ELECTRONICS
Samsung profits up
Samsung Electronics Co yesterday said that its first-quarter profit surged nearly 50 percent thanks to the record-high income from its semiconductor division. The South Korean company said earnings jumped 46 percent over a year earlier to 7.7 trillion won (US$6.8 billion), with sales rising 2 percent over a year earlier. Operating profit surged 48 percent to 9.9 trillion won, it said.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Bayer raises forecast
German chemicals and pharmaceuticals giant Bayer AG yesterday raised its forecast for this year after netting a big boost to profit on the back of higher sales in the first quarter. Sales at the group grew 11.7 percent to 13.2 billion euros (US$14.4 billion), while profit added 38 percent to reach almost 2.1 billion euros — both outstripping analyst forecasts. Operating, or underlying, profit grew 34.3 percent to 3.1 billion euros. The group increased its forecast for the full year, upping revenue projections to 51 billion euros and predicting growth of about 10 percent in operating profit.
TELECOMS
Nokia reports another loss
Nokia Oyj yesterday said that it remained deep in the red at the start of the year, with sales in its main business, networks, on the decline. The Finnish firm reported a first-quarter net loss of 473 million euros, a slight improvement from the 623 million euro loss recorded the previous year. The network business, which makes up for more than 90 percent of the firm’s sales, fell 6 percent year-on-year to 4.9 billion euros, while the technologies division, which makes up about 5 percent of sales, saw sales rise 25 percent mainly as a result of higher patent and brand licensing income. Overall, Nokia sales fell slightly in the quarter to 5.4 billion euros from 5.5 billion euros the previous year.
ELECTRONICS
Nintendo’s Switch sells well
Nintendo Co yesterday said that its new Switch, a hybrid game machine that works as a console and a tablet, is selling well, helping it trim its quarterly losses. The Kyoto-based company said it has sold 2.74 million Switch machines and 5.46 million units of Switch software since sales began last month. The company’s January to March loss was ¥394 million (US$3.5 million), improved from ¥24 billion a year earlier. Quarterly sales jumped to nearly ¥178 billion from ¥79 billion. Nintendo expects to sell another 10 million Switch machines in the fiscal year that ends in March next year.
AVIATION
Airbus’ Q1 profit halved
Airbus SE profit more than halved in the first quarter, falling short of analyst estimates as production glitches held back deliveries of the European planemaker’s newest jets. Adjusted earnings before interest and tax fell to 240 million euros from 498 million euros a year earlier, Airbus said yesterday. The value of new orders also slumped almost 50 percent, with the Toulouse, France-based company announcing contracts for just six new planes compared with 10 in the same period last year. However, net profit was up to 608 million euros from 399 million in the same three-month period last year, mainly to the sale of its German-based Defense Electronics firm to investment company KKR in February, which generated 560 million euros. Chief executive officer Tom Enders said the company stood by its forecast for a mid-single-digit percentage gain in annual earnings, together with more than 700 commercial aircraft deliveries.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
A move by US President Donald Trump to slap a 25 percent tariff on all steel imports is expected to place Taiwan-made steel, which already has a 25 percent tariff, on an equal footing, the Taiwan Steel & Iron Industries Association said yesterday. Speaking with CNA, association chairman Hwang Chien-chih (黃建智) said such an equal footing is expected to boost Taiwan’s competitive edge against other countries in the US market, describing the tariffs as "positive" for Taiwanese steel exporters. On Monday, Trump signed two executive orders imposing the new metal tariffs on imported steel and aluminum with no exceptions and exemptions, effective