TECHNOLOGY
ByteDance reports loss
ByteDance Ltd (字節跳動), the parent of hit short video app TikTok, swung to an operating loss of US$2.1 billion last year, compared with an operating profit of US$684 million in 2019, according to a memo to employees yesterday. That was due in part to higher expenses incurred from share-based compensation to workers, a person familiar with the matter said, while expenses also soared as ByteDance boosted spending to acquire users and support its content creators. It earned gross profit of US$19 billion on revenue of US$34.3 billion, which more than doubled.
ELECTRONICS
Cook speaks out on EU rules
Apple Inc chief executive officer Tim Cook on Wednesday took aim at proposed European rules aimed at curbing the power of US technology giants, saying they could pose security and privacy risks to iPhones. Cook, in his first public comments about the digital markets act proposed by European Commission Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager, said that parts were good, but others were not. He said that he feared the draft rules would lead to more customers installing apps that do not come through Apple’s App Store, or “side-loading.”
INDONESIA
Bank leaves rate unchanged
Bank Indonesia yesterday left its benchmark interest rate unchanged as a resurgence in COVID-19 cases risks delaying recovery in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The central bank kept the seven-day reverse repurchase rate at 3.5 percent, as expected by all 30 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. It is the fourth straight month the rate has stayed at its record low, and Bank Indonesia previously has signaled it could remain at that level for the rest of the year.
UNITED STATES
Yellen sees decoupling
Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen expects the country to decouple in some areas from China to protect its national security, but she would worry about a complete severing of ties on the technological front, she said on Wednesday. “We are looking at full range of tools that we have to push back and to redress practices that harm us, [and our] national security and our broader economic interests,” Yellen told the Senate Finance Committee, citing curbs on potentially harmful Chinese investments in the US.
TECHNOLOGY
Spotify launches new app
Spotify Ltd on Wednesday launched a live audio app called Greenroom, the Swedish online music streaming giant’s answer to the popular platform Clubhouse. Greenroom allows users to join live discussions or to host their own. Spotify launched Greenroom after acquiring Betty Labs, the company behind the popular sports-focused audio platform Locker Room. Other tech giants have also jumped into the live audio sector with Twitter Inc launching Spaces in December last year and Facebook Inc hosting Live Audio Rooms.
INSURANCE
FWD seeks IPO
FWD (富衛), the acquisitive Asian insurer backed by billionaire Richard Li (李澤楷), has filed confidentially for a US initial public offering (IPO). The company has confidentially submitted a draft registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for the planned share sale, according to a statement yesterday. FWD is considering raising about US$2 billion in the US share sale, people familiar with the matter said. A listing could value the insurer at about US$13 billion, they said.
AI SPLURGE: The four major US tech companies have lost more than US$950 billion in value since releasing earnings and outlooks, while equipment makers were gaining Four of the biggest US technology companies together have forecast capital expenditures that would reach about US$650 billion this year — a flood of cash earmarked for new data centers and all the gear within them. The spending planned by Alphabet Inc, Amazon.com Inc, Meta Platforms Inc and Microsoft Corp, all in pursuit of dominance in the still-nascent market for artificial intelligence (AI) tools, is a boom without a parallel this century. Each of the companies’ estimates for this year is expected either near or surpass their budgets for the past three years combined. They would set a high-watermark for capital spending
China’s top chipmaker has warned that breakaway spending on artificial intelligence (AI) chips is bringing forward years of future demand, raising the risk that some data centers could sit idle. “Companies would love to build 10 years’ worth of data center capacity within one or two years,” Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯) cochief executive officer Zhao Haijun (趙海軍) said yesterday on a call with analysts. “As for what exactly these data centers will do, that hasn’t been fully thought through.” Moody’s Ratings projects that AI-related infrastructure investment would exceed US$3 trillion over the next five years, as developers pour eye-watering sums
Bank of America Corp nearly doubled its forecast for the nation’s economic growth this year, adding to a slew of upgrades even after a rip-roaring last year propelled by demand for artificial intelligence (AI). The firm lifted its projection to 8 percent from 4.5 percent on “relentless global demand” for the hardware that Taiwanese companies make, according to a note dated yesterday by analysts including Xiaoqing Pi (皮曉青). Taiwan’s GDP expanded 8.63 percent last year, the fastest pace since 2010. The increase “reflects our sustained optimism over Taiwan’s technology driven expansion and is reinforced by several recent developments,” including a more stable currency,
NEW IMPORTS: Car dealer PG Union Corp said it would consider introducing US-made models such as the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Stellantis’ RAM 1500 to Taiwan Tesla Taiwan yesterday said that it does not plan to cut its car prices in the wake of Washington and Taipei signing the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade on Thursday to eliminate tariffs on US-made cars. On the other hand, Mercedes-Benz Taiwan said it is planning to lower the price of its five models imported from the US after the zero tariff comes into effect. Tesla in a statement said it has no plan to adjust the prices of the US-made Model 3, Model S and Model X as tariffs are not the only factor the automaker uses to determine pricing policies. Tesla said
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