Economy & Business Wednesday, October 21, 2020 11 IBM revenue slips for third straight quarter SK Hynix in $9 billion deal for AFP The New York-based com- San Francisco pany spotlighted growth in its cloud computing business, IBM has reported that its which saw overall revenue ’s memory chip business revenue slipped for the third climb some 19 percent to $6 consecutive quarter this year, billion. causing shares to cede a little IBM last year closed its $34 The S Korean chipmaker is to buy Intel’s entire NAND division as it seeks to bolster position against Samsung ground in after-market trades. billion-deal to buy enterprise The US technology veteran software company Red Hat. said it took in $17.6 billion dur- The group recently un- ing the three months that end- veiled a corporate reorgani- ed on Sept. 30, compared to zation to allow it to focus on $18 billion in the same period a cloud computing, spinning off year earlier. Net income, how- its division for managed in- ever, was up slightly to $1.7 bil- frastructure. By separating its lion as the company trimmed managed infrastructure servic- costs, according to the earnings es business, IBM is sharpening report. focus on its offerings in a “hy- IBM shares were down 2.6 brid cloud” market valued at a percent in after-market trades. trillion dollars.

Microsoft looks to the stars, partners with Musk’s SpaceX AFP New partnerships with San Francisco SpaceX Starlink and others will enable Microsoft to pro- Microsoft on Tuesday vide high-speed internet via said its Azure cloud com- satellite to new Azure Mod- puting service is taking to ular Datacenters, essentially outer space, and will deliver self-contained cloud com- datacenter power to remote puting units about the size spots on Earth in the pro- of shipping containers. cess. They were designed to The US technology titan easily put muscular comput- announced partnerships ing power in “challenging with satellite operators in- environments,” according to This file photo taken on January 28, 2015 shows the logo of South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix displayed on a glass door at a branch in Seoul. cluding SpaceX, founded by Azure global industry sover- Elon Musk, as part an “eco- eign solutions general man- AFP Harman International in ‘Super Gap’ flagship subsidiary of the Sam- system” to serve network- ager Bill Karagounis. Seoul 2016. The sung group, by far the largest ing needs in orbit as well as “Scenarios range from SK Hynix CEO Seok-Hee and SK Hynix headquarters of the family-controlled con- beam high-speed internet mobile command centers, The world’s second-largest Lee said in a statement it are both south of Seoul and glomerates known as chaebol connections to modular da- humanitarian assistance, chipmaker, South Korea’s SK would give his firm a NAND less than 50 kilometres (31 that dominate business in the tacenters that can be de- military mission needs, Hynix, announced a record flash market position “compa- miles) apart, from where they world’s 12th-largest economy. ployed almost anywhere. mineral exploration, and $9 billion deal Tuesday to buy rable with what we achieved Largest-ever dominate the global branded For its part SK Hynix is “Azure Space” taps into other use cases requiring Intel’s chip op- in DRAM”. SK Hynix buying Intel NAND memory chip market. part of the SK Group, the Microsoft’s artificial intelli- high intensity, secure com- eration as it seeks to bolster Analysts said it would also Between them they ac- third-largest chaebol, while gence and other cloud com- puting on Azure,” Karagou- its position against rival behe- boost its ability to compete operations is the largest-ever counted for around 60 percent the original Hynix was owned puting capabilities to meet nis said in a blog post. moth Samsung Electronics. with Samsung Electronics, acquisition by a South Korean of total sales in the second by the Hyundai group before the world’s growing net- “The unit can operate SK Hynix is already the the market leader in both the company, ahead of Samsung quarter of this year according a $2.2 billion merger that Lee working needs, according in a wide range of climates world number two maker of NAND and DRAM sectors. Electronics’ $8 billion to the Trendforce figures. advised on. to corporate vice president and harsh conditions in a DRAM chips, used in comput- The pair are engaged in purchase of US audio and car The South Korean firms The “strong and stable Tom Keane. ruggedized, radio frequency ers and servers, but has lagged ferocious competition around parts maker Harman have achieved their command- ownership of Korean con- “We are ready to support shielded unit.” in the market for flash memo- the world, supplying chips to International in 2016. SK ing position by adopting a “Su- glomerates” enabled them to customers on their space Microsoft brought in ry NAND chips in everyday de- customers from American gi- Hynix CEO Seok-Hee Lee said per Gap” strategy, said How- adopt far-sighted, decades- missions off and on the space industry veterans to vices such as smartphones and ants such as Apple and to it would give his firm a NAND ard Lee, managing director of long plans such as the “Super planet,” Keane said. work with its product en- USB storage drives, as well as Chinese companies, and de- flash market position investment banking advisors Gap”, he said. “And to use the power gineers to build computing industrial and medical equip- mand has boosted their prof- BDA Partners -- investing vast “As the huge investment of cloud and space technol- capabilities tailored for the ment. its in recent years. sums unusually early “to build could harm profitability and ogy to help business across needs of space, including In a regulatory filing, SK SK Hynix ranked fourth “With the deal, the com- a strong entry barrier that fol- shareholder value in a short industries re-imagine solu- simulating missions and Hynix said it will acquire In- by global NAND sales in the pany has firmly cemented lowers cannot overcome”. term,” he explained, such large tions to some of the world’s analyzing data gathered tel’s “entire NAND business second quarter this year, ac- its second-largest position Samsung Electronics, he and risky moves would be dif- most challenging problems.” by satellites, according to division excluding the Optane cording to market researcher in the global semiconductor told AFP, “usually invests ficult for more “democratic” Azure Space is designed Keane. division” for 10.3 trillion won, Trendforce. Intel was sixth. industry,” said Ahn Ki-hyun, around $30bn a year, widen- competitors with hired CEOs to handle vast amounts of “Our approach helps with Intel’s factory in Dalian, Their combination will see vice-president of the Korea ing the gap in technology with and shorter-term horizons. data generated by satellites, to address the some of the China, included in the deal. SK Hynix leapfrog Japan’s Ki- As- competitors”. SK Hynix is the second and deliver cloud services toughest technology chal- It is the largest-ever acqui- oxia -- formerly -- and sociation. The approach was only most valuable company listed and internet bandwidth to lenges that our customers sition by a South Korean com- of the United “In the long run, the deal possible because of the com- on Seoul’s KOSPI stock mar- distant spots on Earth, ac- face in space,” Keane said in pany, ahead of Samsung Elec- States into second place with paves a way for it to become panies’ family-controlled ket with a market capitalisa- cording to Keane. a blog post. tronics’ $8 billion purchase of a NAND market share of more more competitive against structures, he added. tion of 62 trillion won, behind US audio and car parts maker than 23 percent. Samsung,” he added. Samsung Electronics is the only Samsung Electronics. Tesla to export its e-cars al Khaliji rolls out contactless services on POS machines Tribune News Network less symbol on their card can ben- Doha efit from the contactless payment made in China to Europe service. To make a transaction, Al Khalij Commercial Bank (al they simply need to tap their card Khaliji) has launched contactless on the reader on top of the POS services across its Point of Sale screen. When customer hears a (POS) machines. ‘beep’ sound, transaction is ini- The bank’s state-of-the-art tiated and upon transaction au- Ingenico POS machines have thorization the receipt is printed. been upgraded to accept contact- al Khaliji’s contactless POS less debit and credit cards, as a machines come in line with the faster and safer way for conduct- bank’s vision to digitise the fi- ing transactions. Customers us- nancial service sector and come ing contactless cards can easily at a time when new health and make payments of (up to) QR300 safety measures have emerged in with a ‘Tap and Pay’ service and response to the COVID-19 pan- any amount above QR300 using al Khaliji’s contactless POS machines come in line with the bank’s vision to demic. The bank continuously the ‘Tap and PIN’ service. digitise the financial service sector. looks to meet the financial needs Omar Al Emadi, Group Chief for this generation and the next, Business Officer, said, “We are erations, products, and services. free and safe option to help build focusing on long-term sustaina- Tesla built its third factory in China’s financial capital in a record 10 months. It already has constantly looking for ways to The contactless POS services customer confidence in a post- bility by balancing a commitment facilities in New York and Nevada. innovate and integrate new tech- have been introducedin light of COVID environment.” towards the financial industry nology within our sphere of op- the current situation as a risk- Cardholders with the contact- and to the community. AFP Last year, Tesla built ing joint ventures with do- Shanghai its third factory in China’s mestic firms, which means financial capital in a re- sharing profits and tech- Tesla will this month cord 10 months. It already nology with local partners. begin exporting cars to has facilities in New York Musk has said the factory Swiss bank giant UBS posts best Q3 in a decade despite virus Europe that are made at and Nevada. will eventually have an an- its new factory in Shang- The first factory out- nual production capacity AFP for $1.5 billion. officer on November 1. hai, the fast-growing US side the United States of 500,000 vehicles. Zurich The rise comes after net UBS saw net profit jump 99 “UBS has all the options open electric carmaker has an- should offer Tesla key ac- Exporting cars from profit dropped by 11 percent in percent year-on-year to $2.5 to write another successful chap- nounced. cess to China’s auto mar- China to Europe will al- Swiss banking giant UBS said the second quarter to June as billion, handily beating analyst ter of its history under Ralph’s The Model 3 vehicles ket, which is now the larg- low Tesla to reach the lu- Tuesday it nearly doubled its net the firm stepped up provisions leadership,” Ermotti said in the will be shipped to more est both in the world and crative European market profit in its best third quarter in for bad loans with the global expectations for $1.5 billion. statement. than 10 countries includ- for the US company. before its fourth factory a decade, the latest in a string of economy in a tailspin due to the But UBS did not give any ing France, Germany, It is a key step forward is up and running outside global lenders to report better- pandemic. Its operating profit increased estimate of its outlook, due to a Italy and Switzerland, the in Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s Berlin. than-expected results despite UBS’ profits received a one- 26 percent to $8.9 billion, also “high level of uncertainty”. group said in a statement strategy of going global. The Tesla Model 3 the coronavirus pandemic. off, third-quarter boost from surpassing analyst expectations. “Going forward, the pan- sent Tuesday to AFP. The multi-billion- -- its mid-price, mass- The world’s largest wealth the $631 million sale of a ma- CEO Sergio Ermotti said he demic and political uncertainties “This decision is evi- dollar plant is unusual market offering -- is more manager saw net profit jump 99 jority stake in its fund platform was proud of the third quarter may lead to periods of higher dence of the excellence of for China, which typically compact and cheaper than percent year-on-year to $2.5 bil- Fondcenter AG to Clearstream, a results, his last at the helm, with market volatility and could affect Chinese manufacturing,” requires foreign automak- the firm’s Model S and lion, it said in a statement, hand- subsidiary of the Deutsche Borse ex-ING group chief Ralph Ham- client activity positively or nega- the company said. ers to forge manufactur- Model X. ily beating analyst expectations group. ers taking over as chief executive tively,” it said in the statement.