WEALTH
Bezos named world’s richest
Amazon.com Inc chief Jeff Bezos is now the world’s richest person, having snatched the top spot from Microsoft Corp founder Bill Gates who slips to second place, according to Forbes magazine’s annual billionaires list published on Tuesday. US President Donald Trump’s ranking on the list fell to 766th place from 544th in the last edition, his wealth now being estimated at US$3.1 billion, US$400 million less than a year ago. Bezos’ fortune shot up to US$112 billion, Forbes said, way ahead of the US$90 billion listed for Gates.
SEMICONDUCTORS
Broadcom deal opposed
Broadcom Ltd’s hostile takeover attempt of Qualcomm Inc could pose a national security risk because of Qualcomm’s leadership in developing critical semiconductor technology, the US Department of the Treasury said, setting up a potentially insurmountable hurdle to getting a deal done. Qualcomm’s sale to Singapore-based Broadcom could hurt the chipmaker’s competitiveness by reducing research and development, which would threaten US security, the Treasury said in a letter on Monday, which Qualcomm released the following day. Harm to Qualcomm’s innovation would allow China to expand its influence in key wireless technology, the US government said.
TELECOMS
Blackberry sues Facebook
Canadian telecom firm BlackBerry Ltd on Tuesday sued Facebook Inc, accusing the US social media company of infringing on its patents for messaging apps. BlackBerry is claiming infringement on patents it holds for message encryption and notifications, and is seeking an injunction as well as damages for lost profits, although no figure was given. Facebook and its wholly owned services Instagram and WhatsApp are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
LOGISTICS
Deutsche Post makes targets
German logistics group Deutsche Post DHL Group yesterday said it had hit its targets for last year and remained confident for this year, buoyed by continuing growth in online shopping. Net profit at the Bonn-based firm increased 2.8 percent to 2.7 billion euros (US$3.3 billion) last year, slightly short of forecasts from analysts surveyed by Factset. Operating profit grew 7.2 percent to 3.7 billion euros, while revenue added 5.4 percent to reach 60.4 billion euros.
TOYS
Lego sales, profit contract
Danish toy maker Lego saw profits shrink last year, as the company struggled in major markets, posting its first drop in revenue since 2004. The company’s revenue fell 7.7 percent from a year earlier to 35 billion kroner (US$5.82 billion), weighing down net profit, which plunged 17.2 percent to 7.8 billion kroner. Operating profit decreased 16.8 percent to 10.4 billion kroner.
? INTERNET
WeChat users hit 1 billion
China’s WeChat (微信) social media platform has crossed the 1 billion accounts mark, as its messaging, game and shopping services attract more users. The symbolic threshold was announced on Monday by Ma Huateng (馬化騰), chief executive of its parent company, Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊), on the sidelines of China’s National People’s Congress session. The all-in-one app is a daily necessity for most Chinese, bringing together messaging, social media, mobile payment, games, news and other services.
US SANCTIONS: The Taiwan tech giant has ended all shipments to China-based Sophgo Technologies after one of their chips was discovered in a Huawei phone Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) suspended shipments to China-based chip designer Sophgo Technologies Ltd (算能科技) after a chip it made was found on a Huawei Technologies Co (華為) artificial intelligence (AI) processor, according to two people familiar with the matter. Sophgo had ordered chips from TSMC that matched the one found on Huawei’s Ascend 910B, the people said. Huawei is restricted from buying the technology to protect US national security. Reuters could not determine how the chip ended up on the Huawei product. Sophgo said in a statement on its Web site yesterday that it was in compliance with all laws
SPEED OF LIGHT: US lawmakers urged the commerce department to examine the national security threats from China’s development of silicon photonics technology US President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday said it is finalizing rules that would limit US investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology sectors in China that could threaten US national security. The rules, which were proposed in June by the US Department of the Treasury, were directed by an executive order signed by Biden in August last year covering three key sectors: semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies and certain AI systems. The rules are to take effect on Jan. 2 next year and would be overseen by the Treasury’s newly created Office of Global Transactions. The Treasury said the “narrow
TECH TITANS: Nvidia briefly overtook Apple again on Friday after becoming the world’s largest company for a short period in June, as Microsoft fell to third place Nvidia Corp dethroned Apple Inc as the world’s most valuable company on Friday following a record-setting rally in the stock, powered by insatiable demand for its specialized artificial intelligence (AI) chips. Nvidia’s stock market value briefly touched US$3.53 trillion, slightly above Apple’s US$3.52 trillion, London Stock Exchange Group data showed. Nvidia ended the day up 0.8 percent, with a market value of US$3.47 trillion, while Apple’s shares rose 0.4 percent, valuing the iPhone maker at US$3.52 trillion. In June, Nvidia briefly became the world’s most valuable company before it was overtaken by Microsoft Corp and Apple. The tech trio’s market capitalizations have been
SPECULATION: The central bank cut the loan-to-value ratio for mortgages on second homes by 10 percent and denied grace periods to prevent a real-estate bubble The central bank’s board members in September agreed to tighten lending terms to induce a soft landing in the housing market, although some raised doubts that they would achieve the intended effect, the meeting’s minutes released yesterday showed. The central bank on Sept. 18 introduced harsher loan restrictions for mortgages across Taiwan in the hope of curbing housing speculation and hoarding that could create a bubble and threaten the financial system’s stability. Toward the aim, it cut the loan-to-value ratio by 10 percent for second and subsequent home mortgages and denied grace periods for first mortgages if applicants already owned other residential