JAPAN
GDP down less than forecast
The economy contracted in the first quarter, but at a slower pace than earlier estimated, the government said yesterday. The world’s third-largest economy contracted at an annual rate of 0.5 percent, Cabinet Office data showed. That was smaller than the 1 percent contraction in the preliminary estimate for Japan’s real GDP released last month. The economy contracted 0.1 percent quarter-on-quarter in the January-to-March period, better than the 0.2 percent quarterly contraction in the preliminary data.
APPAREL
Nike terminates China app
Nike Inc yesterday discontinued its popular Nike Run Club App in China, the company said. The US sportswear brand did not give a reason for the decision, but a company spokesperson yesterday said that it planned to provide Chinese runners with an “enhanced and localized solution in the future.” The app allows users to track their runs and challenge friends to compete. It has more than 8 million users in China, the company’s most profitable market.
APPAREL
Inditex net profit up 80%
Global clothing giant Inditex SA, which owns Zara, yesterday posted a surge in its first-quarter profits, despite closing its stores in Russia over the country invading Ukraine. The world’s biggest fashion retailer said its net profit increased 80 percent to 760 million euros (US$815 million) in the first three months of its financial year to April 31, from 440 million euros during the same period last year, when it was heavily effected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
AUTOMAKERS
BYD touts Tesla battery deal
BYD Co (比亞迪), the automaker backed by Warren Buffett, is readying to sell its own batteries to Tesla Inc, an executive at the Chinese company has told state media. “We are good friends with [Tesla chief executive officer] Elon Musk and we are preparing to supply batteries to Tesla,” BYD executive vice president Lian Yu-bo (廉玉波) told state television broadcaster CGTN yesterday. Tesla counts Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (新能源科技), LG Energy Solution Ltd and Panasonic Holdings Corp among its other suppliers.
JAPAN
Credit Suisse expects loss
Credit Suisse Group AG expects a loss at the groupwide level and its investment bank in the second quarter, adding to the Swiss lender’s woes after a string of profit warnings and hits. Market conditions have remained challenging after the invasion of Ukraine and monetary tightening across the world, leading to weak customer flows and ongoing client deleveraging, the bank said yesterday. While advisory revenues at the investment bank were resilient, low levels of capital markets issuance and widening credit spreads hit the unit’s financial performance in April and last month, the bank said.
SINGAPORE
Land sale plan boosted
The city-state plans to increase the supply of private homes by 26 percent as demand remains resilient and inventory continues to decline. Its land sale plan for the July-to-December period would add 3,505 private houses, up from 2,785 units in the first-half plan, the Ministry of National Development said on Tuesday. Singapore plans to sell five private residential sites, totaling an area of about 6.7 hectares. Two projects are estimated to launch in August, one in October and the remaining two in December, the ministry said.
ENERGY ISSUES: The TSIA urged the government to increase natural gas and helium reserves to reduce the impact of the Middle East war on semiconductor supply stability Chip testing and packaging service provider ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控) yesterday said it planned to invest more than NT$100 billion (US$3.15 billion) in building a new advanced chip testing facility in Kaohsiung to keep up with customer demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. That would be included in the company’s capital expenditure budget next year, ASE said. There is also room to raise this year’s capital spending budget from a record-high US$7 billion estimated three months ago, it added. ASE would have six factories under construction this year, another record-breaking number, ASE chief operating officer Tien Wu
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
For weeks now, the global tech industry has been waiting for a major artificial intelligence (AI) launch from DeepSeek (深度求索), seen as a benchmark for China’s progress in the fast-moving field. More than a year has passed since the start-up put Chinese AI on the map in early last year with a low-cost chatbot that performed at a similar level to US rivals. However, despite reports and rumors about its imminent release, DeepSeek’s next-generation “V4” model is nowhere in sight. Speculation is also swirling over the geopolitical implications of which computer chips were chosen to train and power the new
TECH WINNERS: Taiwan and South Korea reported robust trade, which suggests that they have critical advantages in the rapidly expanding AI supply chain, an official said Exports last month surged to a new high, as booming demand tied to artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure fueled shipments of advanced technology components, underscoring the nation’s pivotal role in the global semiconductor supply chain. Outbound shipments climbed to US$80.18 billion, the highest ever for a single month, rising 61.8 percent from a year earlier and marking the 29th consecutive month of growth, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. “The surge was driven primarily by global investment in AI infrastructure,” Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) said. The mass production of next-generation AI computing systems has accelerated procurement across the semiconductor supply
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