CASINOS
Sands to sell properties
Las Vegas Sands Corp, the world’s largest casino operator by market value, was agreed to sell its properties in Las Vegas to Apollo Global Management Inc and Vici Properties Inc for US$6.25 billion, refocusing the company on its successful Asian resorts and other potential opportunities in the US. Apollo is to run the properties, which would be owned by Vici, a real-estate investment trust, the companies said in a statement on Wednesday. The Venetian, Palazzo and related convention facilities in Las Vegas contributed less than 15 percent of the company’s revenue in 2019.
AIRLINES
Lufthansa loses 6.7bn euros
German flag carrier Deutsche Lufthansa AG yesterday said that it lost a record 6.7 billion euros (US$8.1 billion) last year as COVID-19 restrictions wiped out demand for travel and left aircraft grounded. Europe’s biggest airline said that it expects to book an operating loss again this year, although smaller than last year, as capacity runs at only 40 to 50 percent of pre-pandemic levels for the full year. Capacity would climb to 90 percent of 2019’s level only in “the middle of the decade,” it said.
GAMING
Nintendo plans bigger screen
Nintendo Co plans to unveil a model of its Switch gaming console equipped with a bigger Samsung OLED display this year, hoping that the larger touchscreen can prop up demand in time for the holidays, people familiar with the plan said. Samsung Display Co is to start mass production of 7-inch, 720p resolution OLED panels as early as June, with an initial monthly target of just under 1 million units, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters. The displays are slated for shipment to assemblers in about July, the people said. Representatives for Nintendo and Samsung Display declined to comment. “The OLED panel will consume less battery, offer higher contrast and possibly faster response time when compared to the Switch’s current liquid-crystal display,” said Yoshio Tamura, cofounder of display consultancy DSCC.
AUTOMAKERS
GM to extend closures
General Motors Co (GM) on Wednesday said that it would again extend closures of three plants due to the global shortage of semiconductors and announced an additional plant that would be affected later this spring. Suspensions at plants in Kansas and Ontario would now run through “at least mid-April,” GM said in a press release. The closure of a plant in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, would run through the end of this month, the company said. On Wednesday, GM said it expects to implement downtime at a plant in Gravatai, Brazil, next month and in May.
NORWAY
Kirin put on a watch list
The central bank on Wednesday said that it had put Japan’s Kirin Holdings Ltd Co on a watch list for possible exclusion from its US$1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund over the beverage giant’s ties to a business owned by Myanmar’s military. The drinks giant on Feb. 5 said that it would scrap a joint venture called Myanmar Brewery, in which Kirin’s controlling stake was valued at up to US$1.7 billion, after the army staged a coup deposing the democratically elected government. However, later in the month, Kirin said that it wanted to keep selling beer in Myanmar.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last