out of China and other countries, US President Donald Trump said. During an interview that aired on Sunday on CBS’ 60 Minutes program and in comments to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said only US customers should have access to the top-end Blackwell chips offered by Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization. “The most advanced, we will not let anybody have them other than the United States,” he told CBS, echoing remarks made earlier to reporters as he returned to Washington
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