■ Semiconductors
Intel earnings take a dive
Intel Corp on Wednesday reported a 57 percent dive in its quarterly net earnings to US$885 million on weaker demand for its computer chips. But at US$0.15, earnings per share for the company in the three months to June beat Wall Street forecasts by US$0.02. And the company said that with the effects of share-based compensation stripped out, its quarterly net earnings would have come to US$1.1 billion or US$0.19 cents per share. Nevertheless, Intel's revenues slipped 13 percent from the same quarter a year ago to US$8 billion.
■ Real estate
Chinese to invest in Russia
Five Shanghai state-owned companies will spend US$1.3 billion to develop a massive real estate project in St Petersburg, making it the largest Chinese investment in Russia, a report said yesterday. "The Pearl of the Baltic" project will develop a 208 hectare site that will be able to house 35,000 people, according to the South China Morning Post. The project will take six to eight years to complete, and the consortium will also build roads, power, water and gas lines, as well as schools, kindergartens, libraries and health clinics, the paper said.
■ Semiconductors
Hynix profits rise sharply
Hynix Semiconductor Inc said yesterday its second quarter profit rose sharply amid strength in personal computer chip prices and healthy shipments of flash memory chips used in digital devices. Hynix, the world's second-largest memory chip manufacturer, earned 324.4 billion won (US$339 million) in net profit in the three months ended June 30, the company said in a statement, 36 percent higher than the same period last year. "DRAM prices held up relatively firm," Hynix said, despite the traditionally slow nature of the second quarter. Weakness in prices for flash memory were offset by strong shipments, the company said.
■ Oil
Yukos chief quits
The president of the embattled Yukos oil company, Steven Theede, announced his resignation yesterday just hours ahead of a meeting of creditors that could decide to liquidate the company. Theede said he had "exhausted all possibilities ... to either preserve or recover value for the company as a result of the expropriation of Yuganskneftegaz," referring to the giant West Siberian production unit that was sold at a disputed auction in 2004 against Yukos' crippling, multibillion-dollar back tax claims. He mentioned in particular his inability to stop this week's initial public offering of the state-controlled OAO Rosneft company on the London stock exchange; Rosneft was the company that ultimately acquired Yuganskneftegaz.
■ M&A
Firms join Westinghouse bid
Japanese companies Marubeni Corp and Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co as well as Shaw Group Inc of the US are expected to join Toshiba Corp's bid to acquire Westinghouse Electric Co for US$5.4 billion, Kyodo News agency reported yesterday, without naming sources. The report said Toshiba is likely to acquire a stake of at least 51 percent and Marubeni around 20 percent. Toshiba signed an agreement with Westinghouse's parent British Nuclear Fuels PLC in February to acquire Westinghouse and obtained approval from US authorities for the purchase last month.
INSURRECTION: The NSB said it found evidence the CCP was seeking snipers in Taiwan to target members of the military and foreign organizations in the event of an invasion The number of Chinese spies prosecuted in Taiwan has grown threefold over a four-year period, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said in a report released yesterday. In 2021 and 2022, 16 and 10 spies were prosecuted respectively, but that number grew to 64 last year, it said, adding that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was working with gangs in Taiwan to develop a network of armed spies. Spies in Taiwan have on behalf of the CCP used a variety of channels and methods to infiltrate all sectors of the country, and recruited Taiwanese to cooperate in developing organizations and obtaining sensitive information
BREAKTHROUGH: The US is making chips on par in yield and quality with Taiwan, despite people saying that it could not happen, the official said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has begun producing advanced 4-nanometer (nm) chips for US customers in Arizona, US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said, a milestone in the semiconductor efforts of the administration of US President Joe Biden. In November last year, the commerce department finalized a US$6.6 billion grant to TSMC’s US unit for semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona. “For the first time ever in our country’s history, we are making leading edge 4-nanometer chips on American soil, American workers — on par in yield and quality with Taiwan,” Raimondo said, adding that production had begun in recent
Seven hundred and sixty-four foreigners were arrested last year for acting as money mules for criminals, with many entering Taiwan on a tourist visa for all-expenses-paid trips, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said on Saturday. Although from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26 last year, 26,478 people were arrested for working as money mules, the bureau said it was particularly concerned about those entering the country as tourists or migrant workers who help criminals and scammers pick up or transfer illegally obtained money. In a report, officials divided the money mules into two groups, the first of which are foreigners, mainly from Malaysia
SILICON VALLEY HUB: The office would showcase Taiwan’s strengths in semiconductors and artificial intelligence, and help Taiwanese start-ups connect with global opportunities Taiwan has established an office in Palo Alto, one of the principal cities of Silicon Valley in California, aimed at helping Taiwanese technology start-ups gain global visibility, the National Development Council said yesterday. The “Startup Island Taiwan Silicon Valley hub” at No. 299 California Avenue is focused on “supporting start-ups and innovators by providing professional consulting, co-working spaces, and community platforms,” the council said in a post on its Web site. The office is the second overseas start-up hub established by the council, after a similar site was set up in Tokyo in September last year. Representatives from Taiwanese start-ups, local businesses and
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