11/04/2025

FRIDAY | APR 11, 2025

18

BIZ & FINANCE

TSMC’s Q1 revenue surges 42%, ahead of forecasts

White House backs off Nvidia H20 chip crackdown SAN FRANCISCO: Donald Trump’s administration has reversed course on plans to restrict exports of Nvidia’s H20 AI chips to China after CEO Jensen Huang attended a Mar-a-Lago dinner last week, NPR reported on Wednesday. The planned American export controls on the chips – the most advanced AI processor legally available in China under US export controls – had been in the works for months, NPR reported, citing two sources, and were ready to be implemented as soon as this week. The change in plans came after Nvidia promised the Trump administration new US investments in AI data centres, the NPR report said. The White House and Nvidia did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. Trump’s administration was consi dering tightening restrictions on the AI leader’s sales of its H20 chips designed for the China market, Reuters had reported in January. The idea to restrict shipments of those chips to China has been under consi deration since Democratic former president Joe Biden’s administration. In February, Reuters exclusively reported a surge in orders for the H20, driven by booming demand for Chinese startup DeepSeek’s low-cost AI models. China firms, including ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent, have placed at least US$16 billion in orders for Nvidia’s H20 server chips in the first three months of the year, The Information reported last week. Two American lawmakers, Republican John Moolenaar and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi, called for more restrictions on exports of Nvidia’s AI chips in January. – Reuters Philippine central bank cuts policy rate by 25 bps MANILA: The Philippine central bank resumed its easing cycle yesterday, as expected, cutting its key policy rate by 25 basis points (bps) to 5.5% to help the economy cope with global challenges, including US trade policy. The quarter-point reduction in the benchmark interest rate , which was forecast by 20 out of 23 economists in a Reuters poll, came after data last week showed inflation eased to a near five-year low of 1.8% in March. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Eli Remolona said a “more challenging external environment” was a risk for global and domestic growth. “On balance, the more manageable inflation outlook and the risks to growth allow for a shift toward a more accommodative monetary policy stance. “Looking ahead, Bangko Sentral ng will continue to take a measured approach in deciding on further monetary easing.” Though less affected than some of its neighbours, the Philippines has not been spared from the global trade wars, with the US threatening tariffs on its exports. Manila is targeting growth of 6%-8% this year, up from last year’s 5.7% expansion. – Reuters

TAIPEI: Taiwanese chipmaking giant TSMC reported yesterday a better-than-expected revenue for the first quarter on strong demand for AI technology, after tariffs slapped onto major economies by US President Donald Trump caused global uncertainty. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company is the world’s largest contract maker of chips that are used in everything from Apple’s iPhones to Nvidia’s cutting-edge artificial intelligence hardware. TSMC said revenue in the first three months of 2025 rose nearly 42% to NT$839.25 billion (RM114 billion) on-year, beating a forecast of around NT$830.5 billion by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The company is scheduled to

Taiwan stole the US chip industry and his threats to impose tariffs of up to 100%. In the end, Trump imposed a hefty 32% on Taiwanese imports – excluding semiconductor chips – though the mercurial Republican on Wednesday abruptly paused the implementation for almost all countries except China for 90 days. TSMC has long faced demands to move more of its production away from Taiwan, with fears that supplies of the critical technology could be disrupted in any conflict with Beijing. China has upped military pressure on Taiwan in recent years to press its claim of sovereignty over the self-ruled island, where TSMC has its headquarters and the bulk of its fabrication plants. – AFP

o Contract chipmaker expects 2025 to be ‘another strong growth year’

own industry could experience reverberations across the global chip supply chain. Taiwan had sought to avoid Trump’s threatened levies by pledging increased investment in the United States, more purchases of US energy and greater defence spending. Also last month, TSMC said it would invest US$100 billion (RM447 billion) in the United States in what was hailed by Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te as a “historic moment” for Taiwan-US relations. The planned investment followed Trump’s accusations that

release full first quarter earnings in an online briefing next week. TSMC chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei has said the firm expected “2025 to be another strong growth year” as AI-related demand continues to surge. And its full year revenue was expected to increase “by close to mid-20s per cent in US dollar terms”, Wei said at an earnings conference in January. But in light of Trump’s ongoing trade war with China – the world’s second-largest economy – and his threats to slap tariffs on semiconductor imports, Taiwan’s

Volkswagen electric cars on display at a storage facility in Wolfsburg, northern Germany. – AFPPIC

Volkswagen earnings dragged down by EU carbon provision, US tariffs BERLIN: Volkswagen’s first-quarter earnings fell far short of market expectations, plunging about 40%, as Europe’s biggest carmaker factored in costs for penalties of missing EU carbon emissions targets and for cars affected by US tariffs. Volkswagen’s shares were up 8.2%, as relief swept through markets after the US administration’s announcement of a 90-day pause on tariffs imposed less than 24 hours earlier on dozens of countries, but a 25% tariff on autos imports remains in place and Volkswagen is heavily exposed. After lobbying from the car sector, the European Commission, the EU executive, has proposed to loosen rules that most of the industry is likely to breach this year, leading to billions of euros in fines. The proposal, which would give Volkswagen and the rest of the industry more time to boost sales of low emission electric vehicles, has yet to be approved by the European Parliament. As a result, Volkswagen included a €600 million (RM2.9 billion) provision for potential fines in its first-quarter result, as well as €200 million for restructuring at its software unit Cariad, which is in the midst of layoffs. That lowers its operating return on sales to around 3.6%, down from 6% last year. A spokesperson declined to provide detail on the costs related to US tariffs. Those linked to the valuation of vehicles in transit to the US, where a 25% import tariff was imposed from April 3, weighed on results. The bulk of the VW brand’s US sales is from cars made in Mexico and its Audi and Porsche brands have no US manufacturing base. The company confirmed its full-year outlook of up to 5% sales growth and operating return on sales of between 5.5% and 5.6% but said in its results statement these forecasts excluded the possible impact of tariffs since it was too early to assess their impact. – Reuters