SEMICONDUCTORS
US tax credit proposed
US senators on Thursday proposed a new 25 percent tax credit for investments in semiconductor manufacturing as the US Congress works to speed US chip production. The proposal, sponsored by US senators Ron Wyden — chairman of the Finance Committee — Mike Crapo, Mark Warner, John Cornyn, Debbie Stabenow and Steve Daines would provide “reasonable, targeted incentives for domestic semiconductor manufacturing,” they said in a statement. Last week, the Senate voted 68-32 to approve spending US$52 billion to increase US production and research into semiconductors and telecommunications equipment, including US$2 billion dedicated to chips used by automakers.
CHINA
Meituan CEO Wang grilled
The government summoned Meituan (美團) chief executive officer Wang Xing (王興) to a meeting recently and warned him to keep a low profile, after the founder of China’s third-largest tech corporation last month posted a poem that convulsed markets and sparked a social media furor. Beijing officials called Wang in after the food delivery mogul posted a millennium-old poem regarded by many as implicit criticism of the government, people with knowledge of the matter said. They warned him to refrain from courting the spotlight, at least temporarily, the people said, asking not to be identified as they were not authorized to discuss the matter. The Tang Dynasty poem — describing the burning of books under China’s first emperor — was widely seen as anti-establishment and triggered a US$26 billion selloff in Meituan’s shares over two days. Wang later said that his post had been targeted at the short-sightedness of his own industry.
AUTOMAKERS
Ford reverses outlook
Ford Motor Co on Thursday switched gears on a previously dour financial outlook, saying it now expects stronger second-quarter results thanks to growing demand for its vehicles and a sharp rise in the prices people pay for them. “Our pricing is just strengthening every day,” Ford chief executive officer Jim Farley told a Deutsche Bank automotive conference. “It’s pretty breathtaking actually.” Ford projects that earnings before interest and taxes in the current quarter will be “significantly better” than last year, when the company lost US$1.9 billion on that basis, it said in a statement. Farley also credited cost cutting, especially in overseas operations that he said had been a “[US]$2 billion to [US]$3 billion drag on our business,” but now turn a small profit. The automaker is seeing robust demand for its newest models, including a revived Bronco sport utility vehicle, its electric F-150 Lightning pickup and the Maverick compact truck.
UNITED KINGDOM
Retail sales decline
Retail sales fell unexpectedly last month as the reopening of restaurants and bars prompted consumers to cut spending at supermarkets. “Following a sharp increase last month coinciding with post-lockdown reopening, retail sales dipped slightly in May,” Office for National Statistics director of economic statistics Darren Morgan said yesterday. “However, they remain well above both their pre-[COVID-19]-pandemic levels and those seen in March before shops reopened.” The Confederation of British Industry revised upward its forecasts for growth this year to 8.2 percent from 6 percent and expects a 6.1 percent expansion next year.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
Apple Inc has been developing a homegrown chip to run artificial intelligence (AI) tools in data centers, although it is unclear if the semiconductor would ever be deployed, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The effort would build on Apple’s previous efforts to make in-house chips, which run in its iPhones, Macs and other devices, according to the Journal, which cited unidentified people familiar with the matter. The server project is code-named ACDC (Apple Chips in Data Center) within the company, aiming to utilize Apple’s expertise in chip design for the company’s server infrastructure, the newspaper said. While this initiative has been
Clambering hand-over-hand, sweat dripping into his eyes, a durian laborer expertly slices a cumbersome fruit from a tree before tossing it down to land with a soft thump in his colleague’s waiting arms about 15m below. Among Thailand’s most famous and lucrative exports, the pungent “king of fruits” is as distinctive in its smell as its spiky green-brown carapace, and has been farmed in the kingdom for hundreds of years. However, a vicious heat wave engulfing Southeast Asia has resulted in smaller yields and spiraling costs, with growers and sellers increasingly panicked as global warming damages the industry. “This year is a crisis,”
HIGH-TECH: As leading-edge process technologies become more complicated, only a handful of players are able to provide design services, the company’s CEO said Artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer Alchip Technologies Ltd (世芯) yesterday said that revenue would grow significantly again in 2026 after adding a major AI chip customer, reversing moderation amid a product transition next year. The Taipei-based application-specific IC (ASIC) designer reiterated its strong revenue growth forecast for this year and 2026 after its stock plummeted about 23 percent to NT$3,145 from a peak of NT$4,085 on March 6 amid growing competition. Alchip said it has built strong partnerships with cloud service providers (CSP), denying that it had lost orders to smaller competitors such as Faraday Technology Corp (智原). Faraday said it has secured