■ US economy
Service sector expands
The US service sector continued to expand in November, at a pace that surprised economists, a report showed Wednesday. The Institute for Supply Management said its index of the non-manufacturing economy jumped to 57.4 in November from 53.1 the previous month and 53.9 in September. That was much stronger than the 53.5 economists were expecting. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector. Service-sector companies have fared better than their manufacturing counterparts. The group's index of manufacturing activity has shown contraction for the past three months. November marked the 10th straight month of expansion in the service sector, and there were signs that the growth will continue. The new-orders index -- a key measure of future activity -- jumped to 58 in November from 50.9 in October.
■ Semiconductors
Intel may boost forecast
Intel Corp, the world's biggest semiconductor maker, probably will raise the low end of its fourth-quarter sales forecast because demand for personal computers is improving, investors and analysts said. Intel, which makes Pentium processors, will give a mid-quarter update today. Investors and analysts predict better-than-estimated PC demand this quarter will lead Intel to lift the floor on its sales forecast of US$6.5 billion to US$6.9 billion given Oct. 15. Sales estimates that Dell Computer Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co gave in November for their quarters ending in January matched previous forecasts by analysts, indicating Intel should meet its goal, investors said. An increase in shipments of motherboards, which link a PC's processor to other chips, and retail sales that are meeting analyst forecasts also are helping Intel, they said.
■ Online shopping
Top four engines used
The four top Internet search engines are used for more than 90 percent of global shopping referrals, according to a survey released Wednesday. The survey by the research group WebSideStory said Google, Yahoo, Microsoft's MSN and America Online accounted for 92.79 percent of all global search referrals to shopping Web sites. Google was first with 27.16 percent, followed by Yahoo (25.92 percent), MSN (24.11 percent) and AOL NetFind (15.6 percent). "This is critical information for retailers who are planning any type of online marketing campaign this holiday season," said Geoff Johnston, vice president of product marketing for StatMarket. "Search engines still represent the best source of new visitors." The survey coincides with other reports showing a growing dominance of the top Internet companies.
■ Trade Secrets
Sun Micro nabs thieves
Two Northern California men were indicted for stealing trade secrets from Sun Microsystems Inc, Transmeta Corp and others to enable a Chinese company to make microprocessors. Fei Ye and Ming Zhong conspired to commit economic espionage and carry stolen trade secrets to Hangzhou, China-based Supervision Inc, according to a grand jury indictment filed today in federal court in San Jose, California. Supervision Inc had applied for funding from the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China and was working with a professor at Zhejiang University, the indictment said.
Agencies
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
RSS