Labor: IBM to cut 4,000 jobs
International Business Machines Corp, the world's biggest computer maker, will likely cut about 4,000 jobs as it completes its purchase of Pricewater-houseCoopers LLC's consulting unit, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. It hasn't been decided yet how many job cuts will come from Pricewaterhouse and how many from IBM's internal consulting division, known as Business Innovation Services, the Journal said. The Pricewaterhouse unit has about 30,000 workers and the IBM arm has 50,000 employees. A majority of the cuts are expected to occur in the support-staff area and IBM plans to keep employees with direct client relationships, the paper said.
Trucking: Consolidated to close
Consolidated Freightways Corp, the third-biggest US trucker, said it's shutting down operations and plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy today, resulting in the loss of about 15,500 jobs. More than 80 percent of those workers will be fired immediately, and the remainder will be "phased out," the company said in a statement distributed by Business Wire. Consolidated Freightways, which has had losses for seven straight quarters, named management consultant John Brincko Chief Executive Officer in May, replacing Patrick Blake. Consolidated lost US$104.3 million last year, while larger rivals Yellow Corp and Roadway Corp were profitable.
PC processors: AMD to move headquarters
Advanced Micro Devices Inc, the world's second-biggest maker of personal-computer processors, will relocate its South Asia Pacific headquarters to Shanghai, the latest in a string of companies moving offices to China from Hong Kong. The Sunnyvale, California-based company, which competes with Intel Corp, said the move will become effective Oct. 1, according to a statement distributed by Business Wire. AMD officials couldn't be reached for comment.
Electronics: Samsung keeps spending
Samsung Electronics Co said it will maintain spending on new plants and equipment, pegged at US$4 billion this year, even as the world's biggest memory-chip maker estimates demand for chips, cell phones and consumer electronics may not recover until next year. Samsung is the only company in the US$11 billion memory-chip market that's able to earn a profit from making dynamic random-access memory chips. The company has retained its lead over rivals such as Micron Technology Inc by outspending them on research and new facilities, locking up the market for chips and flat-panel screens that others cannot mass produce.
Economy: Australia starts to slow
Australia's racing economy has finally been reined in by global stock market turmoil and a domestic drought, virtually eliminating the prospect of an immediate interest rate hike, analysts said yesterday. Economic growth dipped to 3.8 percent after remaining above 4 percent this year as the central bank tried applying the brakes to prevent overheating. Analysts said the figures were a clear indication that the Australian economy was feeling the impact of a slump in sharemarkets around the world and the worst domestic drought in almost a decade.
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
ELITE UNIT: President William Lai yesterday praised the National Police Agency’s Special Operations Group after watching it go through assault training and hostage rescue drills The US Navy regularly conducts global war games to develop deterrence strategies against a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, aimed at making the nation “a very difficult target to take,” US Acting Chief of Naval Operations James Kilby said on Wednesday. Testifying before the US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, Kilby said the navy has studied the issue extensively, including routine simulations at the Naval War College. The navy is focused on five key areas: long-range strike capabilities; countering China’s command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting; terminal ship defense; contested logistics; and nontraditional maritime denial tactics, Kilby
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