SOUTH KOREA
Starbucks to sell stake
Starbucks Corp on Monday said that it would exit any direct ownership in South Korea, its fifth-largest market, selling the 50 percent stake it owns in a joint venture to local partner E-Mart Inc and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, GIC Pte. E-Mart, which owns 50 percent of Starbucks Coffee Korea, said it would acquire an additional 17.5 percent stake that would be worth 474 billion won (US$411.89 million). GIC is to own the remaining 32.5 percent of the venture, Starbucks said. The US coffee chain operates more than 1,500 stores across 78 cities in South Korea, where revenue rose 3.2 percent to 1.93 trillion won last year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
TECHNOLOGY
WeChat halts registrations
Tencent Holdings Ltd’s (騰訊) WeChat has temporarily suspended registration of new users in mainland China as it undergoes a technical upgrade “to align with relevant laws and regulations,” the country’s dominant instant messaging platform said yesterday. “We are currently upgrading our security technology to align with all relevant laws and regulations,” the company said in a statement to reporters. “During this time, registration of new Weixin (微信) personal and official accounts has been temporarily suspended. Registration services will be restored after the upgrade is complete, which is expected in early August,” the company said, using the app’s Chinese name.
LUXURY GOODS
LVMH profits bounce back
LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE, the world’s leading maker of luxury goods, said on Monday that sales and profits had bounced back strongly in the first six months of this year as demand soared after a pandemic-induced slump last year. LVMH, whose brands include Moet and Louis Vuitton, said that its first-half profit had risen substantially from the level in 2019, and was far above the first half of last year that was marred by lockdowns worldwide. The group’s net profit soared to 5.3 billion euros (US$6.3 billion) in the period, a 10-fold increase from a year earlier. First-half revenues were up by 53 percent on a 12-month basis.
AUSTRALIA
Wine tariffs to cost US$1.8bn
The government has said that Chinese tariffs on bottled wine exports could cost the industry at least A$2.4 billion (US$1.8 billion) over the five years through 2025 if there are no efforts to expand into other markets. Chinese imports of Australian wine would “cease entirely” as a result of crippling anti-dumping duties imposed by Beijing last year, government forecaster Abares said yesterday. The move, which effectively shut down access to the industry’s biggest market, would see export values in 2025 plunge by A$480 million if the sector does not grow trade with other countries, it said.
SINGAPORE
Start-up becomes unicorn
Nium Pte, a payments start-up serving businesses, became a rare fintech unicorn in the city-state after raising more than US$200 million in fresh funding. The company yesterday said that its value topped US$1 billion after a Series D round led by Menlo Park, California-based Riverwood Capital LLC. Other backers included Temasek Holdings Pte, Visa Inc, Vertex Ventures, Beacon Venture Capital and Rocket Capital. The city-state’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte also joined the round, said a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be named.
Taiwan’s technology protection rules prohibits Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) from producing 2-nanometer chips abroad, so the company must keep its most cutting-edge technology at home, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks in response to concerns that TSMC might be forced to produce advanced 2-nanometer chips at its fabs in Arizona ahead of schedule after former US president Donald Trump was re-elected as the next US president on Tuesday. “Since Taiwan has related regulations to protect its own technologies, TSMC cannot produce 2-nanometer chips overseas currently,” Kuo said at a meeting of the legislature’s
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
Semiconductor shares in China surged yesterday after Reuters reported the US had ordered chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to halt shipments of advanced chips to Chinese customers, which investors believe could accelerate Beijing’s self-reliance efforts. TSMC yesterday started to suspend shipments of certain sophisticated chips to some Chinese clients after receiving a letter from the US Department of Commerce imposing export restrictions on those products, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source. The US imposed export restrictions on TSMC’s 7-nanometer or more advanced designs, Reuters reported. Investors figured that would encourage authorities to support China’s industry and bought shares