Category: Media Library

Top chipmakers warn AI-driven supply squeeze will worsen

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. The world’s two largest chipmakers have warned that investment in new capacity will not come fast enough to alleviate an AI-driven supply squeeze in semiconductors. Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix said in earnings calls on Thursday that they would increase capital spending “substantially” this year but expected chip shortages to exacerbate in the short term as heightened demand for memory chips in AI data centres tested their capacity. “We are…

Thursday briefing: Will Keir Starmer’s cautious China gamble pay off?

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Good morning. The Starmer has landed. Yesterday, Keir Starmer became the first British prime minister to make the trip to China since Theresa May’s in 2018 (meaning a surprisingly large number of PMs didn’t) and has vowed to bring “stability and clarity” to the UK’s approach to Beijing. Ahead of talks with Starmer, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has said the UK’s relationship with his country had gone through “twists and turns” over the years but that a more “consistent” approach was in both their interests. In response, Starmer told Xi…

China executes 11 people linked to Myanmar scam operation

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China on Thursday executed 11 people linked to Myanmar criminal gangs, including “key members” involved in scam operations, state media reported. Scam compounds have flourished in Myanmar’s lawless borderlands, part of a multibillion-dollar illicit industry. The centres are typically staffed by foreigners – including many Chinese – with many saying they were trafficked and forced to swindle people online. Beijing has stepped up cooperation with Southeast Asian nations in recent years to crack down on the compounds, and thousands of people have been repatriated to China. The 11 people executed…

Japan’s market moment helps keep Nomura’s turnaround on track

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Arguably the standout slide in Nomura chief executive Kentaro Okuda’s year-end presentation to investors showed its legal expenses. Down from more than ¥60bn in 2022 to near zero over the past three years as it put a series of damaging legal woes behind it, the lower bills are a proxy for broader changes at Japan’s largest brokerage and investment bank. Since Nomura was badly stung by the collapse of Bill Hwang’s family office Archegos in 2021, losing $2.9bn, it has rebalanced its business — cutting risk and aiming for more…

Japan’s market moment helps Nomura turnaround

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Arguably the standout slide in Nomura chief executive Kentaro Okuda’s year-end presentation to investors showed its legal expenses. Down from more than ¥60bn in 2022 to near zero over the past three years as it put a series of damaging legal woes behind it, the lower bills are a proxy for broader changes at Japan’s largest brokerage and investment bank. Since Nomura was badly stung by the collapse of Bill Hwang’s family office Archegos in 2021, losing $2.9bn, it has rebalanced its business — cutting risk and aiming for more…

Xi-Starmer meeting: Chinese leader tells PM he hopes both countries can ‘rise above differences’

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Chinese leader Xi Jinping has said the UK’s relationship with his country had gone through “twists and turns” over the years but that a more “consistent” approach was in both their interests. Ahead of talks with Keir Starmer during the first visit to China by a British prime minister in eight years, Xi said the two men would “stand the test of history” if they could “rise above differences”. In the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi also appeared to reprimand Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, who has…

India and the true cost of coal | FT Film

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Video: India, where coal is king | FT Film India is the fastest growing large economy in the world and to a great extent that growth is being fuelled by coal. At the same time, India’s air pollution is among the worst in the world and has a measurable impact upon life expectancy. The developed world has gone a long way towards phasing coal out of its energy mix but…

Takaichi’s great election gamble

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Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Moments into the first stump speech of her election campaign, Sanae Takaichi asked voters to imagine her dyeing her hair — a procedure that Japan’s 104th prime minister said she performed herself. Mid-application, in her scenario, disaster strikes. It’s the Big One: the cataclysmic earthquake that Tokyo has long dreaded. Basic services, including water, are severed. “The hair dye would be applied, but I wouldn’t be able to wash it…