N°3 JULY 2020 WWW.SWISSQUOTE.COM CHF 9.- WWW.SWISSQUOTE.COM FINANCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNPACKED CORONAVIRUS A wave of optimism hits the Swiss stock market PORTRAIT Alcon dreams big E-COMMERCE Etsy, the crafts master DOSSIER A TRILLION MICROCHIPS A TRILLION MICROCHIPS The ultra-connected future has already begun INTEL TSMC NVIDIA ASML AMD COMET INFINEON SWISSQUOTE N°3 JULY 2020 SWISSQUOTE N°3 JULY COLLECTION Fifty Fathoms RAISE AWARENESS, TRANSMIT OUR PASSION, HELP PROTECT THE OCEAN ©Photograph: Laurent Ballesta/Gombessa Project ©Photograph: Laurent www.blancpain-ocean-commitment.com RUE DU RHÔNE 40 · 1204 GENEVA · TEL. +41 (0)22 312 59 39 BAHNHOFSTRASSE 28 · PARADEPLATZ · 8001 ZURICH · TEL. +41 (0)44 220 11 80 EDITORIAL SWISSQUOTE JULY 2020 The chip war is only just beginning By Marc Bürki, CEO of Swissquote Donald Trump is not a geek, he’s a However, ironically, pressure from real estate developer. However, the Washington may not have the intended White House’s current resident does effect. Rather than submit to the trade understand the importance of sem- war, China is now fast-tracking its own p. 62 iconductors. Found inside smart- development and investing heavily to phones, aeroplanes, data centres and do so. Its objective: to produce 40% even everyday smart objects, elec- of all semiconductors sold in the p. 30 tronic chips are everywhere, and in country in 2020, and 70% by 2025. the near future, with the emergence The initial results of this policy are be- of artificial intelligence, these chips ginning to become clear. According to will make decisions for us, drive the firm IC Insights, HiSilicon, Huawei’s our cars, steer missiles, and more. driving force in the semiconductor in- dustry, made a dramatic entrance into So it’s not surprising that the the global top 10 chip manufacturers United States is trying to maintain in Q1 2020. Thus far, HiSilicon has control over the development and only designed electronic components, manufacturing of these electron- with their production outsourced to ic components. While the current Taiwanese company TSMC. Howev- industry leaders are American er, the Chinese company is sending companies, the trade war that the more and more of its manufactur- US president is currently waging ing orders to its compatriot SMIC. against Chinese telecoms provider Huawei is largely designed to stop And where is Europe in all this? Beijing from acquiring these skills, With start-ups such as UK-based because while China is indeed the ARM, Dutch company ASML and world’s factory, semiconductors are Swiss group Comet, Europe is p. 40 still its Achilles heel. According to a mastering crucial elements in the report from the Centre for Strategic steps to manufacture electron- and International Studies (CSIS) ic chips. However, it will need to published in February 2019, China do more to become a top player, produces only 16% of the semicon- like the United States is now, and ductors it consumes, which is not presumably China in the future. enough to ensure its autonomy. Good reading! 3 SWISSQUOTE JULY 2020 CONTENTS SWISSQUOTE JULY 2020 E-COMMERCE PUBLISHER Swissquote DOSSIER Chemin de la Crétaux 33 1196 Gland – Switzerland T. +41 44 825 88 88 www.swissquote.com THE CHIP [email protected] 68 Manager Brigitta Cooper INVASION EDITORIAL Editor-in-chief Ludovic Chappex CORONAVIRUS Associate editor Bertrand Beauté 66 Design director Natalie Bindelli and Caroline Fischer CANA atelier graphique Route de Jussy 29 – 1226 Thônex www.ateliercana.ch Editorial staff CONSUMERISM Bertrand Beauté, Ludovic Chappex, 24 Gérard Duclos, Raphaël Leuba, TRAVEL Martin Longet, Angélique Mounier-Kuhn, Grégoire Nicolet, Gaëlle Sinnassamy, 22 Julie Zaugg Layout Natalie Bindelli, Caroline Fischer, Romain Guerini (CANA atelier graphique) Cover Getty Images Photography Thierry Parel, AFP, Keystone, Getty images, iStockphoto, 30 72 Newscom, Reuters BUSINESS TRIP Editing (English version) Ose Ayewoh, Marco Simon Translation CONTENTS Technicis Finance PRINTING, BINDING AND DISTRIBUTION 3. EDITORIAL 18. PORTRAIT 66. E-COMMERCE 72. TRAVEL Stämpfli Ltd. DOSSIER : by Marc Bürki Alcon has its 30. THE CHIP INVASION Etsy: crafts boom Raja Ampat, Wölflistrasse 1 – 3001 Bern eye on the future thanks to coronavirus an underwater www.staempfli.com No factories, Chip giants 6. SCANS 36. 44. technicoloured dream but plenty ADVERTISING Economic 22. BUSINESS TRIP 68. CONSUMERISM Infoplus AG 53. What will chips of of ideas Traubenweg 51, CH-8700 Küsnacht survey Business trips the future look like? Made in China: in jeopardy the coolest of labels [email protected] 38. Infographic: 14. TRENDS WEMF the value chain 58. Interview REMP 2019: 53,752 Ex. Print run: 60,000 ex. Personality, 24. CORONAVIRUS of microprocessors with Éric Baissus, country, innovation A wave of optimism CEO of Kalray Erratum hits the Swiss 40 . Interview with An error was made in our last edition on page 25. stock market Heinz Kundert, 62. China dreams The figure 3.6 is the number of hospital beds in CEO of Comet of becoming a acute care per 1,000 inhabitants in Switzerland SUBSCRIPTIONABONNEMENT semiconductor giant and not the number of beds in intensive care. CHF 40.-40 FOR pour 6 6ISSUES numéros Our apologies for this unfortunate mistake. www.swissquote.ch/magazinewww.swissquote.ch/magazine/f/ ISTOCK / CHINAFACE / GETTYIMAGES STR AFP7 AFP ISTOCK / CHINAFACE 4 5 SWISSQUOTE JULY 2020 SCANS SWISSQUOTE JULY 2020 streaming RANKING PANDEMIC PUTS CINEMAS ON PAUSE SCANS TOP 5 SUPPORTED COMPLETED CAMPAIGNS ON KICKSTARTER (total funds pledged in dollars) telecoms 1. PEBBLE TIME LOON BALLOONS DEPLOYED IN KENYA SMARTWATCH (2015) 20.34 M 2. COOLEST COOLER xxxx PORTABLE REFRIGERATOR (2014) 13.29 M 3. FROSTHAVEN BOARD GAME (2020) 12.97 M “Currently, 4. PEBBLE 2, TIME 2 SMARTWATCH (2016) Switzerland 12.78 M needs open 5. KINGDOM DEATH: MONSTER 1.5 BOARD GAME (2017) markets, not 12.39 M dangerous Source : Kickstarter political ex- TOP 5 SMARTPHONE COMPANIES periments” (amount of phones sold globally in Q1 LOON 2020) Jan Atteslander, The Loon project from X, the Alphabet the Alphabet subsidiary was able to member of the board 1. SAMSUNG subsidiary, aims to provide internet test their effectiveness in Peru and of directors at 58.3 M access to some of the world’s most Puerto Rico, where internet users were economiesuisse 2. HUAWEI remote regions, via stratospheric provided free access if the tradition- balloons filled with helium. These al cellular data network was down. 49.0 M balloons, which were launched from The COVID-19 pandemic spurred the 3. APPLE the United States, now make it pos- Kenyan government to fast-track the 36.7 M sible for Kenyans to access 4G from project’s approval. Mozambique has 4. XIAOMI Telkom Kenya in every region of the already followed suit, making a similar 29.5 M country. This is the first commercial agreement with the operator Vodacom. 5. VIVO deployment of Loon balloons, but GOOG TKG VOD 24.8 M Walt Dohrn, the director of Trolls 2, Source : IDC in good company, before COVID-19 THE WORLD’S TOP 5 HIGHEST PAID spread around the DOTA 2 (E-SPORT) PLAYERS world. Here in (in millions of dollars as of 8 May 2020) Berlin, on 17 February. ISA FOLTIN/GETTY IMAGES ISA FOLTIN/GETTY 1. N0TAIL (JOHAN SUNDSTEIN) pharma ROCHE STRENGTHENS ITS POSITION As cinemas worldwide were forced to leased for $19.99 — a relatively high price 6.9 M IN GENETIC SEQUENCING close, production studios had to rethink for a VOD rental. It was a huge success, 2. JERAX (JESSE VAINIKKA) their distribution channels. In the with Universal reporting that the film 6.47 M Roche acquired US-based genetics access to the procedures developed United States, several feature-length has already brought in more than $100 3. ANA (ANATHAN PHAM) films, such as Bloodshot and The Hunt, million. CEO Jeff Shell later announced sequencing specialist Stratos Genomics by Stratos. The objective is to bring DNA 6 M in May for an undisclosed sum. In 2014, sequencing to market, making diagno- went live on streaming platforms just a in the Wall Street Journal that his studio the Basel pharma giant had already ses faster and cheaper, at a cost of few days after their release, bypassing would continue to release films simulta- 4. CEB (SÉBASTIEN DEBS) injected $15 million into the Seattle- around 200 Swiss francs per person, the 90-day period that is usually reserved neously in both formats, even after the 5.5 M 24 based company, whose board of direc- according to experts from ZKB. As a for cinema-goers after the release date. health crisis ends. But Universal quickly 5. TOPSON (TOPIAS ZAAVITSAINEN) The number of tors includes Heiner Dreismann, former comparison, the first commercial DNA Troll 2: World Tour, produced by Universal, had to retract its statement, as cinemas 5.4 M countries in which director of the Diagnostics division at sequencing cost $3 million per patient. was even available live on streaming threatened to boycott the group’s studio Roche. This acquisition gives Roche ROG platforms the very same day it was re- productions. CMCSA 5G is now available. Source : Statista 6 7 SCANS SWISSQUOTE JULY 2020 SCANS SWISSQUOTE JULY 2020 SCANS cryptocurrencies E-EURO: KICKSTARTER BANQUE DE FRANCE SETS THE BALL ROLLING social media INSTAGRAM TREATS ITS INFLUENCERS Squeezie, the YouTube influencer, is also very present on Instagram. Coming soon in paid mode? “Customers want Replay and going against their wishes will MENDI MENDI: REAL BRAIN TRAINER not work” MANUEL COHEN / VIA AFP TRAINING YOUR BRAIN The Banque de France announced on May 20 on Twitter that it had Urs Schaeppi, “successfully tested the use of a blockchain to experiment with SYLVAIN THOMAS / AFP SYLVAIN CEO of Swisscom, regarding TV companies’ the use of a central bank digital currency”, adding that other tests Projects that exceed $2 million The social network Instagram, owned by next to their names in the comments, desire to remove the will be carried out in the weeks to come.