TECHNOLOGY
Sony board head to retire
Sony Corp board chairman Howard Stringer, who became the first non-Japanese executive to lead the company, said he would retire in June. Stringer, 71, will step down at the company’s annual shareholder meeting, the executive said on Friday in a speech at the Japan Society in New York. Kazuo Hirai, 52, succeeded him as chief executive officer almost a year ago. A surprise choice for CEO in June 2005, the Welsh-born Stringer struggled to bring Sony into a digital age where rivals offered phones and TVs with more features at often lower prices. Stringer said he would probably sit on boards in the healthcare and education fields, and would continue as chairman of the American Film Institute, among other pursuits.
CONSULTANCY
IBM to focus on data services
International Business Machines Corp (IBM) CEO Ginni Rometty sees “big data” services, which let customers mine vast troves of information to make better decisions, as the company’s biggest focus this year. “I want you to think about data as the next natural resource,” she told the audience of business and political leaders. Data-based insight helped reduce crime by 30 percent in Memphis, Tennessee, and correctly predicted the outcome of swing states for US President Barack Obama’s campaign, she said. For IBM, the capabilities are helping it break into new overseas markets and sell services covering a wider range of tasks — from traffic management to weather monitoring to payroll. About 80 percent of growth is coming from outside the US, she said.
BRAZIL
Staple food tax cut
Authorities are cutting all federal taxes on staple foods in a bid to tame inflation, after a report on Friday showed consumer prices rose more than analysts forecast for an eighth straight month. A weaker currency, record low borrowing costs and US$23 billion in tax cuts failed to kick-start the economy last year. Instead, the measures helped fuel inflation that is running faster than in Mexico, Colombia or Chile and approaching the 6.5 percent upper limit of the central bank’s target range. Eliminating the 9.25 percent PIS/Cofins taxes on staple foodstuffs will both rein in prices and stimulate the economy as Brazilians improve their ability to save and consume, President Dilma Rousseff said. The measure will reduce tax revenue by 7.3 billion reais (US$3.7 billion) annually. Consumer prices rose 0.6 percent last month, above the 0.49 percent forecast from 44 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, the national statistics agency said in Rio de Janeiro on Friday.
RESTAURANTS
McDonald’s sales steady
McDonald’s Corp, the world’s largest restaurant chain, said sales at stores open at least 13 months fell less than analysts estimated last month as low prices kept consumers coming to restaurants amid a weak economy. Global same-store sales fell 1.5 percent, the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company said on Friday in a statement. Analysts projected a 1.6 percent drop, the average of 13 estimates compiled by Consensus Metrix. McDonald’s sales were helped by “everyday affordable prices,” CEO Don Thompson said in Friday’s release.
STIMULUS PLANS: An official said that China would increase funding from special treasury bonds and expand another program focused on key strategic sectors China is to sharply increase funding from ultra-long treasury bonds this year to spur business investment and consumer-boosting initiatives, a state planner official told a news conference yesterday, as Beijing cranks up fiscal stimulus to revitalize its faltering economy. Special treasury bonds would be used to fund large-scale equipment upgrades and consumer goods trade-ins, said Yuan Da (袁達), deputy secretary-general of the Chinese National Development and Reform Commission. “The size of ultra-long special government bond funds will be sharply increased this year to intensify and expand the implementation of the two new initiatives,” Yuan said. Under the program launched last year, consumers can
Citigroup Inc and Bank of America Corp said they are leaving a global climate-banking group, becoming the latest Wall Street lenders to exit the coalition in the past month. In a statement, Citigroup said while it remains committed to achieving net zero emissions, it is exiting the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). Bank of America said separately on Tuesday that it is also leaving NZBA, adding that it would continue to work with clients on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The banks’ departure from NZBA follows Goldman Sachs Group Inc and Wells Fargo & Co. The largest US financial institutions are under increasing pressure
FUTURE TECH: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang would give the keynote speech at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, which is also expected to highlight autonomous vehicles Gadgets, robots and vehicles imbued with artificial intelligence (AI) would once again vie for attention at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) this week, as vendors behind the scenes would seek ways to deal with tariffs threatened by US president-elect Donald Trump. The annual Consumer Electronics Show opens formally in Las Vegas tomorrow, but preceding days are packed with product announcements. AI would be a major theme of the show, along with autonomous vehicles ranging from tractors and boats to lawn mowers and golf club trollies. “Everybody is going to be talking about AI,” Creative Strategies Inc analyst Carolina Milanesi said. “From fridges to ovens
TECH PULL: Electronics heavyweights also attracted strong buying ahead of the CES, analysts said. Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed amid Trump’s incoming presidency Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares yesterday closed at a new high in the wake of a rally among tech stocks on Wall Street on Friday, moving the TAIEX sharply higher by more than 600 points. TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the TAIEX, rose 4.65 percent to close at a new high of NT$1,125, boosting its market value to NT$29.17 trillion (US$888 billion) and contributing about 400 points to the TAIEX’s rise. The TAIEX ended up 639.41 points, or 2.79 percent, at 23,547.71. Turnover totaled NT$406.478 billion, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The surge in TSMC follows a positive performance
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