Microsoft integrates Chinese mainland channels to close offline authorized stores. Apple's mobile phone shipments in China in May increased by nearly 40% year-on-year. BYD's monthly sales of new energy vehicles exceeded 340,000 units. Saudi Aramco takes a stake in the Renault and Geely joint venture. Boeing acquires Aero Systems, which was spun off in 2005. There is news that Microsoft will close all offline authorized stores in the country, and Microsoft said it has decided to consolidate channels in the Chinese mainland market. Customers will continue to have access to Microsoft's comprehensive range of consumer products and services through retail partners and Microsoft.com. At present, in the "Find a Store" on the official website of Microsoft's official store, it is shown that there are 51 stores in Chinese mainland, but most of them are Xbox experience stores and Shundian Microsoft Experience Zone, and only seven stores with the name of "Microsoft Authorized Store" remain. Microsoft announced the closure of its global stores four years ago. In June 2020, Microsoft announced the permanent closure of nearly 100 Microsoft Store physical retail stores around the world.
According to the data, Apple's smartphone shipments in China in May are expected to increase by nearly 40% year-on-year, continuing the rebound momentum since March. According to the latest data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, shipments of foreign brand mobile phones in China increased by 1.425 million units, or 39.6 percent, from 3.603 million units in the same period last year to 5.028 million units in May. In the smartphone-dominated Chinese market, Apple remains the dominant foreign handmaker. This data also means that the growth of mobile phone shipments of foreign brands can be attributed to Apple's outstanding performance. Apple's shares closed 2.91% higher on Monday, hitting an all-time high, with a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion.
SK Group's semiconductor subsidiary SK Hynix plans to invest 103 trillion won ($74.8 billion) by 2028, of which about 80 percent, or 82 trillion won, will be used to invest in high-bandwidth memory chips (HBM), the company said. SK hynix's HBM chips are optimized for use with NVIDIA's AI accelerators. As part of their bet on artificial intelligence, SK Telecom and SK Broadband will invest 3.4 trillion won in data center business. SK hynix has announced a series of investment plans this year, including a $3.87 billion construction of an advanced packaging factory and an AI product research center in Indiana.
Singaporean start-up Silicon Box plans to build a new chip manufacturing plant in Italy with a total investment of up to €3.2 billion, the latest major investment in Europe as Brussels seeks to increase its self-sufficiency in chip production. Silicon Box said the new assembly and test facility will produce semiconductors for artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, electric vehicles and mobile devices, which are all key growth areas for chipmakers. Silicon Box's plant is expected to add about 1,600 jobs directly, with thousands more in construction and supply chain. The company expects to start construction in the middle of next year and start production in 2028.
Solera, which provides commercial software to auto insurers, dealerships and fleet operators, filed an initial public offering (IPO) application with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $1.5 billion. The company had previously been listed on the New York Stock Exchange until 2016, when U.S. private equity giant Vista Equity Partners took it private for $6.5 billion. The company posted revenue of $2.4 billion in the 12 months ended March 31, 2024, and plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange.
Chinese NEV brands announced their sales figures for June 2024. BYD sold 341,700 new energy vehicles, Li Auto delivered 47,774 new cars, Hongmeng Zhixing delivered 46,141 new cars, NIO delivered 21,209 vehicles, Leapmotor delivered 20,116 units, Zeekr Automobile delivered 20,106 units, Xpeng Motors delivered 10,668 new cars, Nezha Automobile delivered 10,206 vehicles, Xiaomi SU7 delivered more than 10,000 units, Zhiji Automobile sold a total of 6,015 units, VOYAH delivered 5,507 units, and AVATR delivered 4,682 new vehicles.
South Korea's top five automakers announced their sales results, and the total domestic and foreign sales of Korean automobiles (including the assembly of all parts) in June decreased by 11.7% year-on-year to 670,373 units, a year-on-year decrease for the fifth consecutive month. The domestic sales of the five major automakers decreased by 11.7% y/y to 670,373 units. Overseas sales decreased by 3.9% y/y to 713,196 units. In terms of car companies, Hyundai Motor's global sales were 351,516 units, a year-on-year decrease of 6.3%; Kia sold a total of 267,536 units, a year-on-year decrease of 3.9%; GM Korea sold a total of 75,784 units, a year-on-year increase of 7%; KGM (formerly Ssangyong Automobile) sold a total of 9,358 units, a year-on-year decrease of 8.6%; Renault Korea sold a total of 9,002 units, up 23.4% year-on-year.
Luxury sports car maker Ferrari on Monday announced two new warranty extension programs that allow owners of its hybrid models to replace their car's batteries at a specific time. The move is designed to help owners maintain the resale value of Ferraris, as batteries tend to lose their efficiency over time and become central to the value of electric vehicles. As part of its new hybrid and power-hybrid extended warranty program, Ferrari will replace the high-voltage battery pack (HVB) in the eighth and sixteenth years of the car, and both items will be transferred to any subsequent owners. The program also provides an extended factory warranty for the entire vehicle and its major powertrain components.
Renault Group announced on June 29 that Saudi Aramco has signed a definitive agreement with HORSE Powertrain Limited, a powertrain technology company jointly established by Renault Group, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group and Geely Automobile Holdings Co., Ltd., to acquire a 10% stake in it, with an overall enterprise value of 7.4 billion euros. Renault Group and Geely will each retain the same 45% stake. On May 31 this year, Renault Group and Geely officially established HORSE Powertrain Limited, headquartered in London, England. The company develops, manufactures and sells hybrid and fuel powertrain components and systems.
Toyota Motor disclosed in a regulatory filing that it sold $2 billion worth of cross-holdings in publicly traded companies during the just-ended fiscal year. Toyota reduced its stake in ANA Holdings, Japan Airlines and East Japan Railway to zero. However, the company does not own a stake in Toyota.
Boeing has agreed to acquire Spirit AeroSystems, which will bring Spirit AeroSystems back under the Boeing umbrella after a 20-year absence. Boeing divested the parts maker in 2005, but remains its largest customer. The deal values the aviation supplier at $4.7 billion, with a total transaction value of approximately $8.3 billion, including Spirit's net debt. The move comes after months of talks between Boeing and its main European rival, Airbus. Airbus will acquire some of the assets for which Spirit produces parts, which will be compensated for a nominal price of US$1 for these assets, which will be compensated for US$559 million.
At least 30 passengers were injured when a flight from Spain to Uruguay made an emergency landing at Natal International Airport in northeastern Brazil in the early hours of July 1. The flight, which is part of Air Europa, was carrying 325 passengers from Madrid, Spain, to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. At 2:32 a.m. local time on the 1st, the flight requested an emergency landing at the airport due to strong turbulence. Most of the injured hit their heads as a result of the bumps, and some suffered cervical fractures and facial and chest injuries. The flight was a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, has agreed to buy Preqin, a UK-based private market data group, for £2.55 billion in cash, marking BlackRock's move to increase its investment in alternative assets and its first foray into financial information provision. The $10.5 trillion asset manager beat out S&P Global and Bloomberg to buy Preqin. The deal is the latest in a series of acquisitions of specialist data providers.
Two of the insurance industry's biggest players – insurer Zurich and brokerage Aon – have developed a new insurance scheme for hydrogen production to boost what is seen as a key sector in the transition to clean energy. The platform will bring together multiple insurers, led by Zurich Insurance, to underwrite capex of up to $250 million for smaller, individual projects that would otherwise struggle to find insurance. These projects will receive a range of insurances from construction to operational risks.
French drugmaker Sanofi is about to decide to invest between 1.3 billion and 1.5 billion euros in a large production site in Frankfurt, Germany, to produce the insulin brand Lantus. Sanofi changed its mind after initially considering moving production from Lantus to France, and the company is now close to committing to an upgrade to its German plant in the Frankfurt Hearst area.
Sebastian James, head of British pharmacy chain Boots, is leaving; The company's parent company, Walgreens Boots Alliance, is struggling. James will step down as managing director of Boots in November, after plans to sell the company or take its shares public have stalled. Like other pharmacies, WBA is facing declining revenue from prescription drugs, which have been the main driver of sales.
According to a Nikkei survey of Japan's restaurant industry, 44% of Japanese restaurant companies intend to expand their stores overseas from FY2024 onwards, a significant increase from the previous survey. Against the backdrop of a declining birthrate and an aging population, it is becoming increasingly clear that the restaurant industry, which is a domestic-demand industry, is eager to shift from Japan to overseas in search of growth. The survey was conducted from 558 major restaurant companies in Japan and received responses from 300 companies from early April to early June. 44.3% of the companies that are already doing business overseas said they would be more active in the future, up 16.7 percentage points from the previous survey.
Nitori Holdings, a Japanese furniture and daily necessities sales giant, has a total of 100 stores in China. On June 28, NITORI opened four stores in Chongqing and Guangzhou, Guangdong Province. Since the opening of the first store in 2014, it has taken 10 years to reach 100 stores. Vice President Masanori Takeda emphasized, "NITORI has been planning and developing products together with production plants in China for more than 20 years. "In the future, we will not only serve as a production base, but also as a consumer market, and make China a pillar of our overseas business. In addition, he also revealed his goal of increasing the number of stores in China to 900 by 2032.
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