TECHNOLOGY
DoorDash buys Chowbotics
Restaurant meal delivery service DoorDash Inc on Monday said it bought the start-up behind a robotic vending machine capable of whipping up salads, parfaits, poke bowls and other dishes on demand. The company said it would use Chowbotics to help merchants expand their menu offerings as they get into new markets “without investing in an entirely new store.” Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Chowbotics is the creator of a boxy machine it calls “Sally” that can make and dispense fresh meals.
VIDEO GAMES
EA buys mobile game firm
US video game powerhouse Electronic Arts Inc (EA) on Monday announced a US$2.1 billion deal to by smartphone-focused game studio Glu Mobile. The acquisition came with Glu’s library of titles including MLB Tap Sports Baseball and was described as part of a move by EA to significantly beef up its offerings on smartphones or tablet computers. EA expected Glu to enable it to build on popular video game franchises with mobile offerings. Glu’s line-up of games includes Design Home and Covet Fashion. The acquisition was expected to close by the end of June, pending approval of regulators and Glu shareholders.
UNITED KINGDOM
Retailers hit by lockdown
England’s third lockdown hit non-essential retailers harder than the previous one in November last year, with a new variant of COVID-19 hampering spending and confidence last month, the British Retail Consortium said yesterday. Clothing and footwear stores fared particularly badly as retailers on the whole saw the value of sales decline from a year earlier, the business lobby said. A similar picture emerged in a separate Barclaycard survey, which showed consumer spending falling sharply and Britons more worried about their jobs.
MESSAGING
Kakao Corp profit soars
The operator of South Korea’s biggest mobile messenger, KakaoTalk, posted coronavirus-boosted record quarterly profits yesterday, a day after its billionaire founder pledged to give away more than half his wealth. Operating profit for Kakao Corp surged 88.3 percent year-on-year to 150 billion won (US$134 million) in the final three months of last year, the highest for any quarter, the company said. Sales were up 45.7 percent year-on-year at 1.24 trillion won. On Monday, Kakao founder Kim Beom-su sent a message to employees telling them: “I have pledged to donate more than half of my assets throughout my life to solve social issues.” Kim’s wealth amounts to about US$9.5 billion, according to Forbes.
UNITED STATES
GDP forecast raised
Economists at Goldman Sachs Group Inc on Monday bumped their GDP forecast for the second quarter up to 11 percent from 10 percent and said that additional fiscal measures are likely to be valued at US$1.5 trillion, up from their previous US$1.1 trillion estimate. On an annual basis, they raised their forecasts for this year and next year growth by 0.2 percentage points each, to 6.8 percent and 4.5 percent respectively. The economists also said they had brought forward their forecast for the first rate hike by the Federal Reserve from the second half of 2024 to the first half in light of the upgrade to the growth forecast, the larger-than-expected decline in the unemployment rate last month, and signs of a “firmer” inflation outlook.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
Industrial production expanded 22.31 percent annually last month to 107.51, as increases in demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove demand for locally-made chips and components. The manufacturing production index climbed 23.68 percent year-on-year to 108.37, marking the 14th consecutive month of increase, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said. In the first four months of this year, industrial and manufacturing production indices expanded 14.31 percent and 15.22 percent year-on-year, ministry data showed. The growth momentum is to extend into this month, with the manufacturing production index expected to rise between 11 percent and 15.1 percent annually, Department of Statistics
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
RSS