Unilever to cut 7,500 jobs and spin off its ice cream business, which includes Ben & Jerry's

LONDON (AP) -- Unilever, the company that makes Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, Dove soaps and Vaseline, said Tuesday that it is cutting 7,500 jobs and spinning off its ice cream business to reduce costs and boost profits. London-based Unilever said its ice cream business, which also includes Magnum bars, has “distinct characteristics” from its other brands and would benefit from separate ownership to increase growth. It said the split is expected to be completed by the end of n

March 19, 2024

Chinese stocks slide as investors maintain caution after US inflation report

HONG KONG — China stocks were lower Wednesday after the overnight United States inflation report that signaled a diminished possibility of the Fed's rate cut made investors cautious. Hong Kong stocks edged less than 0.1 percent lower at 17,082.11, ending its three consecutive days of gain. Hang Seng Tech Index advanced 0.4 percent, with JD.com gaining 0.3 percent after the company announced a share buyback of as much as $3 billion over the next three years. The Shanghai Composite Inde

March 13, 2024

US Commerce secretary highlights 'tough' talks under way with chipmakers over grants

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo reiterated Monday that "tough" talks have been under way with advanced semiconductor companies over grants to be awarded under a program to reinvigorate chip manufacturing in the United States. Speaking at a forum, Raimondo said that the US government has thus far received over 600 statements of interest from relevant companies, and that "leading-edge" companies alone have requested more than $70 billion in grants for their manufacturing pr

Feb. 27, 2024

Taiwan chip giant TSMC announces second Japan plant

TSMC will build a second foundry in Japan, the semiconductor giant and its local partners announced Tuesday, weeks before its first in the country officially opens. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company -- which counts Apple and Nvidia as clients -- controls more than half the world's output of silicon wafers, used in everything from smartphones to cars and missiles. In recent years, it has had to navigate geopolitical tussles between the United States and China as the two face off ove

Feb. 6, 2024

US industry group calls for multilateral chip export controls to address disadvantage over S. Korea, other allies

An American industry group has called on the US government to craft new multilateral chip equipment export controls, claiming the current strict unilateral ones put US firms at a disadvantage over their rivals from South Korea and other countries. The Semiconductor Industry Association made the call in their written comments sent to the Bureau of Industry and Security under the Commerce Department on Jan. 17, as it stressed the need for the new controls to ensure what it called a "level pla

Feb. 1, 2024

Samsung family ranks 12th wealthiest in Asia

South Korea's Samsung family, led by Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong, has been ranked as the 12th wealthiest in Asia, according to recent data released by Bloomberg. The Samsung family is also the sole Korean conglomerate to be included among “Asia’s top 20 richest families” in the report. The Samsung family's assets amounted to $18.2 billion, securing the 12th position on the list, according to Bloomberg News on Wednesday. The latest ranking reflects a drop

Jan. 29, 2024

Biden Administration allows US trade tribunal's ban on Apple Watch imports

US President Joe Biden's administration on Tuesday declined to veto a government tribunal's decision to ban imports of Apple Watches based on a complaint from medical monitoring technology company Masimo. The US International Trade Commission's order will go into effect on Dec. 26, barring imports and sales of Apple Watches that use patent-infringing technology for reading blood-oxygen levels. Apple has included the pulse oximeter feature in its smart watches starting with its Ser

Dec. 26, 2023

AI can create more jobs than it potentially eliminates: Tech Mahindra's outgoing CEO

Generative AI technology can create more jobs than it is expected to eliminate, Tech Mahindra's outgoing CEO said, even as its ability to wreck the job market has been discussed widely on social media sites. "The use cases of Generative AI are still being defined, which means that it has the potential to create more job opportunities in the future. Undoubtedly, the possibilities are just opening, and there is more to come," CP Gurnani told Reuters in an interview. AI technologies

Dec. 18, 2023

Powell notes inflation is easing, downplays discussion of rate cuts

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Inflation is slowing steadily, but it’s too early to declare victory or to discuss when the Federal Reserve might cut interest rates, Chair Jerome Powell said. Speaking at Spelman College in Atlanta, Powell noted that consumer prices, excluding volatile food and energy costs, rose at just a 2.5 percent annual rate in the past six months. That’s not far above the Fed’s 2 percent inflation target. Still, more progress is needed, Powell said. He added, “It

Dec. 3, 2023

Elon Musk visits Israel to meet top leaders as accusations of antisemitism on X grow

Elon Musk, who's been under fire over accusations of antisemitism flourishing on his social media platform X, paid a visit Monday to Israel, where he toured a kibbutz that was attacked last month by Hamas militants and was set to meet with top leaders. The billionaire and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the Kfar Azza kibbutz, which was stormed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7. Musk, wearing a protective vest and escorted by a phalanx of security personnel, used his phone to

Nov. 27, 2023

[Graphic News] Beer imports from China plunge 43% after worker urination video at Tsingtao

South Korea’s beer imports from China plunged more than 40 percent last month from a year earlier following the release of a viral video showing a man urinating into a tank at Tsingtao Brewery, the customs office said. The amount of beer imports from China fell 43 percent on-year to 2,281 metric tons in October, and the value of beer purchases from the neighboring country declined 38 percent to $1.93 million, according to the Korea Customs Service. The video released on Oct. 19 shows a uni

Nov. 27, 2023

Shoppers click 'buy' as retailers slash prices ahead of Cyber Monday

Holiday shoppers in the U.S. are seeking out the best deals and strategically nabbing the deepest discounts ahead of Cyber Monday, according to data from retailer websites aggregated by third parties. Cyber Monday, as the first Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday has become known as merchants step up online promotions, is set to be the biggest online shopping day of the year in the United States. Strong online traffic on Black Friday demonstrated a notable pattern of shoppers putting time and

Nov. 26, 2023

[Graphic News] Hyundai stands as No. 2 EV player in US market

South Korea’s Hyundai Motor Group stands as the second-largest player in the US market for electric vehicles despite concerns surrounding Washington’s protectionism policy, data showed. Hyundai Motor took up 4.8 percent of the US EV market in the January-September period, with its smaller sister Kia accounting for 2.7 percent, according to US magazine Automotive News. Their combined market share came to 7.5 percent, taking up the second-largest slice of the US EV market following Tes

Nov. 21, 2023

OpenAI CEO's ouster was over "breakdown of communications," not "malfeasance" -memo

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman's firing was over a "breakdown in communication between Sam and the board," and not "malfeasance or anything related to our financial, business, safety, or security/privacy practices," Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap wrote in an internal company memo Saturday morning, viewed by Reuters. The board of OpenAI, the company behind hit product ChatGPT, on Friday pushed out its high-profile CEO Altman, sending shock waves across the tech industry. Th

Nov. 19, 2023

[Graphic News] Global dividends hit record $568b in second quarter

Dividends paid by the world’s biggest listed companies soared to a record $568.1 billion in the second quarter, with payouts to shareholders expected to grow further despite economic uncertainty, a study showed. Payments by the 1,200 biggest public companies rose more than expected, increasing by 4.9 percent compared to the same April-to-June period last year, according to the report by asset management firm Janus Henderson. Banks accounted for half of the world’s dividend growth as

Sept. 19, 2023

[Graphic News] Samsung maintains No. 1 position in global TV market

South Korea’s Samsung Electronics maintained its dominant position with the largest share of the TV market. According to market research firm Omdia, Samsung's market share was 31.2 percent in the first half of this year on the back of robust sales of premium and ultralarge models. LG Electronics ranked second with a 16.2 percent market share, followed by TCL, Hisense and Sony. LG, however, maintained its No. 1 position in the OLED TV market with 51.7 percent of the market share based

Sept. 7, 2023

EU targets Apple, Amazon, Alphabet, ByteDance, Meta, Microsoft in next phase of digital crackdown

LONDON — The European Union is targeting Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google parent Alphabet, Facebook owner Meta and TikTok parent ByteDance under new digital rules aimed at reining in the market power of online companies. The six companies were classified Wednesday as online "gatekeepers" that must face the highest level of scrutiny under the 27-nation bloc's Digital Markets Act. The act amounts to a list of do's and don'ts that seeks to prevent tech giants from c

Sept. 6, 2023

[Graphic News] Hyundai, Kia’s US market share stays above 10% in H1

The combined US market share of Hyundai Motor and its smaller affiliate Kia inched up in the first half of the year from a year earlier, managing to stay above the 10 percent range amid the recovery in demand and output, data showed. Their combined share came to 10.6 percent in the January-June period, up 0.3 percentage point from the previous year, according to the data by the US-based Automotive News outlet. Hyundai and Kia saw their combined market share rise to double digits for the first ti

Aug. 22, 2023

Survivors of Maui fires face power cuts and poor cell service as teams work to find and ID the dead

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Survivors of deadly wildfires on Maui contended with intermittent power and unreliable cell service as they sought help rebuilding their lives. Teams of people, meanwhile, labored to find the dead and identify them. With the death toll already at 106 , a mobile morgue unit with additional coroners arrived in Hawaii on Tuesday to help with the grim task of sorting through remains. The governor warned that a new storm could complicate the search and recovery. A week after

Aug. 16, 2023

[Graphic News] Global smartphone sales down 11% on-year, with Samsung leading market: report

Global smartphone shipments fell 11 percent on-year in the second quarter, a report showed, as the market continued to face headwinds of slower consumer demand amid macroeconomic uncertainties. Market research firm Canalys said the continued market slump impacted market leaders, like Samsung Electronics and Apple, which had to reduce their sell-in, or shipments to retailers. Samsung led the market with a 21 percent market share, followed by Apple at 17 percent, Xiaomi at 13 percent and Oppo at 1

Aug. 8, 2023