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Nintendo reported operating profit of ¥94.5 billion and revenue of ¥334.9 billion in the September quarter, both beating analyst expectations.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 8, 2023

Nintendo lifts annual profit forecasts

The Kyoto-based entertainment company said it now expects operating income of ¥500 billion ($3.3 billion), up from ¥450 billion previously.
In a new program called Lantern, big tech companies will share signals of activity that violate their policies on child exploitation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 8, 2023

Tech giants pool efforts to fight online child sex abuse

Child victims of abuse online are a hot-button issue for regulators and tech firms are eager to show they are taking adequate measures to protect them.
A Nissan auto dealership in the Botafogo neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The firm hopes to more than double its market share in Brazil, to 7% from the current 3.4% in 2026.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 8, 2023

Nissan to invest $575 million in Brazil as it aims to double share

Nissan hopes to more than double its market share in Brazil, to 7% from the current 3.4% in 2026.
The construction site of a new Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. factory in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 9, 2023

Japan set to earmark ¥2 trillion for chips in extra budget

Japan is in the midst of a spending spree to revive its chip industry with an aim to triple the sales of domestically produced semiconductors by 2030.
SoftBank Group booked a ¥789 billion quarterly loss as it took a hit from the bankruptcy of WeWork.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 9, 2023

SoftBank books ¥789 billion quarterly loss

SoftBank's loss marks its fourth straight quarter in the red as the tech giant struggles amid a weak yen.
Japanese state-backed fund INCJ has sold all but a token portion of its stake in semiconductor manufacturer Renesas Electronics.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 10, 2023

Japan fund INCJ sells ¥279 billion of Renesas shares

The shares have primarily been sold to overseas institutional investors, INCJ said.
SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher speaks as she is flanked by Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA's executive director and chief negotiator, during a news conference following the end of the Screen Actors Guild strike in Los Angeles on Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 11, 2023

Actors union explains AI guardrails in strike deal

The Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) reached a deal with studios like Disney and Netflix this week to end its nearly four-month strike.
Toru Yamano, chairman of the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives, tastes Koshihikari brand rice from Niigata Prefecture that contains immature grains, during a news conference in Tokyo on Nov. 9.
BUSINESS
Nov 15, 2023

Torrid summer heat hits crop production in Japan

The extreme weather over the summer is now leading to lower shipments and sharp price increases.
China trails Musk in low-Earth orbit — a zone within 2,000 kilometers of the planet’s surface that’s become increasingly attractive for companies such as SpaceX offering high-speed internet access.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 17, 2023

China’s rivalry with Musk’s SpaceX moves to even lower orbit

Beijing is looking to deploy satellites in very low-Earth orbit, a so-far untapped region within an altitude of 450 kilometers.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 17, 2023

Ispace to launch second moon mission following crash

The mission will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as early as the northern hemisphere winter of 2024.
An offshore wind turbine, operated by Swancor Holding stands in the Taiwan Strait off the coast of Miaoli County, Taiwan, in 2018.
BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2023

Japan firms exit Taiwan offshore wind projects amid industry woes

Shikoku Electric Power decided to pull out of the Yunlin Offshore Wind Project in the Taiwan Strait due to delays threatening its profitability.
Sam Altman, then the chief executive of OpenAI, in Redmond, Washington, in February
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 19, 2023

The perpetual rise of Sam Altman takes an unexpected turn

The former OpenAI CEO was the face of an AI-fueled future. He was the most Silicon Valley person alive. Then, on Friday, he was fired.
An Apple Store in Shanghai in September
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Nov 19, 2023

Asian regulators turn focus to Big Tech

Across the region, there are indications that Big Tech may soon have to comply with standards that could become international benchmarks.
Fans of the Malmo soccer team during a match against Elfsborg at the Eleda stadium in Malmo, Sweden, on Nov. 12. While most of Europe’s leagues engage in a Sisyphean quest to source as much money as possible, Sweden has chosen a different model. But its rewards come with risk.
SOCCER
Nov 21, 2023

Business booming after Swedish soccer puts fans before finances

The story surrounding the game is one of rejecting orthodoxy, of asking why sports exist and whom they exist for — but also how hard it is to stand alone.
A hydrogen storage tank and loading system at a liquefied hydrogen receiving terminal in Kobe
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 27, 2023

U.K. concerned about Japan’s co-firing plans to curb emissions

The move 'prolongs the life of coal plants and leads to emissions,' said the head of climate change and energy at the British Embassy in Tokyo.
Offshore wind turbines at the Scroby Sands Wind Farm, operated by E.ON SE, near Great Yarmouth, United Kingdom.  Foreign wind power companies say Japan's development process for offshore wind power takes much longer than in other countries, leading to more uncertainty and risks.
BUSINESS
Dec 1, 2023

Foreign wind power players urge Japan to scale up offshore auctions

"If you want to create appetite from investors you need to propose larger plants"
Daikin plans to start introducing the custom chips in high-end air conditioners from 2025 and is looking at using them in about a fifth of units by the end of the decade.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 1, 2023

Japan air conditioner king Daikin eyes custom chips for energy savings

Bespoke silicon costs more than off-the-shelf alternatives but offer better efficiency and allow a reduction in the use of other components.
Bitcoin’s revival from the 2022 crypto crash has weathered a U.S. crackdown that put Sam Bankman-Fried behind bars for fraud at FTX and handed top crypto exchange Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao rap sheets and big fines.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 4, 2023

Bitcoin hits $40,000 level for the first time since May 2022

The token added as much as 2.9% to reach $40,867 and was just shy of that mark Monday in Singapore, taking its 2023 jump to 146%.
The graphics processing units made by U.S.-based Nvidia dominate the market for artificial intelligence.
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2023

Nvidia CEO says he will try to prioritize Japan for AI processors

Japan is rushing to rebuild its once world-leading semiconductor infrastructure and catch up on the development of AI technology.
SoftBank has agreed to buy a majority stake in Irish software developer Cubic Telecom for around €473 million.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 5, 2023

SoftBank buys majority stake in Irish car software developer

SoftBank will acquire 51% of Cubic Telecom, which provides a platform for automakers to update software functions in cars globally and in real time.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 6, 2023

Satellite imagery startup iQPS surges 82% in Tokyo debut

The stock opened at ¥860 per share versus its IPO price of ¥390, with trading delayed by nearly five hours due to a glut of buy orders.
A pharmacist holds a box of Novo Nordisk A/S Wegovy brand semaglutide medication.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 7, 2023

Can Wegovy fight alcoholism? For Big Pharma, this isn’t a priority

Reluctance underscores reasons why no new treatment has been approved for alcoholism in nearly 20 years.
Shipping containers at a commercial port in Vladivostok, Russia, in August
BUSINESS
Dec 9, 2023

Putin's economic challenges are numerous — but surmountable — as election looms

Russia's success in evading a Western oil price cap is helping drive a recovery in economic growth.
Nio workers inspect a vehicle on an assembly line at the automaker’s factory in Hefei, China. China misjudged the rapid expansion of its electric vehicle sector, leaving a shortfall of skilled technicians as young people shun manufacturing careers.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2023

China’s electric car factories can’t hire fast enough

A frenzy of construction and expansion of factories has made electricians and robotics specialists a hot commodity.
From left: Masashi Matsuyama, vice president of Nissan and president of Nissan (China) Investment, Takao Asami, senior vice president of Nissan, and Rika Kiritake, vice president of Nissan, hold a news conference at Tsinghua University in Beijing on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 17, 2023

Nissan to export China-developed EVs to global markets

The firm is considering exporting internal combustion engine vehicles and upcoming electric cars manufactured and developed in China to overseas markets
Kokusai Electric CEO Fumiyuki Kanai foresees sustained investment in China and plans to increase staff there.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 18, 2023

Japan’s Kokusai aims to build on 66% rally as China demand booms

The producer of chip fabrication equipment will enlarge its Chinese footprint to tap the growing market, according to CEO Fumiyuki Kanai.
Music streaming service Spotify started offering audiobooks in October, but not everyone in the book industry is thrilled.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 20, 2023

Spotify's push into audiobooks sparks concern among authors

Spotify began offering complimentary audiobooks to millions of customers in October as part of their monthly subscriptions.
Tokyo-based Bridgestone decided in March 2022 to suspend all manufacturing activities and freeze new investments in the Russia following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 20, 2023

Bridgestone exits Russia with asset sale to serial buyer S8 Capital

Bridgestone, present in Russia since 1998, decided in March 2022 to suspend all manufacturing activities and freeze new investments in the country.
An employee inspects integrated circuit boards at a factory in Suzhou, China.
BUSINESS
Dec 22, 2023

U.S. to scrutinize Chinese chipmakers as Biden mulls tariffs

Over 100 companies in various sectors to be surveyed on their procurement and use of legacy chips
The logo of language-learning app, Duolingo, on a smartphone
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2024

Duolingo cuts contractors by 10% amid AI content shift

The company said no full-time employees were affected by the cutback.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear