GERMANY
GDP growth flat in Q1
Europe’s largest economy narrowly dodged a recession in the first quarter of this year, but growth stagnated contrary to expectations for a slight rebound, preliminary data showed yesterday. GDP growth was flat in the quarter, federal statistics agency Destatis said. The industrial powerhouse, which had long been heavily reliant on Russian energy, was hit hard after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine sent gas prices surging. Analysts and the government predicted for months that surging prices, particularly of energy, would push the economy into a sharp winter recession, but expectations changed in the past few weeks as the vast industrial sector rebounded. While the economy appears to have avoided the worst, the first-quarter reading was below expectations from analysts surveyed by financial data firm FactSet for an expansion of 0.2 percent.
TECHNOLOGY
Huawei profit plummets
Huawei Technologies Co’s (華為) profit plunged 46 percent in the first quarter of this year, while revenue barely grew, as the Chinese telecom equipment maker spent heavily on research and development (R&D) to try to get around US sanctions. Net income dived to 3 billion yuan (US$433.5 million). That followed Huawei’s first annual profit decline in more than a decade, as years of US sanctions obliterated a once-thriving smartphone arm that competed with Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co. Huawei executives pledged to keep its R&D investment high to stay competitive in the market. The company earlier disclosed that last year’s research spending was 161.5 billion yuan, or about one-quarter of its annual sales.
ELECTRONICS
Sony offers cautious outlook
Sony Group Corp offered a conservative profit outlook for this fiscal year, signaling caution about the effects of a global consumer spending slump on its entertainment businesses. The Tokyo-based firm said it expects operating income of ￥1.17 trillion (US$8.6 billion) in the year ending March next year, below average analyst estimates of ￥1.27 trillion. This was largely down to its PlayStation division, for which Sony’s guidance fell short of consensus and the firm said it expects fewer sales of PlayStation Studios games this year. Sales of its flagship PlayStation 5 console reached 6.3 million units last quarter, more than tripling the supply-constrained numbers from the same period last year and showing Sony is finally able to distribute the hardware at scale. However, game sales fell to 68 million units from 70.5 million in the same period a year earlier. The firm reported operating profit of ￥128.5 billion.
INTERNET
Zuckerberg’s net worth soars
Meta Platforms Inc CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth soared by more than US$10 billion on Thursday, his third-biggest jump on record, after the Facebook parent surprised investors with robust first-quarter sales. Meta shares rose 14 percent after the earnings report, lifting Zuckerberg’s fortune to US$87.3 billion and boosting him up a notch on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index to 12th place. It was the highest Zuckerberg’s wealth has been in more than a year. Thursday’s move reversed the wealth destruction Zuckerberg experienced last year, when his net worth fell 57 percent, or US$71 billion, after a costly pivot to the metaverse and an industry-wide slump stirred concern over the company’s growth prospects. Zuckerberg used Thursday’s results to burnish his case for pressing on with investments in artificial intelligence and virtual reality.
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
‘DECENT RESULTS’: The company said it is confident thanks to an improving world economy and uptakes in new wireless and AI technologies, despite US uncertainty Pegatron Corp (和碩) yesterday said it plans to build a new server manufacturing factory in the US this year to address US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policy. That would be the second server production base for Pegatron in addition to the existing facilities in Taoyuan, the iPhone assembler said. Servers are one of the new businesses Pegatron has explored in recent years to develop a more balanced product lineup. “We aim to provide our services from a location in the vicinity of our customers,” Pegatron president and chief executive officer Gary Cheng (鄭光治) told an online earnings conference yesterday. “We
LEAK SOURCE? There would be concern over the possibility of tech leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday stayed mum after a report said that the chipmaker has pitched chip designers Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Broadcom Inc about taking a stake in a joint venture to operate Intel Corp’s factories. Industry sources told the Central News Agency (CNA) that the possibility of TSMC proposing to operate Intel’s wafer fabs is low, as the Taiwanese chipmaker has always focused on its core business. There is also concern over possible technology leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺)
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
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