Coronavirus

TAIPEI: Taiwan's Foxconn posted an almost 90% drop in first-quarter profit on Friday, as the coronavirus pandemic disrupted production and hit demand from Apple Inc and other major clients. But the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, formally called Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, said the worst of virus outbreak for the company was over. "Hon Hai will stabilize in the second quarter," Foxconn said in a statement, adding that it expects revenue will show double-digit growth in the second quarter from the first quarter. While demand for smartphones remains unclear, other business units are expected to see revenue growth of more than 10% in the second quarter from a year earlier thanks to rising demand from telecommuting and online entertainment, it added. Foxconn reported net profit of T$2.1 billion ($70.25 million) for the January-March quarter, falling well short of a Refinitiv consensus estimate of T$8.88 billion drawn from 14 analysts. The virus, which … [Read more...] about Foxconn’s first-quarter profit plunges on coronavirus fallout, sees better second quarter

As Zach Rael, an anchor for ABC affiliate KOCO 5 News in Oklahoma City, pointed out on Twitter earlier this morning, Amazon’s public relations team has been emailing TV stations around the country with prepared scripts and b-roll packages that promote the company’s safety precautions and other measures to combat COVID-19 among its warehouse workforce. … [Read more...] about Amazon gave TV stations coronavirus propaganda, and some aired it

"I think, over the past 20 years, whenever a problem has emerged in society, we've generally responded to that with additional regulation because the sense is we don't want mistakes so we regulate to stop mistakes happening, which is perfectly sensible, but that process is also limiting the ability to seize the upside," Lowe said. … [Read more...] about RBA says entrepreneurial ‘dynamism’ key to a post-coronavirus Australian economy

"This is an animal-origin virus that made the leap, maybe from bats to humans, maybe through… another animal, maybe through livestock. And we don't have the data yet to know where or how," he said. "That takes time. The study that really definitively showed the bats that SARS came from was published in 2017," roughly 15 years after the outbreak first occurred. … [Read more...] about The coronavirus didn’t really start at that Wuhan ‘wet market’

A day after revealing that Tesla has filed a case against Alameda County, California, Elon Musk has come out and said that the company’s factory will open. In a tweet post earlier in the day, Musk said, “Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.” Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If any… https://t.co/c6C8SDqyNY … [Read more...] about Elon Musk breaks coronavirus order, ‘dares’ authorities to arrest him