About 100 Japanese companies participated in Hon Hai's pure electric vehicle project| Yue Yue Global

Reading Global(2022.03.14)

About 100 Japanese companies participated in Hon Hai's pure electric vehicle project

Japan Economic News reported on the 14th that it was recently learned that about 100 Japanese companies participated in the joint development project of pure electric vehicles (EVs) promoted by Hon Hai Precision Industry in Taiwan, which is equivalent to 5 times the original. Toyota's affiliates such as Denso will also participate, and cross-border companies have successively ventured into pure electric vehicles. Hon Hai will unify the specifications of parts and components and contract foundry business.

As of early March, about 2,200 companies plan to participate in joint development, and about 100 Japanese companies. Compared with the beginning of development in April 2021, the total number of participating companies increased by 70%, and the number of Japanese companies increased by five times. Some companies have started joint development of components with Hon Hai and others.

Among auto parts manufacturers, Nidec and Nippon Seiko will participate in the project. From the perspective of raw materials and electronics giants, Asahi Kasei, Showa Denko, Andshiba will participate. Asahi Kasei strives to supply interior materials, etc., and various Japanese manufacturers are looking to sell parts and components.

Affiliates of major OEMs have also participated in the project. From the perspective of Toyota's affiliates, in addition to Denso, JTEKT, Toyota Tsusho, and FCC also participated. Previously, Microsoft in the United States and Samsung Group in South Korea also participated in Hon Hai's pure electric vehicle development project. With the participation of many enterprises, it is possible to become a node for changes in the structure of the automobile industry.

Hon Hai announced its automotive development plans in October 2020. A corporate alliance will be formed to jointly develop a body and communication platform for pure electric vehicles. Participating companies can sell components and systems to Hon Hai OEM's pure electric vehicles, and they can also use design information freely.

The output value of the top ten wafer foundries in the first quarter of this year will remain rising China's wafer integration accounted for the top 10

Reuters reported that the market research institute - Jibang Technology (TrendForce) published a study on the 14th that the world's top 10 wafer foundry output value in the first quarter will maintain a growth trend, but the main growth momentum is still driven by the rise in average selling prices; but it is estimated that the quarterly growth rate is slightly convergent compared with the fourth quarter of last year, due to the small number of working days during the New Year's holiday, and some foundries enter the age repair period.

TrendForce research pointed out that the top ten wafer generation industry output value in the fourth quarter of last year totaled $29.55 billion, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 8.3%, a record high for 10 consecutive seasons, but the increase was slightly reduced on a quarterly basis. There are two main factors interacting, one is the limited increase in overall production capacity; the other is the increase in average sales unit price, and the fourth quarter of the price increase led by TSMC has been produced, and each factory has continued to adjust the product portfolio to increase the average sales unit price.

The top three foundry wafer revenues in the fourth quarter were TSMC, Samsung and UMC. The 10th place was won by China's Nexchip, surpassing South Korea's Eastern Hi-Tech (DB Hitek).

According to TrendForce survey, the active expansion of GCC in 2021 is the main reason for the top ten, and plans to develop more advanced processes such as 55/40/28nm and multiple product lines to make up for the current problems of single product lines and limited customer groups. As crystallization integration is currently in the rapid climbing stage, the growth performance in 2022 will not be underestimated.

France has lifted COVID-19 regulations on unvaccinated, mask-wearing

The Associated Press reported that France lifted most of the COVID-19 restrictions on the 14th, canceled the requirement to wear masks on most occasions, and allowed unvaccinated people to re-enter restaurants, stadiums and other venues.

The move was announced by the French government earlier this month, based on an assessment of the improvement in hospital conditions and a steady decline in infection rates over the past few weeks. The move is less than a month away from the first presidential election scheduled for April 10.

But in recent days, new infections have begun to increase again, raising concerns among some scientists that it may be too early to lift the restrictions. According to the seven-day average, the number of new infections has reached more than 60,000, up from about 50,000 a week ago.

Starting from the 14th, people no longer need to show vaccination certificates when entering restaurants and bars, cinemas, theaters, markets, etc., as well as when using cross-regional transportation. The French Vaccine Pass came into force at the end of January.

In hospitals and nursing homes, unvaccinated people must provide a recent negative test or proof of recent rehabilitation to enter.

Masks are no longer required in schools, businesses and offices. Masks are still mandatory in public transport, hospitals and other health facilities. In France, a population of 67 million, more than 92% of people aged 12 and over have been fully vaccinated.

UK consumers face more identity checks when shopping online

The Guardian news, with the new rules to combat fraud coming into effect, from the 14th, online consumers in the UK face more identity checks when making payments.

The new Strong User Identity (SCA) requirement will change the way people confirm their identity when using a debit or credit card to make online purchases, which is expected to result in more card payments being denied. It's the biggest change to bank card payments since the launch of the chip and pin system 16 years ago, aiming to reduce the £376 million lost to online fraud in 2020.

These measures are similar to those that people already face when logging into online banking. Consumers will be required to prove their identity by confirming two of the three "factors" when making a purchase: for example, by providing fingerprints or facial recognition; passwords or passwords; or by their mobile phones.

A two-factor authentication check means that consumers may be asked to verify a purchase via a one-time password sent via sms, which they must then enter on the screen. Other confirmations include answering an automated call, or logging into the banking app.

Mastercard expects that starting on the 14th, about 25 percent of online transactions will require some form of additional verification by customers, compared to just 1 percent of previous online transactions.

However, Research by Barclays Credit Card Company found that in February, more than 1.2 million online transactions worth more than £100 million were rejected. About 14 percent of consumers noticed an increase in their online payment rejections, and 37 percent went to another retailer to complete a purchase.

(This article is compiled from Nihon Keizai Shimbun, The Guardian, Reuters, And Associated Press)

Economic Observation Network intern reporter Zhou Yuqing sorted out