13/02/2026

BIZ & FINANCE FRIDAY | FEB 13, 2026

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Samsung starts mass production of next-gen memory chip SEOUL: Samsung Electronics

and upgrading existing production lines to meet rising demand”. Nvidia designs hardware that powers AI computing, and has an almost insatiable demand for memory chips made by the likes of Samsung and SK hynix. The US-based firm’s almost singular role in the AI revolution has taken the world by storm since the introduction of OpenAI’s ChatGPT in late 2022. Apple, Microsoft and Amazon have also developed chips with AI in mind, but for now are stuck trying to get their hands on Nvidia’s coveted products. – AFP Toyota extends bid for forklift manufacturer TOKYO: A Toyota Motor tender offer for Toyota Industries has been extended until March 2 after staunch opposition from US activist shareholder Elliott Investment Management, lifting shares in the forklift manufacturer to a record high. The sweetened tender offer was due to close yesterday but has been lengthened to boost its chances of success. A successful buyout would see the automaker’s chairman, Akio Toyoda, strengthen his grip on a key affiliate and by extension the broader Toyota group. “It looks like they are struggling to get enough shareholders to accept the deal. I suspect that they will need to increase the offer price again,” said Christopher Richter, auto analyst at CLSA. The bid, which is being led by Toyota Motor, group real estate arm Toyota Fudosan and Toyoda, was hiked by 15% last month to ¥18,800 per share, valuing the company at around US$36 billion. Shares in Toyota Industries finished at ¥19,985, much higher than the ¥19,400 level it was at before the news of the extension and 1.6% higher on the day. At one point, they hit a lifetime high of ¥20,010. By comparison, Elliott, which has built up a 7.1% stake in Toyota Industries to become its biggest minority shareholder, argues it is worth ¥26,134 per share. Opposition from Elliott and others has made the deal a test case of governance for Japan’s most storied company as well as Japan Inc as a whole. It comes amid a years-long push by the government and the Tokyo Stock Exchange for corporate reform that has been regarded as transformational, leading to an influx of foreign investment and boosting mergers and acquisitions. Toyota has defended the offer, saying it reflected Toyota Industries’ intrinsic value and represented a premium to historic market prices. Toyota Industries has said it took steps to ensure the bid was transparent, including consulting outside directors and independent firms, and received three fairness opinions. For the bid to be successful, 42.01% of shareholders classified as minority owners need to accept the offer. – Reuters

memory chips, and the two companies had raced to start HBM4 production. Taipei-based research firm TrendForce predicts that memory chip industry revenue will surge to a global peak of more than US$840 billion in 2027. Samsung Electronics posted record quarterly profits earlier this year, riding on massive market demand for its powerful memory chips. The firm has already earmarked billions of dollars to expand chip production facilities, pledging to continue spending in “transitioning to advanced manufacturing processes

exceeding industry standards for processing speed by more than 40%. This would satisfy “escalating demands for higher performance”, the company said. Samsung Electronics stock was up more than 6% in afternoon trade on South Korea’s stock exchange. The South Korean government has pledged to become one of the world’s top three AI powers, alongside the United States and China. Samsung and its South Korean rival SK hynix are already among the leading producers of high-performance

Samsung said it had “begun mass production of its industry-leading HBM4 and has shipped commercial products to customers”. “This achievement marks a first in the industry, securing an early leadership position in the HBM4 market,” the South Korean company said in a statement. A global frenzy to build AI data centres has sent orders for advanced, high-bandwidth memory microchips soaring. Samsung said its new chip was significantly faster than older models,

announced yesterday it had started mass production of next-generation memory chips to power artificial intelligence, touting an “industry-leading” breakthrough. The high-bandwidth HBM4 chips are seen as a key component needed to scale-up the vast data centres powering the explosion in artificial intelligence. US tech giant Nvidia – the world’s most valuable company – is widely expected to be one of Samsung’s main buyers.

China tourists head to Russia, Australia and Thailand

o Record 9.5 billion passenger trips expected during 40-day Spring Festival travel season

BEIJING: More Chinese tourists are expected to travel overseas during next week’s extra-long Lunar New Year break, with top destinations ranging from Russia and Australia to Thailand and South Korea, travel agencies say, but Japan has lost some sheen. The Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, is one of China’s longest holidays, running for nine days this year from Feb 15, or a day longer than usual, to usher in the Year of the Horse in the Chinese zodiac. Millions traditionally head home for family reunions during this time, boosting spending in shops, cinemas and restaurants as families nationwide and overseas celebrate together. China expects a record 9.5 billion passenger trips during the accompanying 40-day travel rush, up from 9.02 billion last year, as officials hope this year’s longer event spurs more holidaymakers to make domestic visits or venture abroad. “Thailand has returned to being the top outbound destination thanks to its weather, when most parts of China remain cold,” said Zhou Weihong, of Shanghai-based Spring Tour, the travel unit of budget carrier Spring Airlines. Amid an uncertain economic outlook, many appear to be hoping to leave their troubles behind, however briefly.

A prolonged property downturn has eroded household wealth, while uneven growth after the Covid-19 pandemic, has fuelled job insecurity. Studies show Chinese consumers are prioritising spending on experiences, with consultants McKinsey’s saying in an August market update: “Consumers appear to have quietly moved on ... highlighting deeper shifts in how China consumes.” Domestic leisure demand this year is also split between warm and snowy destinations, with trips to the tropical island of Hainan and northeastern Changbai Mountain popular, added Zhou, a deputy general manager at Spring Tour. Bookings to Russia on its platform have more than doubled from last year, as have trips to northern Europe. “For the rest of the year, we’ll probably see increased Chinese travel to Russia,” said Sienna Parulis-Cook, marketing and communications director of Dragon Trail Research. She attributed its popularity, rising off a low base, to Moscow’s December move to waive visas for visitors from China. China’s largest travel booking site, Trip.com Group , said a rebound in long-haul travel has driven up visitors

Visitors walk past the world’s tallest cylindrical aquarium in Aviapark shopping mall in Moscow. – AFPPIC

it a top choice. Flight data for 2026 shows travel to Japan has dropped sharply amid the strained ties and China’s safety warnings to its travellers, prompting airlines to broaden refund and change policies for Japan routes. In the week starting on Feb 2, flights between China and Japan were down 49.2% from a year earlier, said travel data provider Flight Master. And all flights have been cancelled on 58 routes that operated during last year’s Spring Festival, when Trip.com ranked Japan among the most popular overseas destinations, alongside Thailand and other regional markets. – Reuters

to Australia by more than 100% over the year-earlier period. Seat capacity on international flights during the holiday period, both inbound and outbound, has risen 9% on the year, aviation intelligence firm IBA said. “The international market is playing an increasingly important role in Spring Festival travel,” it said in a report ahead of the break, adding that available seat kilometres on international flights now make up about half of total capacity. But for other destinations, the picture is not all rosy. Simmering political tension with Japan has eroded its appeal for Chinese visitors, who normally made

SoftBank rides AI boom to post ¥248 billion quarterly net profit TOKYO: Japan’s SoftBank Group said yesterday it logged a net profit of ¥248.6 billion (RM6.3 billion) in the October-December quarter, boosted by the rising valuation of its investment in OpenAI. even as investors question the risk of overexposure to a single firm in the red-hot artificial intelligence sector. Five analysts surveyed by LSEG projected quarterly net income in a range between a gain of ¥1.1 trillion and a loss of ¥480 billion. emerge as a winner in the battle between competing developers of large language models. To fund its bets, the technology investment group has turned to asset sales, bond issuance and loans backed by its other holdings, such as chip designer Arm. US$5.8 billion holding of Nvidia and, between June and December last year, sold part of its stake in T-Mobile for US$12.73 billion. The conglomerate has expanded a margin loan using shares in Arm to US$20 billion from US$13.5 billion previously, and has used the remaining capacity.

The results, which mark SoftBank’s fourth consecutive quarter in the black, compare to a net loss of ¥369 billion over the same period the previous year. SoftBank’s earnings have been flattered by the rising valuation of its investment in ChatGPT-maker OpenAI,

In the nine months to December, OpenAI has provided SoftBank with a ¥2.8 trillion investment gain. Masayoshi Son’s conglomerate has now invested more than US$30 billion in the firm, building a shareholding of around 11%, in an “all-in” wager it will

The heavy exposure to OpenAI means SoftBank is increasingly seen as a publicly traded proxy for the US firm, raising investor concerns over the impact on its finances. The group has already sold its

SoftBank has also raised the amount it can borrow against its shares of its domestic telecoms unit SoftBank Corp to ¥1.2 trillion from ¥800 billion. – Reuters