ELECTRONICS
ASMPT draws interest
ASMPT Ltd (先進太平洋股份有限公司), a semiconductor and electronics equipment maker, is attracting takeover interest from private equity firms, people with knowledge of the matter said. Alternative investment firm PAG is among those that have expressed interest in taking the Hong Kong-listed company private, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. PAG has sounded out several lenders about financing the potential deal, the people said. Founded in 1975, Singapore-headquartered ASMPT has more than 12,000 employees and operates in more than 30 countries, its Web site says.
ENERGY
Subsidies to hit US$1.65tn
The amount of money spent by governments subsidizing energy costs since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is set to reach US$1.65 trillion by the end of the year, credit ratings agency S&P Global estimated. The firm calculated the total soared to US$10 trillion once COVID-19 pandemic spending was added on and that this year would see the overall stock of global sovereign debt reach a record US$65 trillion in absolute terms. S&P based the figures on the 137 countries that it provides credit scores for. It forecast those countries would borrow the equivalent of US$10.5 trillion this year, below the record US$11.5 trillion set in 2021, but 40 percent higher than the pre-pandemic average. Commercial sovereign debt as a proportion of world GDP would increase to about 66 percent this year from just under 64 percent last year, although that would be well below the pandemic-induced peak of 74 percent of GDP in 2020.
AVIATION
Boeing expands in India
Boeing Co yesterday said it would set up a facility in India to convert 737 passenger planes into dedicated freighters to tap into regional and global demand for the service. The investment, which adds to the US manufacturer’s expansion into India on top of a record plane order by flag carrier Air India, comes despite a global economic slowdown that has weakened the global air cargo market. The International Air Transport Association said global cargo demand in January fell almost 15 percent year-on-year. Air freight rates were 28 percent below the levels seen at the same time last year, data provider WorldACD said on Thursday. Boeing said it would set up the conversion facility in Hyderabad with Indian maintenance, repair and overhaul provider GMR Aero Technic. The deal adds to Boeing’s US$1 billion supply chain sourcing from India and should help support India’s ambitions to become a global cargo hub.
AUTOMAKERS
Nissan EV stalls
Nissan Motor Co’s new Ariya electric vehicle (EV) has been hampered by problems at its high-tech production line, four people familiar with the matter said, slowing delivery of a car designed to put the automaker on the road to a comeback. Unveiled in 2020 to strong reviews, the crossover was Nissan’s first all-new global car in five years and signaled an intent to turn the corner on the turmoil that followed the ouster of former head Carlos Ghosn. However, production is running at least one-third below plan, keeping the Ariya from shipping to new customers, according to three of the people and production planning notes reviewed by Reuters. The shortfall represents a lost opportunity to capitalize on the Ariya’s buzz and test demand for the first of 19 new EVs Nissan plans to roll out by 2030.
China’s Huawei Technologies Co (華為) plans to start mass-producing its most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chip in the first quarter of next year, even as it struggles to make enough chips due to US restrictions, two people familiar with the matter said. The telecoms conglomerate has sent samples of the Ascend 910C — its newest chip, meant to rival those made by US chipmaker Nvidia Corp — to some technology firms and started taking orders, the sources told Reuters. The 910C is being made by top Chinese contract chipmaker Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯) on its N+2 process, but a lack
TECH BOOST: New TSMC wafer fabs in Arizona are to dramatically improve US advanced chip production, a report by market research firm TrendForce said With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) pouring large funds into Arizona, the US is expected to see an improvement in its status to become the second-largest maker of advanced semiconductors in 2027, Taipei-based market researcher TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said in a report last week. TrendForce estimates the US would account for a 21 percent share in the global advanced integrated circuit (IC) production market by 2027, sharply up from the current 9 percent, as TSMC is investing US$65 billion to build three wafer fabs in Arizona, the report said. TrendForce defined the advanced chipmaking processes as the 7-nanometer process or more
NVIDIA PLATFORM: Hon Hai’s Mexican facility is to begin production early next year and a Taiwan site is to enter production next month, Nvidia wrote on its blog Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the world’s biggest electronics manufacturer, yesterday said it is expanding production capacity of artificial intelligence (AI) servers based on Nvidia Corp’s Blackwell chips in Taiwan, the US and Mexico to cope with rising demand. Hon Hai’s new AI-enabled factories are to use Nvidia’s Omnivores platform to create 3D digital twins to plan and simulate automated production lines at a factory in Hsinchu, the company said in a statement. Nvidia’s Omnivores platform is for developing industrial AI simulation applications and helps bring facilities online faster. Hon Hai’s Mexican facility is to begin production early next year and the
Who would not want a social media audience that grows without new content? During the three years she paused production of her short do-it-yourself (DIY) farmer’s lifestyle videos, Chinese vlogger Li Ziqi (李子柒), 34, has seen her YouTube subscribers increase to 20.2 million from about 14 million. While YouTube is banned in China, her fan base there — although not the size of YouTube’s MrBeast, who has 330 million subscribers — is close to 100 million across the country’s social media platforms Douyin (抖音), Sina Weibo (新浪微博) and Xiaohongshu (小紅書). When Li finally released new videos last week — ending what has
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