LODGING
Airbnb beats estimates
Airbnb Inc beat revenue and profit estimates in the fourth quarter of last year, bucking a wave of COVID-19 infections and heading into this year even stronger than before the pandemic. The shares jumped in extended trading. Revenue grew 78 percent to US$1.53 billion, Airbnb said in a statement on Tuesday. That beat analysts’ projections of US$1.46 billion. The San Francisco-based company reported net income of US$55 million compared with a loss of US$3.9 billion a year earlier, marking a record for the period. Earnings per share were US$0.08, beating estimates of US$0.03. Airbnb chief executive officer Brian Chesky called the results “the best year in our company’s history,” and said that the company was able to weather the pandemic because of its highly adaptable business model.
JAPAN
Tokyo stocks increase
Tokyo stocks closed sharply higher yesterday, after Wall Street rallied as fears of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine eased. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index closed up 2.22 percent or 595.21 points at 27,460.40, while the broader TOPIX gained 1.67 percent or 31.93 points to 1,946.63. After Wall Street stocks cheered Russia’s announcement that some of its troops on the countries’ border had started pulling back, “excess worries over the Ukraine situation eased,” supporting the Tokyo market, Okasan Online Securities Co said in a note. Among major shares, Sony Group Corp rallied 1.02 percent to ￥12,335 after announcing that capital expenditure on a joint plant with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) would rise by more than ￥100 billion (US$864 million) to US$8.6 billion.
INTERNET
Facebook settles suit
Facebook agreed to pay US$90 million to settle a decade-old privacy lawsuit accusing it of tracking users’ Internet activity even after they had logged out of the social media Web site. A proposed preliminary settlement was filed on Monday night with the US District Court in San Jose, California, and requires a judge’s approval. The accord also requires Facebook to delete data it collected improperly. Users accused the Meta Platforms Inc unit of breaching federal and state privacy and wiretapping laws by using plug-ins to store cookies that tracked when they visited outside Web sites containing Facebook “like” buttons. Facebook then allegedly compiled users’ browsing histories into profiles that it sold to advertisers. The case had been dismissed in June 2017, but was revived in April 2020 by a federal appeals court, which said users could try to prove that the company profited unjustly and violated their privacy. Facebook denied wrongdoing, but settled to avoid the costs and risks of a trial, settlement papers said.
TRANSPORTATION
AirAsia may rent flying taxis
Malaysia’s AirAsia is close to reaching an agreement to lease Vertical Aerospace Ltd flying taxis, people familiar with the matter said, adding to a raft of carriers moving into the potential market to offer short, battery-powered flights. The people asked not to be named because discussions were confidential. Avolon, an investor in Vertical, has ordered 500 of the UK start-up’s VX4 aircraft, conditioned on milestones including certification. The commitment is likely to cover more than 50 VX4 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, two of the people said. The eVTOLs, which are in development, carry four passengers and a pilot for a target range of more than 160km, enough for short hops across or between cities.
TECH RACE: The Chinese firm showed off its new Mate XT hours after the latest iPhone launch, but its price tag and limited supply could be drawbacks China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) yesterday unveiled the world’s first tri-foldable phone, as it seeks to expand its lead in the world’s biggest smartphone market and steal the spotlight from Apple Inc hours after it debuted a new iPhone. The Chinese tech giant showed off its new Mate XT, which users can fold three ways like an accordion screen door, during a launch ceremony in Shenzhen. The Mate XT comes in red and black and has a 10.2-inch display screen. At 3.6mm thick, it is the world’s slimmest foldable smartphone, Huawei said. The company’s Web site showed that it has garnered more than
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (世界先進) and Episil Technologies Inc (漢磊) yesterday announced plans to jointly build an 8-inch fab to produce silicon carbide (SiC) chips through an equity acquisition deal. SiC chips offer higher efficiency and lower energy loss than pure silicon chips, and they are able to operate at higher temperatures. They have become crucial to the development of electric vehicles, artificial intelligence data centers, green energy storage and industrial devices. Vanguard, a contract chipmaker focused on making power management chips and driver ICs for displays, is to acquire a 13 percent stake in Episil for NT$2.48 billion (US$77.1 million).
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