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☆ Why a small China-made EV has global auto execs and politicians on edge
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-22 | by ( Michael Wayland | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

The rise of BYD and other Chinese automakers led Tesla CEO Elon Musk in January to warn that Chinese automakers will "demolish" global rivals without trade barriers. Caresoft, an engineering benchmarking and consulting firm, has already torn down one China-built BYD Seagull and is preparing to do another. Michael Wayland / CNBCThe consulting firm tore apart the BYD Seagull piece by piece to benchmark the small EV against vehicles from other startups and traditional automakers. Its initial study of the BYD Seagull found it to be efficiently and simplistically designed, engineered and executed, but with unexpected quality and anticipated reliability. Growing concernsBYD's rise comes at a precarious time for global auto industry dynamics.

Persons: It's, Terry Woychowski, Warren Buffett, —, BYD, Tesla, Elon Musk, Caresoft Bernstein, Nissan, Michael Wayland, Caresoft, simplistically, Woychowski, Mathew Vachaparampil, CNBC BYD, Stellantis —, Donald Trump, Zach Gibson, Jennifer Granholm, Republican Sen, Marco Rubio, Trump, –, GM Dong, Tang, Marin Gjaja, Gjaja, Ford, you've, Evelyn Cheng, Dylan Butts Organizations: Shanghai International Automobile Industry, National Exhibition, Convention Center, Visual China, Getty, U.S, General Motors, Caresoft, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Overseas, Chevrolet, Nissan Leaf, Bolt, Chicago Federal Reserve, BYD, CNBC, Cox Automotive, Seagull, Tesla, Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor, Honda Motor, Hyundai, Kia, — GM, Ford, Chrysler, U.S ., Washington , D.C, Bloomberg, Republican, North American Free Trade, Republicans, Buick, SAIC, GM, GM Dong Yue Motors Co, Detroit Locations: Shanghai, LIVONIA, Mich, –, China, Europe, Latin America, Detroit, Texas, Germany, Japan, U.S, Livonia , Michigan, America, XPENG, Mexico, Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, Hungary, Uzbekistan, ., Washington ,, United States, Marco Rubio of Florida, Yantai, Shandong Province

STR | AFP | Getty ImagesIn the race against Tesla for the global electric car market, Chinese automaker BYD is pushing hard overseas despite rising barriers to the U.S. market. Given policy uncertainty around Chinese EV exports to major markets like the U.S. and Europe, BYD is seeking to bolster overseas sales by moving production to regions perceived as more friendly. The U.S. has tried to support adoption of electric cars domestically, but sales penetration is well below that of China. EY predicts the electric car market in the region will grow exponentially to at least $80 billion a year in sales in the next decade. The rapid growth of BYD and other Chinese electric car companies has other automakers worried.

Persons: Tesla, BYD, Xiao Feng, Biden, it's, EY, Alvin Liu, Liu, BYD's, Sime Darby, Stella Li, Reuters BYD, Bill Russo, CNBC's, Li Organizations: AFP, Getty, Toyota, Counterpoint Research, Tesla, Sime, Americas, Reuters, Alliance for American Manufacturing, U.S Locations: Taicang Port, Suzhou, China's, Jiangsu, U.S, Shenzhen, Europe, Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, Hungary, Uzbekistan, China, Marklines, Southeast Asia, Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Mexico, Americas, North America, United States, Canada, Washington

(Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP) (Photo by KAZUHIRO NOGI/AFP via Getty Images)At Japan's highly anticipated "shunto" spring wage negotiations this year, the world's largest automaker Toyota agreed to the biggest annual pay increase for workers in 25 years. Market speculation reached fever pitch this week as various corporate giants announced robust negotiated salary increments that in some instances exceeded what unions petitioned for. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda has repeatedly said the outcome of this year's wage negotiations will influence the central bank's decision on when to exit the world's last negative interest rate policy. Japan's largest trade union grouping, known as Rengo, will announce the first collation of ongoing wage negotiations on Friday. Here's what you need to know about this year's spring wage talks, which takes place annually in March.

Persons: Kazuhiro NOGI, KAZUHIRO NOGI, Kazuo Ueda Organizations: Bank of Japan, The Bank of Japan, Getty, Toyota Locations: Tokyo, AFP

☆ FAA audit of Boeing's 737 Max production reportedly found 'dozens of issues'
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-12 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

An Alaska airlines Boeing 737 is taking off from Los Angeles International AirPort (LAX) in Los Angeles, California, on March 6, 2024. U.S. air safety regulators found "dozens of problems" at facilities owned by Boeing and one of its key suppliers after a six-week audit of the production of the 737 Max jet, according to The New York Times. The Federal Aviation Administration started the probe after a door panel blew off a 737 Max 9 flight on Alaska Airlines in early January, an incident that has attracted intense scrutiny of Boeing's quality-control practices. FAA auditors found that out of 89 product audits that were conducted, Boeing passed 56 tests and failed 33 of them, according to the report. During the six-week audit, the FAA also conducted 13 product audits that focused on Spirit AeroSystems, which makes fuselages for the Boeing 737 Max — of those, only six audits resulting in passing grades, and seven failed, the NYT said.

Persons: Max — Organizations: Boeing, Los Angeles International AirPort, The New York Times, Federal Aviation Administration, Max, Alaska Airlines, Times, FAA Locations: Alaska, Los Angeles , California

☆ Southeast Asia's smartphone market is booming so far this year as China remains sluggish, research says
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-08 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Smartphone shipments in Southeast Asia continued a resurgence at the start of 2024, contrasting to a lull in other regions, as the promising market for mobile makers continues to attract more brands and investment. The top five markets in the region saw 7.26 million smartphone units shipped, marking a significant 20% increase from the same period last year, according to research from technology market analyst firm Canalys published Wednesday. The results continue a market rebound that began in the fourth quarter of 2023 when Southeast Asia phone shipments increased year-over-year for the first quarter in almost two years amid a broader post-pandemic industry recovery. "To capitalize on this market resurgence, smartphone manufacturers, which adopted conservative strategies in the last six months, are now deploying aggressive tactics to gain market dominance," he said in the release, noting trends such as affordable 5G, AI integration, ecosystem development, and channel optimization. Xiaomi, the second largest phone brand by shipments in January for that region, saw year-on-year growth of 128%, while Transsion, a relative newcomer to the market, saw growth of 190%.

Persons: Canalys, Le Xuan Organizations: Samsung Locations: Surakarta, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, Asia

☆ Generative AI is the talk of the town, but businesses are still not ready for it, survey shows
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-06 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"There is a misconception about how easy it is to run mature, enterprise-ready, generative AI," said Stela Solar, Inaugural Director at Australia's National Artificial Intelligence Centre in the survey report. Meanwhile, 56% of the respondents said their IT investment budgets, in general, were a limiting factor in rolling out generative AI. Other barriers to generative AI adoption according to the survey respondents included the lack of relevant generative AI skills. Disruptors versus the disruptedStill, the survey reflected overall positive sentiments about the future role of generative AI in business. While six of 10 respondents expect generative AI to substantially disrupt their industry in the next five years, 78% see it as a competitive opportunity.

Persons: skilling, Chris Levanes, Laurence Liew, Geraldine Kor Organizations: Istock, MIT Technology, Telstra, Artificial Intelligence, South, MIT, Singapore, Telstra International Locations: Australia, South Asia, Singapore

☆ AMD reportedly hits U.S. regulatory roadblock for China-tailored chip
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-05 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A smartphone with a displayed AMD logo is placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken March 6, 2023. The report said AMD designed the chip to have lower performance than its premium products in order to comply with U.S. export restrictions. But Bloomberg reported the Commerce Department did not clear the chip for sale in China because it was still too advanced. AMD will now have to obtain a license from the department's Bureau of Industry and Security, the report said. AMD and the Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security did not immediately respond to CNBC's requests for comment.

Persons: It's Organizations: Devices, Bloomberg, AMD, Commerce Department, department's Bureau of Industry, Security, Commerce's Bureau of Industry Locations: China, department's, U.S, Beijing

☆ Over 60% of illegal crypto activity is tied to sanctioned groups or terrorist organizations, report finds
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

The American blockchain analysis firm's "2024 Crypto Crime Report" found that $24.2 billion of illicit cryptocurrency was transferred in 2023, based on already identified illicit crypto wallets. Chainalysis retroactively updates its yearly crypto figures when new illicit wallets come to light. watch nowCrypto to avert sanctionsEntities like the crypto "mixer" Tornado Cash and Garantex took the lion's share of illicit funds in 2023. The amount of crypto transferred to sanctioned entities has climbed in recent years in tandem with a greater share of new trade restrictions specifying crypto wallets. Terrorist financingIllicit crypto volume identified by Chainalysis as terrorist financing accounted for a much smaller proportion than that of transactions to sanctioned entities in 2022.

Persons: Andrea Gacki, cryptocurrency, Chainalysis, Andrew Fierman, Garantex, Tornado Cash, Lazarus, Lazarus Group ., Sinbad.io, Chanalysis's Fierman, Tawfiq Muhammad Said Al, Law's, Hayat Tahrir Organizations: Foreign Assets, U.S . Department of, Treasury, Bloomberg, Getty, Hezbollah, CNBC, Tornado, Lazarus Group, U.S . Office, Foreign, Lazarus, National Bureau for, Iran's Quds Force, Al, ISIS, Hayat Locations: New York, Korean, Chainalysis, China, Latin America, North Korea, Iran, Iran's Quds, Syria, cryptocurrency

☆ Bitcoin surpasses $56,000 benchmark, uplifts crypto market in latest rally
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Bitcoin , the world's largest cryptocurrency by market cap, extended a rally in Asia trading on Tuesday, reaching a two-year high of over $56,000 and uplifting the broader crypto market amid positive market developments and buying from crypto bulls. MicroStrategy , based in Virginia, is currently the largest publicly traded owner of bitcoin. According to Greta Yuan, head of research at digital asset platform VDX, the market was "encouraged by crypto bulls such as MicroStrategy" as well as a "new record of Bitcoin ETF inflows." Most of the cryptocurrency market experienced a lift from the latest rally. Ethereum , the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, reached a multi-month high above $3,200.

Persons: MicroStrategy, Greta Yuan Locations: halve, Asia, CoinMarketCap, Virginia, U.S, San Francisco

☆ Bitcoin firm MicroStrategy pops 27% in two days as company's crypto stake hits $11 billion
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-27 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

In this article MSTR Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTMicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor speaks at the Bitcoin 2021 Convention, a crypto-currency conference held at the Mana Convention Center in Wynwood on June 04, 2021 in Miami, Florida. MicroStrategy, along with its subsidiaries, now owns about 193,000 bitcoins worth $11 billion. watch nowInvestors have been increasingly bullish on the bitcoin trade following the SEC's approval of multiple spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds last month. "Institutional capital is still getting up to speed with bitcoin ETFs. For example, MicroStrategy has the ability to acquire bitcoin using proceeds from debt and equity issuances, the firm said.

Persons: Michael Saylor, Joe Raedle, MicroStategy, Andrew King, bitcoin, Bitcoin, Ryan Rasmussen, —, MicroStrategy, Cowen, CNBC's Dylan Butts, Ari Levy Organizations: Mana Convention, Getty, Bitwise Asset Management, Research, Benchmark Locations: Wynwood, Miami , Florida, bitcoin, Bitcoin

☆ Delivery Hero ends talks to sell Foodpanda in Southeast Asia after months of negotiations
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-22 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Insulated food bags branded with the logo of Foodpanda, a meal-delivery service operated by Delivery Hero, sit at the company's operations center in Bangkok, Thailand, on Friday, March 16, 2018. German food delivery giant Delivery Hero announced it has ended negotiations with an undisclosed third party regarding the potential sale of its Foodpanda business in selected Southeast Asian markets, where it is attempting to downsize. In a press release on Wednesday, Delivery Hero said the relevant parties failed to agree on the terms. "The decision to terminate negotiations after months of discussions was taken after careful consideration," said Niklas Östberg, CEO and co-founder of Delivery Hero. Just last week, Östberg said he was happy to hold onto the Foodpanda brand, after the German company's share price plunged on reports that negotiations to sell the Southeast Asian units had collapsed.

Persons: Niklas Östberg, Östberg Locations: Bangkok, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos

☆ Skull and Bones, Singapore's first major video game title, launches to mixed reviews after decade-long wait
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-21 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Justin Farren, Creative Director at Ubisoft Singapore, reveals "Skull & Bones" during the Ubisoft E3 conference at the Orpheum Theater on June 11, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. Ubisoft Singapore officially launched its first major video game, Skull And Bones, for the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on Friday, ending an unusually long development saga that spanned over a decade. Ubisoft Singapore received a grant from the Economic Development Board in 2016 to aid in the development of an "AAA" game title from the city-state. The "AAA" game classification refers to titles that are produced and distributed by large, well-known publishers that will typically have high development and marketing budgets. According to data collected by market research company YouGov in 2020, at least three-quarters of the population in Singapore plays video or mobile games, which jumps to 90% among those aged 18 to 24.

Persons: Justin Farren, Jean, Francois Vallee, CNBC's Organizations: Ubisoft Singapore, Ubisoft, Orpheum, PlayStation, Economic, AAA Locations: Los Angeles , California, AAA, Singapore

☆ EU reportedly set to fine Apple 500 million euros amid antitrust crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-19 | by ( Dylan Butts | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The European Commission is set to fine Apple about 500 million euros ($539 million) over alleged breaches of EU competition law, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the matter. Brussels first launched an investigation into allegations that Apple hindered third-party music services on its devices and favored its own Apple Music service, after Spotify filed a formal complaint to regulators in 2019. In most regions, Apple's App Store rules prohibit companies such as Spotify from billing users for subscriptions directly within the app, making them instead use Apple's App Store billing service, which takes a cut of up to 30%. The latest version of the probe focused on whether Apple had restricted apps from informing users about cheaper subscription alternatives outside of its native App Store and thus violated EU competition laws. If imposed, the fine would be one of the most substantial financial penalties the EU has imposed on a major technology company.

Persons: Apple Organizations: European, Apple, Financial Times, Apple Music, Spotify, EU, Google Locations: Brussels, France

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