TELECOMS
Huawei reports record profit
Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday said that it achieved a record profit last year, but revenue growth slowed sharply amid the COVID-19 pandemic and tightening US sanctions. Net profit rose 3.2 percent to 64.6 billion yuan (US$9.9 billion), while revenue climbed 3.8 percent to 891.4 billion yuan, the company said. Its consumer products division — which makes smartphones and other personal devices, and accounts for more than 50 percent of overall revenue — managed 3.3 percent sales growth last year, it said. Revenue growth in Huawei’s carrier-network division was flat last year at just 0.2 percent, it said.
PROPERTY
Xian moves to rein in prices
The Chinese city of Xian yesterday rolled out measures to boost the supply of residential land and restrict housing transactions to try to contain price rises and property speculation. Home prices in the capital of Shaanxi Province rose 7.4 percent in February from a year earlier, quickening from 6.5 percent in January, official data showed. Newcomers would not be eligible to buy a home until a year after getting a residential permit, Xian housing authority said in a statement. Homeowners would not be allowed to sell their properties within five years of purchase, it said. The city would also boost land supply for residential housing by more than 20 percent annually, it added.
BANKING
Bank dividend limits eased
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand yesterday said it was easing dividend restrictions placed on lenders at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in the wake of a stronger-than-expected economic rebound. The changes allow banks to pay up to half their earnings in dividends, with the cap to remain in place until July 1 next year, the central bank said in a statement. However, it cautioned banks to be prudent in their approach and consider the need to meet higher capital requirements resulting from the central bank’s capital review. The central bank earlier last month removed some temporary liquidity facilities it had put in place during the pandemic as market conditions improved.
MALAYSIA
GDP to recover by mid-2021
Bank Negara Malaysia yesterday said that it expects the economy to return to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels by the middle of this year, and pledged to keep monetary policy accommodative as the nation charts a recovery from the pandemic. GDP might expand 6 to 7.5 percent this year, the central bank said in its annual Economic and Monetary Review. That is a tad slower than its earlier projection of 6.5 to 7.5 percent growth. The economy fell 5.6 percent last year, its worst performance since 1998 and below the government’s projection of minus-3.5 to minus-5.5 percent.
SOFTWARE
Hitachi acquires GlobalLogic
Hitachi Ltd yesterday said that it would fully acquire US software firm GlobalLogic Inc in a US$9.6 billion deal as it looks to expand its digital services offerings. Hitachi is to pay US$8.5 billion for the firm, but the cost would be bumped up by the additional repayment of GlobalLogic’s outstanding debt, the Japanese firm said. The purchase comes with Hitachi increasingly focused on tech offerings, including through its Internet of Things unit Lumada. With 20,000 employees in 14 countries, GlobalLogic brings a network of design studios and software product development centers, as well as hundreds of clients.
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
Zhang Yazhou was sitting in the passenger seat of her Tesla Model 3 when she said she heard her father’s panicked voice: The brakes do not work. Approaching a red light, her father swerved around two cars before plowing into a sport utility vehicle and a sedan, and crashing into a large concrete barrier. Stunned, Zhang gazed at the deflating airbag in front of her. She could never have imagined what was to come: Tesla Inc sued her for defamation for complaining publicly about the vehicles brakes — and won. A Chinese court ordered Zhang to pay more than US$23,000 in
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday held its first board of directors meeting in the US, at which it did not unveil any new US investments despite mounting tariff threats from US President Donald Trump. Trump has threatened to impose 100 percent tariffs on Taiwan-made chips, prompting market speculation that TSMC might consider boosting its chip capacity in the US or ramping up production of advanced chips such as those using a 2-nanometer technology process at its Arizona fabs ahead of schedule. Speculation also swirled that the chipmaker might consider building its own advanced packaging capacity in the US as part
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