LUXURY BRANDS
LVMH, Tiffany not talking
LVMH and Tiffany & Co are staying away from the negotiating table, even though a US judge urged them to settle lawsuits over their ill-fated deal to combine, people familiar with their thinking said. The companies instead are preparing for a trial scheduled to begin on Jan. 5 next year, said the people, who did not want to be identified because the matter is private. That could temper investor optimism, after 53 percent of those responding to a Sanford C. Bernstein poll said that they thought the deal could still go through. LVMH jolted Tiffany shareholders earlier this month by announcing that the world’s largest maker of luxury goods had decided to pull out of its US$16 billion acquisition of the jeweler. Tiffany retaliated with a lawsuit. Delaware Chancery Court Judge Joseph Slights earlier this week set the date for the trial after the deal’s original deadline, but before the expiration of US antitrust clearance.
INTERNET
Indoor drone unveiled
Amazon.com Inc on Thursday unveiled an indoor drone for recording security video in homes and products for alerting vehicle owners about attempted break-ins. The news reflects Amazon’s drive into the security business since it acquired the smart doorbell and camera company Ring in 2018. That has led to criticism by civil liberties advocates, who have taken issue with services that let Ring users share videos with law enforcement. Amazon’s indoor drone, called the Ring Always Home Cam, flies to take video in predetermined areas and costs US$249. The company also unveiled a physical vehicle alarm gadget, as well as Ring Car Connect software that first would be compatible with Tesla Inc models. The software plays back video and tells a user if their vehicle is unlocked, among other features.
CHIPMAKERS
Broadcom, EU deal near
Broadcom Inc is nearing a settlement that could end an EU probe into contracts compelling set-top box makers to use its chips, a person familiar with the matter said. The deal with the EU removes a threat of potential fines and is based on Broadcom’s five-year offer to change contracts with customers, said the person, who asked not to be named because the process is not public. The EU is set to accept the US company’s pledge within weeks, formalizing an offer made in April with only minor changes, the person said. Last year, European regulators issued an unusual order in the middle of an investigation, stopping Broadcom temporarily from using contracts that prevented customers from buying chipsets from other suppliers. In response, Broadcom promised in April that it would no longer require original equipment manufacturers to source more than half of their systems-on-a-chip from the company. The offer covered the world outside China. Broadcom also pledged to avoid some inducements for European sales of systems-on-a-chip.
AIRLINES
Simulator revenue eyed
Thai Airways International PCL is opening up its flight simulators to the public, seeking a fresh revenue source amid the slump caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Customers can get into a mock cockpit of an Airbus A380, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 747-400 and Boeing 737-400 starting next month, said the carrier, which is coping with debt restructuring under bankruptcy court. Prices start at US$381 for two people for 30 minutes. The company is restructuring about 350 billion baht (US$11.1 billion) of debt after receiving court approval on Sept. 14.
COMPETITION: AMD, Intel and Qualcomm are unveiling new laptop and desktop parts in Las Vegas, arguing their technologies provide the best performance for AI workloads Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), the second-biggest maker of computer processors, said its chips are to be used by Dell Technologies Inc for the first time in PCs sold to businesses. The chipmaker unveiled new processors it says would make AMD-based PCs the best at running artificial intelligence (AI) software. Dell has decided to use the chips in some of its computers aimed at business customers, AMD executives said at CES in Las Vegas on Monday. Dell’s embrace of AMD for corporate PCs — it already uses the chipmaker for consumer devices — is another blow for Intel Corp as the company
ADVANCED: Previously, Taiwanese chip companies were restricted from building overseas fabs with technology less than two generations behind domestic factories Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major chip supplier to Nvidia Corp, would no longer be restricted from investing in next-generation 2-nanometer chip production in the US, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. However, the ministry added that the world’s biggest contract chipmaker would not be making any reckless decisions, given the weight of its up to US$30 billion investment. To safeguard Taiwan’s chip technology advantages, the government has barred local chipmakers from making chips using more advanced technologies at their overseas factories, in China particularly. Chipmakers were previously only allowed to produce chips using less advanced technologies, specifically
MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday said it is teaming up with Nvidia Corp to develop a new chip for artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputers that uses architecture licensed from Arm Holdings PLC. The new product is targeting AI researchers, data scientists and students rather than the mass PC market, the company said. The announcement comes as MediaTek makes efforts to add AI capabilities to its Dimensity chips for smartphones and tablets, Genio family for the Internet of Things devices, Pentonic series of smart TVs, Kompanio line of Arm-based Chromebooks, along with the Dimensity auto platform for vehicles. MeidaTek, the world’s largest chip designer for smartphones
BRAVE NEW WORLD: Nvidia believes that AI would fuel a new industrial revolution and would ‘do whatever we can’ to guide US AI policy, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp cofounder and chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Tuesday said he is ready to meet US president-elect Donald Trump and offer his help to the incoming administration. “I’d be delighted to go see him and congratulate him, and do whatever we can to make this administration succeed,” Huang said in an interview with Bloomberg Television, adding that he has not been invited to visit Trump’s home base at Mar-a-Lago in Florida yet. As head of the world’s most valuable chipmaker, Huang has an opportunity to help steer the administration’s artificial intelligence (AI) policy at a moment of rapid change.
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