MACROECONOMICS
Japanese consumers upbeat
Japanese households are the most upbeat since at least 1998 as the labor market tightens and muted inflation boosts their purchasing power, a Bank of Japan survey found. The index for impression of livelihood rose to minus-32.4 last month, the highest on record dating to 1998, according to the quarterly survey released yesterday. Sentiment toward income was at the highest on record dating to 2006 and confidence regarding employment stood at the second-highest level since 2006, the survey found. A Japanese Cabinet Office report on Thursday showed consumer confidence at its highest level since September 2013.
AUTOMAKERS
Honda issues US recall
Honda Motor Co yesterday said it was recalling 37,000 vehicles in the US to check if replacement airbags contain the recalled Takata Corp inflators that might have been installed prior to the massive Takata recalls last year. Honda said the recall of the front airbag inflator of the 2003 two-door Accord does not affect its vehicles in other regions. No ruptures have been reported. The inflators are blamed in at least 16 deaths and more than 180 injuries worldwide. The problem set off the biggest recall in US automotive history, involving 42 million vehicles. Globally, the tally is more than 100 million.
SHIPBUILDERS
France approves STX sale
The French government on Thursday gave its approval to the sale of STX France, the last gem in the country’s once-thriving shipbuilding industry, to its Italian rival Fincantieri SpA. The shipyard has been majority owned by South Korea’s STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co Ltd since 2008, but that company nearly went bankrupt a few years ago, and it has been looking to sell the profitable STX France business since 2013. The deal approved on Thursday calls for Fincantieri to acquire a stake of about 48 percent, while France’s state-controlled naval shipbuilding DCNS Group is to acquire 12 percent. France is to keep its 33 percent stake as well as a veto right, while an Italian investment group, Fundazione CR Trieste, is to acquire the remaining shares.
RIDE-HAILING
US state settles with Uber
Pennsylvania regulators are settling a legal dispute with the ride-hailing company Uber Technologies Inc for US$3.5 million. The Public Utility Commission, which regulates public transportation in Pennsylvania, on Thursday said the agreement ended a fight over Uber and subsidiaries that operated without authority in the state for six months in 2014. A pair of administrative judges had recommended a US$50 million fine, which the commission whittled down to US$11 million in May last year.
CROATIA
Agrokor debt prompts law
Officials on Thursday adopted a law aimed at shielding the country’s economy from failing key companies, prompted by a huge debt crisis at food giant Agrokor. The Balkans’ largest food producer and retailer employs about 60,000 people in the region, with two-thirds of them in the nation. Agrokor’s annual revenue of about 6.7 billion euros (US$7.12 billion) accounts for 15 percent of then nation’s GDP, but September last year figures showed that the food giant’s debt totaled about six billion euros. Central bank governor Boris Vujcic warned the Agrokor crisis would “almost certainly have an impact on GDP.” The new law relates to ailing firms with more than 5,000 employees and at least 1 billion euros in debt.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said its materials management head, Vanessa Lee (李文如), had tendered her resignation for personal reasons. The personnel adjustment takes effect tomorrow, TSMC said in a statement. The latest development came one month after Lee reportedly took leave from the middle of last month. Cliff Hou (侯永清), senior vice president and deputy cochief operating officer, is to concurrently take on the role of head of the materials management division, which has been under his supervision, TSMC said. Lee, who joined TSMC in 2022, was appointed senior director of materials management and
Gudeng Precision Industrial Co (家登精密), the sole extreme ultraviolet pod supplier to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電), yesterday said it has trimmed its revenue growth target for this year as US tariffs are likely to depress customer demand and weigh on the whole supply chain. Gudeng’s remarks came after the US on Monday notified 14 countries, including Japan and South Korea, of new tariff rates that are set to take effect on Aug. 1. Taiwan is still negotiating for a rate lower than the 32 percent “reciprocal” tariffs announced by the US in April, which it later postponed to today. The
MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR: Revenue from AI servers made up more than 50 percent of Wistron’s total server revenue in the second quarter, the company said Wistron Corp (緯創) on Tuesday reported a 135.6 percent year-on-year surge in revenue for last month, driven by strong demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers, with the momentum expected to extend into the third quarter. Revenue last month reached NT$209.18 billion (US$7.2 billion), a record high for June, bringing second-quarter revenue to NT$551.29 billion, a 129.47 percent annual increase, the company said. Revenue in the first half of the year totaled NT$897.77 billion, up 87.36 percent from a year earlier and also a record high for the period, it said. The company remains cautiously optimistic about AI server shipments in the third quarter,
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Thursday met with US President Donald Trump at the White House, days before a planned trip to China by the head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, people familiar with the matter said. Details of what the two men discussed were not immediately available, and the people familiar with the meeting declined to elaborate on the agenda. Spokespeople for the White House had no immediate comment. Nvidia declined to comment. Nvidia’s CEO has been vocal about the need for US companies to access the world’s largest semiconductor market and is a frequent visitor to China.
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