ACQUISITIONS
Amazon closes MGM deal
Amazon.com Inc said it closed the US$8.5 billion acquisition of film studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) after regulators declined to challenge the deal, cementing the company’s biggest takeover in five years. The closing, announced on Thursday in a statement on Amazon’s Web site, marks the latest deal by a US technology giant to win approval despite criticism that the companies have been able to gobble up smaller firms with little pushback from competition enforcers. EU regulators signed off on the MGM deal on Tuesday after finding it posed no competition problems. The deadline for the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to challenge the deal before it closed passed without the agency taking action. The FTC still has the authority to sue to block the deal if a majority of commissioners vote to file a lawsuit.
GAMING
GameStop reports loss
GameStop Corp reported a surprise loss during the holiday quarter and said it would launch a marketplace for non-fungible tokens (NFT) by the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2022. The company reported an adjusted loss of US$1.86 per share, while analysts had projected a profit of US$0.84 per share. Net sales rose 6.2 percent to US$2.25 billion in the three months ended Jan. 29, the video game retailer said in a statement on Thursday. Analysts had projected US$2.23 billion. GameStop has suffered from a combination of supply chain issues and an opaque business strategy. The latest push into NFTs has excited investors, but there are still few details about the plan. The company said that it has hired “dozens of additional individuals with experience in areas such as blockchain gaming, ecommerce and technology, product refurbishment and operations.”
UNITES STATES
Uranium bill introduced
Senators on Thursday introduced a bill to ban imports of Russian uranium to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine. The bill comes as the administration of President Joe Biden has been weighing sanctions on Russian nuclear power company Rosatom, a major supplier of fuel and technology to power plants around the world. The administration’s ban on imports of Russian energy, such as oil and liquefied natural gas, does not yet include uranium. “Banning Russian uranium imports will further defund Russia’s war machine, help revive American uranium production and increase our national security,” said Senator John Barrasso, who introduced the bill. The nation has more than 90 nuclear reactors, more than any other country, and is heavily reliant on imported uranium. Russian uranium made up 16 percent of its purchases in 2020, Energy Information Administration data showed, with Canada and Kazakhstan each providing 22 percent.
ENERGY
India buys Russian oil
State-run Indian Oil Corp bought 3 million barrels of crude oil from Russia earlier this week to secure its energy needs, resisting Western pressure to avoid such purchases, an Indian government official said yesterday. The official said that India has not imposed sanctions against buying oil and will be looking to purchase more from Russia, despite calls not to from the US and other countries. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to reporters. Indian media reports said that Russia was offering a discount on oil purchases of 20 percent below global benchmark prices.
Contract chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電) yesterday said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Polar Semiconductor LLC to collaborate on the production of 8-inch wafers in the US. The collaboration aims to strengthen 8-inch wafer manufacturing in the US amid Washington’s efforts to increase onshore manufacturing of semiconductors, contribute to supply chain resilience against shifting geopolitical dynamics, and ensure a secure domestic supply of power semiconductors critical to automotive, electric grids, robotic manufacturing and data centers, the companies said in a joint statement. Under the MOU, Polar and UMC will identify devices for Polar to manufacture at
TECH TITANS: Amazon’s latest chip joins Google in competing for the 90 percent market share held by Nvidia, which claims it is ‘a generation ahead of the industry’ Amazon Web Services (AWS) on Tuesday launched its in-house-built Trainium3 artificial intelligence (AI) chip, marking a significant push to compete with Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market for AI computing power. The move intensifies competition in the AI chip market, where Nvidia dominates with an estimated 80 to 90 percent market share for products used in training large language models that power the likes of ChatGPT. Google last week caused tremors in the industry when it was reported that Facebook-parent Meta Platforms Inc would employ Google AI chips in data centers, signaling new competition for Nvidia. This followed the release last month of
Two companies wholly owned by the daughter of the founder of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Monday reported to the Taiwan Stock Exchange that they would dispose of all of the Hon Hai shares they hold. In filings with the exchange, Hong Wei Investment Co (鋐維) said it would sell the 2.771 million Hon Hai shares it holds and Frontier Investment Corp (承鋒投資) said it would sell its 2.409 million Hon Hai shares from tomorrow until Jan. 3 next year. The two companies are wholly owned and chaired by Shirley Gou (郭曉玲), the eldest daughter of Hon Hai founder Terry
TARIFF TALKS: The US secretary of commerce is eyeing more than US$300 billion in investments and said Taiwan would train US workers, but Taipei has denied the latter US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said the US is expecting a large investment pledge from Taiwan in trade talks, while President William Lai (賴清德) listed areas that need improvement in order for projects to be completed. “We’re in the midst of discussions,” Lutnick said on Wednesday. “But the fact is, this administration’s goal is to bring semiconductor manufacturing to America.” Lai on Wednesday said Taiwan is supportive of US President Donald Trump’s goal of reindustrializing the US, including efforts to ramp up semiconductor production. Such a goal would require the US to reduce its reliance on Taiwan as a key source
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