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Below are news flashes for the week starting January 15 , 2024 .

1. South Korea plans to spend US$470 billion to build the world's largest chip manufacturing base

The South Korean government revealed on Monday (15th) that it plans to build the world's largest semiconductor industry cluster near Seoul. The total investment scale will reach 622 trillion won (approximately US$472 billion) by 2047, based on the existing 21 chip factories. 13 new chip factories and 3 research facilities have been built in the country. The manufacturing area spans from Pyeongtaek to Yongin. It is expected to become the world's largest chip production base and can produce 7.7 million wafers per month by 2030.

The South Korean government stated that this plan is expected to create 3.46 million jobs. Compared with last year, the amount of investment this time has increased significantly. The Korean government has worked closely with private enterprises to solve the country's top priorities.

As countries actively deploy semiconductor supply chains, the South Korean government has been increasing its support for the domestic chip industry, including its commitment to protect the country's economic pillar industries while responding to global competition, including providing huge tax breaks for local chip companies.

Samsung and SK Hynix will build the most advanced wafer fab in South Korea and are expected to invest 500 trillion won by 2047. As part of the plan, Samsung is vigorously developing its foundry business. SK Hynix aims to invest 1.22 million won in Yongin during the same period. 100 million won to produce memory chips.

2. Nokia provides dedicated entity to serve US federal agencies

On January 15, Nokia announced the establishment of a dedicated entity, Nokia Federal Solutions (NFS), to provide security and innovative solutions to the U.S. federal government.

Mike Loomis, President of Nokia Federal Solutions, said: “With Nokia Federal Solutions, we are strengthening our commitment to supporting the U.S. government by investing in a dedicated entity to deliver the capabilities needed to help U.S. federal agencies achieve their mission objectives. Technology, expertise and business. ”

It is reported that NFS is focused on leveraging Nokia's technology and product portfolio, including IP routing, optical networking, microwave, 5G, private wireless and tactical private wireless, to create solutions that meet the unique requirements of US federal agencies. NFS will leverage Nokia's global expertise and industry-leading technology portfolio, powered by Nokia Bell Labs, to address the critical needs of U.S. federal agencies across diverse missions.

In addition, NFS initiatives are further enhanced by the communications equipment provider's recent acquisition of Fenix Group, Inc., a leading provider of tactical specialty wireless solutions for defense and security.

3. Apple to close 121-person San Diego SIRI AI-related team

According to Bloomberg, according to people familiar with the matter, Apple plans to close the 121-person AI team that was previously responsible for "Siri data operations" and reorganize it. This move will put many employees at risk of being laid off.

According to the report, a person familiar with the matter who requested anonymity said that the team called Data Operations Annotations was recently informed that they will relocate to Austin and merge with the Texas part of the same team.

Apple told employees they have until the end of February to decide whether to relocate, people familiar with the matter said. If they fail to do so, the employees will be fired on April 26.

The organization, which also has offices in China, India, Ireland and Spain, is responsible for improving Siri by listening to the voice service's queries and determining whether it is accurately hearing and handling questions. The announcement to close the San Diego group was made by Christine Delippo, a senior deputy to Apple's artificial intelligence chief John Giannandrea, people familiar with the matter said.

It is understood that the team, which also has offices in China, India, Ireland and Spain, is responsible for improving the voice service Siri by listening to inquiries made to it and determining whether Siri accurately hears and handles the questions.

The move could result in dozens of employees leaving the company. In stark contrast to most of its tech peers, Apple, which had 161,000 employees as of September, has mostly managed to avoid layoffs since the outbreak began. However, it did cut some corporate retail positions and some recruiters last April.

4. Microsoft surpassed Apple and regained the top spot in market capitalization

At the close of trading on the 12th, Microsoft's market value of US$2.89 trillion surpassed Apple's US$287 million, regaining its position as the world's largest market value.

According to foreign media analysis, Microsoft's market value has returned to the top of the list because of its success in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Its leading edge in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) has attracted many investors. In contrast, Apple has had its worst start in years in 2024 due to heightened demand concerns, with multiple Wall Street investment banks downgrading their ratings.

So far, Microsoft and Apple remain the largest companies in the S&P 500, accounting for about 14% combined. Few other companies come close to matching the two in scale.

5. Google may lay off thousands of employees, and its wearable device business Fitbit will be affected.

Fitbit co-founders James Park and Eric Friedman, along with other Fitbit leaders, are leaving Google as part of the reorganization.

Google, a subsidiary of American technology giant Alphabet, will conduct a new round of layoffs, which involves the Google Assistant (voice-operated virtual assistant) team and the hardware division responsible for manufacturing Pixel, Fitbit and Nest hardware.

According to 9to5Google, through the reorganization, Google will move to a functional organizational model, such that one team will be responsible for the hardware engineering of Pixel, Nest and Fitbit. Previously, Google's Pixel, Nest and Fitbit departments had different independent teams to handle design, hardware engineering, software, UI and other issues respectively.

Wearable device manufacturer Fitbit was founded in 2007 and went public in June 2015. With the popularity of wearable devices, the company's market value soared from US$4 billion to US$9.7 billion in 2015. But later in 2017, as Apple and Xiaomi surpassed Fitbit, Fitbit's market value had shrunk by more than $8 billion.

In November 2019, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, announced that it would spend US$2.1 billion (approximately 14.8 billion yuan) to acquire Fitbit. On December 17, 2020, the acquisition received conditional approval from the European Commission. On January 14, 2021, Google announced the completion of its acquisition of Fitbit. In January 2023, Forbes reported that Alphabet announced the layoffs of approximately 12,000 people.

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