Tag - manufacturing

 
 

MANUFACTURING

The SK Hynix factory in Dalian specializes in 3D NAND flash memory used in smartphones and other devices. NAND accounts for an increasing portion of the company’s revenue, around 27% of which comes from China.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 23, 2024
U.S. chip battle with China catches South Korea in the crossfire
Korean firms have to balance relations with both countries — one, a source of cutting-edge chipmaking technology and the other, the world's largest chip market.
A worker carries a tray containing steamed kamaboko at a factory in Ise, Mie Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Jan 22, 2024
As costs rise, kamaboko producers struggle to stay afloat
Many have little choice but to raise the prices of their own products after having exhausted other measures.
TSMC had said it would make 3nm chips at the second factory, which is expected to be more advanced than the first in Arizona, but on Thursday, it said that incentives from the U.S. government would help determine how advanced the tech inside will be.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 19, 2024
TSMC’s second factory in Arizona delayed as U.S. grants remain in flux
Site will start operations only in 2027 or 2028, instead of the chipmaker's earlier guidance of 2026.
TSMC's plant in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, is set to open on Feb. 24.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 18, 2024
Taiwan's TSMC to launch Kumamoto chipmaking plant in February
TSMC — whose clients include Apple and Nvidia — controls more than half the world's output of silicon wafers, used in everything from smartphones to cars to missiles.
Japan's core machinery orders, a highly volatile data series regarded as a leading indicator of capital spending in the coming six to nine months, fell more than expected in November.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 18, 2024
Japan's core machinery orders fell more than forecast in November
Capital spending is one of the key drivers for Japan's economy and a major indicator of business confidence.
A toy gun is assembled at an Aequs toy manufacturing facility in the city of Belgaum in India.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 16, 2024
Infrastructure hurdles hinder toy manufacturers' shift from China
That other countries struggle to match China for efficiency is limiting firms' efforts to shift to lower cost bases and raising the risk of higher toy prices in the future.
U.S. President Joe Biden and his South Korean counterpart, Yoon Suk-yeol, visit a Samsung semiconductor factory in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, in May 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2024
South Korea's economic strategy amid the U.S.-China rivalry
If the world is to avoid incurring increasingly high costs from fragmentation, the U.S. and China must learn how to coexist and engage in fair competition.
The Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai. China’s manufactured goods surplus relative to global gross domestic product is now around 2%, and an estimated 45% of China’s manufacturing output is being exported as the nation’s 1.4 billion people can’t buy enough goods such as electric vehicles, ships and household appliances to meet the increased supply.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 8, 2024
Xi Jinping’s solution for China’s economy risks triggering new trade war
Manufacturing focus sets up Beijing for renewed tensions with both developed countries and emerging economies pushing to reach the lower rungs of the industrialization.
A victim of an explosion at a nickel smelter furnace owned by Indonesia Tsingshan Stainless Steel lies inside an ambulance at a hospital in Morowali, Indonesia, on Dec. 26.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 7, 2024
Indonesia blast puts battery ambitions in spotlight ahead of vote
Just weeks ahead of a presidential election, the deadly explosion triggered angry protests and demands for action in Jakarta and Beijing.
Daihatsu's headquarters in Osaka
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 28, 2023
Daihatsu to compensate lower-tier suppliers for halted production
Production was stopped at all of the company's factories in Japan this week.
Japan's industrial production fell 0.9% in November from the previous month, weighed down by a decline in auto production.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 28, 2023
Japan's November factory output falls on weaker autos
Industrial production fell 0.9% in November from the previous month, data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) showed on Thursday.
Daihatsu's plant in Oyamazaki, Kyoto Prefecture, on Monday
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 25, 2023
Daihatsu halts three assembly plants over testing fraud scandal
It is unclear when the company will resume production, which is expected to be suspended until at least the end of next month.
Takahito Tokita, chief executive officer at Fujitsu, speaks during an interview at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 22, 2023
Fujitsu speeds aircon deal as it aims for ¥700 billion boost from AI
The urgency to close the deal rises amid growing geopolitical and economic uncertainty.
The U.S. Steel Clairton Coke Works in Clairton, Pennsylvania. U.S. President Joe Biden's top economic advisor said the purchase of the firm by Nippon Steel deserves serious scrutiny, in the latest sign of political pressure over the deal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 22, 2023
Nippon-U.S. Steel deal deserves 'serious scrutiny,' White House says
The White House said it views a strong domestic steel industry as vital to the U.S. economy and national security.
Japan's industry ministry said it would provide Samsung subsidies worth up to ¥20 billion as it looks to support the revitalization of domestic chip manufacturing.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 21, 2023
Samsung to set up chip packaging research facility in Japan
Samsung's investment comes at a time of easing tensions between South Korea and Japan.
In Toshiba, JIP takes on a sprawling company far bigger and more complex than any it acquired before.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Dec 19, 2023
In buying Toshiba, JIP takes on corporate Japan's toughest job
While the fund has quietly built up a track record by carving out businesses from big manufacturers, Toshiba is more complex than any it acquired before.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.’s new factory in Kumamoto Prefecture. New chipmaking plants in Japan are raising questions about securing workers and adequate water supplies.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 19, 2023
Kumamoto and Hokkaido face common tasks of securing water and talent
With ambitious projects advancing, the two prefectural governments forged an agreement in August, aiming to facilitate exchanges of information.
The construction of TSMC’s new plant in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, has seen companies anticipating expanded collaborations with the semiconductor firm grow keen to establish footholds in the area.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 19, 2023
Semiconductor projects in Japan whip up local optimism
Companies anticipating expanded collaborations with TSMC are keen to establish footholds in the area around its new plant in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture.
A worker inspects semiconductor chips at a chip-packaging plant in Ipoh, Malaysia, in 2021. Malaysia currently accounts for 13% of the global market for semiconductor packaging, assembly and testing.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 18, 2023
Chinese firms look to Malaysia to assemble high-end chips
Dearth of advanced chip-packaging services in China leads firms to venture abroad amid U.S. sanctions.
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.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?