JAPAN
Parliament boosts spending
Parliament yesterday passed a record ￥31.9 trillion (US$296.72 billion) extra budget, to shore up the economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The spending provides financing for struggling companies, payroll subsidies and aid to the medical system. It would help fund a ￥117 trillion stimulus package unveiled last month that doubles the scale of Japan’s virus response. The second record extra budget since April comes amid the nation’s worst economic crisis in decades, but it also adds to a mountain of public debt. S&P Global Ratings this week cut its outlook on Japan’s sovereign bond rating, citing the setback to debt stabilization efforts. To fund its additional general account spending, the government is to boost its debt issuance by ￥59.5 trillion, with some of the money used for government-led financing programs, the Ministry of Finance said.
GAMING
Sony reveals PS5
Sony Corp on Thursday unveiled two versions of its upcoming PlayStation 5 (PS5) game console and an array of new games from the virtual stage, showcasing its next-generation lineup for the first time ahead of a holiday season showdown against Microsoft Corp’s Xbox. A new Spider-Man game would be ready for the holidays, alongside the black-and-white home console. Sony next year would also have a new Gran Turismo racing game and an enhanced PS5 version of Take-Two Interactive Software Inc’s bestselling Grand Theft Auto V. The second variant of the PS5, dubbed the Digital Edition, would eschew the Blu-ray disc drive, leaving downloads as the only way to acquire content. This move could cut out retailers like Amazon.com Inc, GameStop Corp and Walmart Inc.
GERMANY
Cabinet primes stimulus
The government is moving to implement the first elements of a sweeping 130 billion euro (US$147.2 billion) stimulus package to help pull its economy out of the worst recession since World War II. At a special meeting yesterday, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet was due to sign off on several key initiatives agreed last week. The goal is to get the bulk of the plan approved by parliament before a two-month recess. A value-added tax cut designed to reinvigorate demand after weeks of lockdown restrictions is set to go into effect on July 1. The Cabinet is also to consider emergency aid for small and mid-sized companies as well as a family bonus of 300 euros per child. The government intends to increase borrowing this year by at least 30 billion euros, requiring further suspension of constitutional debt restrictions, people familiar with the plan have said.
STOCK MARKETS
Asia has biggest IPO week
China’s No. 2 online retailer JD.com Inc’s (京東) US$3.9 billion Hong Kong listing has given Asia its biggest week for initial public offerings (IPOs) this year, joining a global rebound in initial share sales. Companies priced US$4.37 billion worth of listings, the most since the last week of last year, data compiled by Bloomberg showed. JD makes up the bulk of the volume, with the rest coming from listings in China and South Korea. JD’s share sale, the second-biggest this year globally, follows Chinese gaming giant NetEase Inc’s (網易) US$2.7 billion Hong Kong listing last week. Listings have been rebounding on the back of stronger markets and lower volatility, as issuers look to take advantage of what could be a short-lived window after being forced to sit on the sidelines earlier in the year.
Apple Inc increased iPhone production in India by about 53 percent last year and now makes a quarter of its marquee devices there, reflecting the US company’s efforts to avoid tariffs on China. The company assembled about 55 million iPhones in India last year, up from 36 million a year earlier, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named because the numbers aren’t public. Apple makes about 220 million to 230 million iPhones a year globally, with India’s share of the total increasing rapidly. Apple has accelerated its expansion in the world’s most populous country in recent years, bolstered
HEADWINDS: The company said it expects its computer business, as well as consumer electronics and communications segments to see revenue declines due to seasonality Pegatron Corp (和碩) yesterday said it aims to grow its artificial intelligence (AI) server revenue more than 10-fold this year from last year, driven by orders from neocloud solutions clients and large cloud service providers. The electronics manufacturing service provider said AI server revenue growth would be driven primarily by the Nvidia Corp GB300 server platform. Server shipments are expected to increase each quarter this year, with the second half likely to outperform the first half, it said. The AI server market is expected to broaden this year as more inference applications emerge, which would drive demand for system-on-chip, application-specific integrated circuits
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) share of the global foundry market rose to almost 70 percent last year amid booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI), market information advisory firm TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Thursday. The contract chipmaker posted US$122.54 billion in revenue, up 36.1 percent from a year earlier, accounting for 69.9 percent of the global market, TrendForce said. Its share was up from 64.4 percent in 2024, it said. TSMC’s closest rival, Samsung Electronics, was a distant second, posting US$12.63 billion in sales, down 3.9 percent from a year earlier, for a 7.2 percent share of the global market. In the
At a massive shipyard in North Vancouver, Canadian workers grind metal beams for a powerful new icebreaker crucial to cementing the country’s presence in the increasingly contested arctic. Icebreakers are specialized, expensive vessels able to navigate in the frozen far north. And “this is the crown jewel,” said Eddie Schehr, vice president of production at the Seaspan shipyard. For Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who heads to Norway next Friday to observe arctic defense drills involving troops from 14 NATO states, Canada’s extreme north has emerged as a strategic priority. “Canada is and forever will be an Arctic nation,” he said ahead of
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