SOFTWARE
Google to buy Quickoffice
Google is buying Quickoffice, the maker of a widely used mobile app for working on documents created in Microsoft’s programs for word processing, spreadsheets and presentations. The deal announced on Tuesday gives Google Inc more tools to undercut Microsoft Corp, as more people get work done on smartphones and tablet computers. Quickoffice makes those devices compatible with Microsoft Office, even if the software suite is not installed on them. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
ELECTRONICS
Sony bosses shun bonuses
Seven Sony executives, including chairman Howard Stringer and president Kazuo Hirai, are giving up their performance-based bonus pay. The Tokyo-based electronics and entertainment company said yesterday that they were forgoing bonuses for the fiscal year through March because of the massive challenges to turn around the business. Sony did not disclose how much money was being returned. The company paid ¥224 million (US$2.8 million) in such bonuses for the fiscal year through March 2011 to eight executives.
FAST FOOD
Burger King targets Russia
Burger King is expanding its empire overseas, this time in Russia. The world’s second-largest hamburger chain said on Tuesday it had reached a deal with its franchise operator in the country to open several hundred new locations in the next few years. There are currently 57 Burger King outlets in Russia. The deal continues the Miami-based chain’s focus on expanding in emerging markets at a time when the fast-food industry is becoming increasingly saturated in the US. In the past year, 80 percent of Burger King’s new openings have been in the region encompassing Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
BANKING
German, Austrian ratings cut
Moody’s Investors Service cut the credit ratings of six German banking groups, including Commerzbank AG, and Austria’s three largest banks, such as Erste Group Bank AG, yesterday, saying they face risks if the eurozone crisis deepens. Moody’s said German lenders face risks to the quality of their assets if the eurozone crisis deepens or the global economy slows more. For the Austrian banks, Moody’s said vulnerabilities from operating conditions in Central and Eastern Europe were the reasons for the ratings cut.
ENVIRONMENT
Firms eye ‘greener’ plastic
Five leading US global companies, including Coca-Cola and Ford, on Tuesday unveiled a joint effort to develop 100 percent plant-based plastics in their products, cutting the use of fossil fuels. Coca-Cola, Ford, Heinz, Nike and Procter & Gamble said they were launching a working group focused on speeding up the development and use of 100 percent plant-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic. PET is a durable, lightweight plastic. All five companies use PET based on fossil fuels such as oil in bottles, apparel, footwear, and automotive fabric and carpet.
MALAYSIA
Weaker demand hits exports
The trade ministry reported flat export growth for April yesterday as weaker demand in the trade-dependent economy’s key European and US markets offset continued strong shipments to China. Malaysia exported 57.7 billion ringgit (US$18.2 billion) of goods in April, just shy of the 57.8 billion ringgit reported in April of last year.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$7.5 billion into its US subsidiary, the Department of Investment Review said in a statement. The department approved TSMC’s application of investing in TSMC Arizona Corp, which is engaged in the manufacturing, sales, testing and design of IC and other semiconductor devices, it said. The latest capital injection follows a US$5 billion investment for TSMC Arizona approved in June. The chipmaker has broken ground on two advanced fabs in Arizona with aggregated investments approved by the department totaling US$24 billion thus far. According to TSMC, the first Arizona
The lethal hack of Hezbollah’s Asian-branded pagers and walkie-talkies has sparked an intense search for the devices’ path, revealing a murky market for older technologies where buyers might have few assurances about what they are getting. While supply chains and distribution channels for higher-margin and newer products are tightly managed, that is not the case for older electronics from Asia where counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product, analysts and consultants say. The response from the companies at the center of the booby-trapped gadgets that killed 37
FRIENDLY TAKEOVER: While Qualcomm Inc’s proposal to buy some or all of Intel raises the prospect of other competitors, Broadcom Inc is staying on the sidelines Qualcomm Inc has approached Intel Corp to discuss a potential acquisition of the struggling chipmaker, people with knowledge of the matter said, raising the prospect of one of the biggest-ever merger and acquisition deals. California-based Qualcomm proposed a friendly takeover for Intel in recent days, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The proposal is for all of the chipmaker, although Qualcomm has not ruled out buying some parts of Intel and selling off others. It is uncertain whether the initial approach would lead to an agreement and any deal is likely to come under close antitrust scrutiny
SECURITY CONCERNS: The proposed ban on Chinese autonomous vehicle software and hardware would go into effect with the 2027 and 2030 model years respectively The US Department of Commerce today is expected to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on US roads due to national security concerns, two sources said. US President Joe Biden’s administration has raised concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on US drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the Internet and navigation systems. The proposed regulation would ban the import and sale of vehicles from China with key communications or automated driving system software or hardware, said the two sources, who declined to be identified because the