Supply Chain

China's BYD rose to become the fourth-largest EV manufacturer last year.
China tech

China widens market share in EVs, dozen other high-tech fields

Chinese companies lead in 15 categories, second only to Americans

23 November 2022
Chipmakers like Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. are adjusting spending plans as a chip shortage swings to a glut.
Semiconductors

Chipmakers trim spending by billions as COVID boom fades

Cost-saving could be tough for likes of TSMC and Intel amid race to build plants

17 November 2022
Sony is preparing to move the labor-intensive work of processing wafers into thin chips out of Japan and to Thailand. (Source photo by courtesy of Sony) 
Semiconductors

Sony to build Thailand factory to make image sensors for cars

Tech giant to hire 2,000 workers as it looks to cut costs, avoid disruptions

11 November 2022
China's top chipmaker SMIC says its expansion plans remain on track even as it warns the current downturn in the sector looks set to continue well into 2023.  
Semiconductors

Top China chipmaker SMIC sees 'no end' to market downturn

Company says U.S. export controls impacting orders from American clients

11 November 2022
Apple supplier Foxconn has been struggling with disruptions at its key iPhone production site in China. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)
Technology

Apple supplier Foxconn expects a 'flat' 2023 amid inflation, COVID

Key iPhone assembler says China plant lockdown will hit revenue this quarter

10 November 2022
TSMC's J.K. Lin says the chipmaker is trying to make its supply chain more resilient. (Photo by Cheng Ting-Fang)
Semiconductors

TSMC to secure neon in Taiwan after Ukraine shock for chip sector

Semiconductor giant aims for greener, more stable supply chains

10 November 2022
Full-year profits for Nissan and Honda are expected to be higher due to a weak yen. (Source photos by Ken Kobayashi and Reuters)
Automobiles

Honda and Nissan raise annual profit forecasts due to weak yen

Japanese automakers' sales outlook clouded by chip shortage

9 November 2022
A Chinese container ship is unloaded in Hamburg, Germany. As October exports contracted for the first time since May 2020, one analyst blamed "falling shipments to the EU and the U.S."
Economy

China's October trade darkens on global slowdown, COVID curbs

First contraction for monthly imports and exports in over two years

7 November 2022
China's strict COVID curbs have hit production of the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max in Zhengzhou, China. (Photo by Suzu Takahashi)
Supply Chain

Apple warns of iPhone delays after China COVID curbs

Production capacity 'significantly' lower as supplier Foxconn lowers outlook

7 November 2022
Jareeporn Jarukornsakul, WHA's group CEO, plans to invest 50 billion baht over five years in its four core businesses -- logistics, industrial estates, utilities and technology. (Photo by Francesca Regalado)
Supply Chain

Thai developer sees faster supply chain shift after China congress

Relocations to deal with geopolitical risks fuel WHA Group's profit growth

4 November 2022
Nearly everything at Lego's groundbreaking in Binh Duong, Vietnam, was made of toy bricks, from flower settings to dragon dancer statues. (Photo by Lien Hoang)
Supply Chain

Lego breaks ground on $1bn carbon-neutral factory in Vietnam

World's biggest toy company building base in Southeast Asia's top solar producer

3 November 2022
Two factories run by electric vehicle maker Nio halted operations over virus curbs. (File photo by Getty Images) 
Coronavirus

Companies in China hit by COVID-sparked production snarls

EV maker Nio, iPhone supplier Foxconn among those grappling with slowdowns

2 November 2022
The weaker Japanese currency means Toyota's dollar earnings look better when converted to yen. (Photo by Koji Uema)
Automobiles

Toyota profits slide as chip shortage continues

Automaker's full-year net profit outlook unchanged despite weaker yen

1 November 2022
Foxconn says it is working with authorities in the central Chinese city of Zhengzhou to maintain production of Apple iPhones and limit the risk of a wider COVID-19 outbreak.  
Supply Chain

Foxconn raises bonuses for workers at COVID curb-hit iPhone plant

Key Apple suppliers grapple with disruption as some workers flee restrictions

1 November 2022
Tens of millions of Vietnamese depend on motorbikes to get to work and school, but many drivers in Ho Chi Minh City are now having trouble finding gas.
Supply Chain

With nothing to sell, Vietnam gas stations start to close

Deliveries fail to arrive, disrupting life in a nation that relies on motorbikes

1 November 2022
Amazon recruits hundreds of merchants in Ho Chi Minh City. Its growth in Vietnam runs counter to its overall international segment, which reported a loss last quarter. (Photo by Lien Hoang)
Retail

Amazon Vietnam growth, buoyed by China, defies global tech slowdown

But 'everybody's struggling' from interest rates, drop in COVID-fueled e-commerce

31 October 2022
Taiwan's Foxconn operates massive production bases in China where it makes Apple iPhones. 
Supply Chain

Apple supplier Foxconn's key China plant hit by COVID measures

Industry sources say iPhone output affected as workers can't enter production lines

31 October 2022
The Japanese maker of LCD displays has suffered continued financial setbacks. (Photo by Karina Noka)
Business deals

Japan Display sells Chinese subsidiary in latest restructuring move

Troubled Apple supplier looks for return to profitability

29 October 2022
A company displays lumber in Vietnam, whose wood products industry is grappling with risks ranging from the Ukraine war to fake forest certificates and U.S. trade probes. (Photo by Lien Hoang)
Supply Chain

Vietnam's wood trade under pressure from logging, Ukraine war

Murky origins plague furniture sector coming down from COVID-fueled buying spree

28 October 2022
Intel has lowered its full-year revenue guidance for 2022.
Semiconductors

Intel reports 20% revenue drop with more bad news ahead

U.S. chipmaker aims to cut costs by $3bn in 2023 as demand weakens

28 October 2022
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a speech during a visit to the Port of Baltimore, Maryland in November 2021. 
Indo-Pacific

U.S. supply chain restructuring 'not smooth': ex-trade official

Wendy Cutler admits America-centric Inflation Reduction Act has friends puzzled

25 October 2022
A joint venture between China's Tianqi Lithium and Australian miner IGO started up a refining plant in Western Australia this past May. (Photo courtesy of Tianqi Lithium Energy Australia)
Supply Chain

Australia draws Chinese, U.S. lithium processors in EV supply chain shift

New investments close to mines diversify production away from top refiner China

25 October 2022
Honda is moving forward with a massive restructuring plan to explore the possibility of building passenger cars and motorcycles using as few China-made parts as possible. (Photo by Masaaki Kudo)
Supply Chain

Japanese companies explore how to go 'zero-China' amid tensions

Disruption of shipments from China could cost production value of $360bn

23 October 2022
Toyota Motor's global production for the fiscal year ending March 2023 will fail to reach its planned 9.7 million units. In the two previous years, it produced 8.18 million and 8.56 million units.
Automobiles

Toyota to fall short of annual production plan amid chip shortage

Japanese car group unable to make its target of 9.7 million units

21 October 2022
Hagen Heubach, SAP’s global vice president for the auto industry, stressed that "It’s very important to understand" that Catena-X is "not owned by Germans." (Source photos by Tsubasa Suruga and Reuters) 
Supply Chain

SAP seeks Asian participation in German-led industrial platform

Software company to approach Japanese automakers and Asian chipmakers

20 October 2022