MANUFACTURING
Hon Hai to recycle water
Foxconn Technology Group (富士康), known in Taiwan as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), plans to invest in a US$30 million recycling system that would significantly reduce the amount of water it has to draw from Lake Michigan for its proposed manufacturing complex in Wisconsin, the company said on Tuesday. Foxconn announced that the “zero liquid discharge” system would virtually eliminate the return of manufacturing wastewater into the lake. The system is expected to reduce water intake by more than 13.25 million liters per day, it said in an e-mailed statement, adding that the system would eliminate manufacturing process wastewater by distilling it. The water could then be recycled, recovered and reused. The city of Racine estimated that the plant’s operations and evaporation would consume about 10.2 million liters daily.
ELECTRONICS
Dialog attempting takeover
Dialog Semiconductor PLC shares rose after the technology company said it is proceeding with an attempted takeover of Synaptics Inc, helping it step forward in its effort to reduce its reliance on sales to Apple Inc. Dialog is conducting due diligence and detailed discussions related to the potential deal, it said on Tuesday in a statement. Dialog gained as much as 3.7 percent and was trading 2.7 percent higher at 15.40 euros as of 9:27am yesterday in Frankfurt, Germany, giving the Reading, England-based company a market value of 1.2 billion euros (US$1.39 billion). Synaptics would help Dialog expand its product portfolio by adding sensors, touchscreens and touch pads, which it sells to Apple, Samsung Electronics Co and other smartphone makers.
FINTECH
Norway gets Apple Pay
Apple Pay yesterday became available in Norway for customers of Nordea Bank AB and Santander Bank. The payment system is also to be rolled out to clients in Sbanken ASA, Visa Inc said in a statement. “We are pleased we can provide Apple Pay to our customers in close cooperation with Mastercard,” Nordea Norge CEO Snorre Storset said in a separate statement. Apple Pay would likely offer a challenge to Vipps, a system launched by DNB ASA and downloaded by nearly 3 million Norwegians.
COFFEE
Starbucks to boost closings
Starbucks said it would accelerate its store closings in the US next year as it tries to boost sluggish sales. The Seattle-based company on Tuesday announced that it would close 150 underperforming stores in heavily penetrated markets, up from the usual rate of 50 closings a year. The company also said it expects 1 percent growth in global sales for the third quarter, a period that encompassed an uproar over the arrest of two black men at a Starbucks in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
SENTIMENT
Confidence down in Asia
Business confidence among Asian companies slipped for the first time in three quarters, on mounting worries that US President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies would trigger tit-for-tat reprisals. The Thomson Reuters/INSEAD Asian Business Sentiment Index, representing a six-month outlook from 61 firms, fell to 74 in the second quarter from a seven-year high of 79 in the prior three months. The survey was conducted from June 1 to Friday last week. While a reading above 50 indicates a positive outlook, this is the first time the number has dropped since September last year.
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
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.
Hypermarket chain Carrefour Taiwan and upscale supermarket chain Mia C’bon on Saturday announced the suspension of their partnership with Jkopay Co (街口支付), one of Taiwan’s largest digital payment providers, amid a lawsuit involving its parent company. Carrefour and Mia C’bon said they would notify customers once Jkopay services are reinstated. The two retailers joined an array of other firms in suspending their partnerships with Jkopay. On Friday night, popular beverage chain TP Tea (茶湯會) also suspended its use of the platform, urging customers to opt for alternative payment methods. Another drinks brand, Guiji (龜記), on Friday said that it is up to individual
STABLE RESULTS: Despite June’s lower consolidated revenue, second-quarter sales still reached a record high, driven by demand for chips for AI applications Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported consolidated sales of NT$263.71 billion (US$9.02 billion) for last month, its second-lowest monthly result this year. The world’s largest contract chipmaker said in a statement that its revenue last month only fared better than the NT$260.01 billion posted in February. Last month’s figure rose 26.9 percent from a year earlier, but slumped 17.7 percent from May, the company said. However, second-quarter revenue reached NT$933.8 billion, a record high for a single quarter, company data showed. The figure represented growth of 11.26 percent from the first quarter and 38.6 percent from a year earlier. Previously, TSMC said that
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