SEMICONDUCTORS
Lead times up by four days
Chip delivery times lengthened again last month, dashing hopes that the end of shortages that have hammered many industries is finally in sight. The lead times — a closely watched gap between when a semiconductor is ordered and when it is delivered — increased by four days to about 22.3 weeks last month compared with October, research by Susquehanna Financial Group showed. That lag marks the longest wait time since the firm began tracking the data in 2017. The results are a setback for industries that need more of the electronic components.
TOURISM
TUI books hefty net loss
TUI AG, the world’s largest tourism operator, on Wednesday said that the spread of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 was having an impact on bookings, as it reported a hefty net loss. The German group, which runs its business year from October to September, booked a net loss of 2.48 billion euros (US$2.81 billion) for the past 12 months. However, demand had recovered quickly with its offerings “almost fully booked” from October through this month, TUI CEO Fritz Joussen said in a statement.
BRAZIL
Benchmark rate raised
The central bank on Wednesday increased its benchmark interest rate by 150 basis points for the second straight time, seeking to fight surging inflation even as Latin America’s biggest economy is stuck in recession. The increase, the seventh straight, was in line with analysts’ expectations. It brought the Selic rate to 9.25 percent, the highest since the middle of 2017. The decision was made unanimously by the nine members of the bank’s monetary policy committee, which said in a statement that it expected “another adjustment of the same magnitude” when it ends its next meeting on Feb. 2 next year.
FINANCE
Better CEO apologizes
The chief executive officer of Better Mortgage Corp has apologized for his manner of handling layoffs at the company, after a video of him firing 900 people last week via a Zoom call went viral on social media. Better CEO Vishal Garg, who has come under intense criticism after the Softbank Group Corp-backed company laid off about 9 percent of its workforce through the video call, said that he had “blundered the execution” of communicating the layoffs. “I realize that the way I communicated this news made a difficult situation worse,” Garg said. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in New York, Better offers mortgage and insurance products to homeowners through its online platform.
CONGLOMERATES
Keppel’s SPH bid approved
Keppel Corp shareholders yesterday approved the company’s bid to acquire a Singaporean media and property group. More than 98 percent of its shareholders present at a meeting voted for the deal, Keppel said in a statement. Keppel, which is linked to Temasek Holdings Pte, has said that its offer to acquire Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) Ltd is final and a “win-win” proposition for both firms. Keppel is locked in a battle with a consortium backed by a Singapore hotel tycoon and units of investment giant Temasek to buy SPH. The proposal by Cuscaden Peak Pte values SPH at S$3.9 billion (US$2.9 billion), higher than Keppel’s offer. SPH has described Cuscaden’s bid as superior and is urging shareholders to vote for it.
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
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