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(Bloomberg) — The wait times for semiconductor deliveries rose slightly in March, reaching a new high, after lockdowns in China and an earthquake in Japan further hampered supply. 

Lead times — the lag between when a chip is ordered and delivered — increased by two days to 26.6 weeks last month, according to research by Susquehanna Financial Group.

                   

While chip users are facing longer wait times again, the lead times are growing much slower than in 2021, when many industries were forced to slash their production because of a lack of the critical components.

Lead times increased for most chip types, including power management, microcontrollers, analog and memory, according to a report by Susquehanna analyst Chris Rolland. The war in Ukraine, Covid-19 lockdowns in parts of China and an earthquake in Japan “will have a short-term impact in the first quarter but may have lingering effects on the severely constrained supply chain through the year,” he said. 

The global shortage of semiconductors began in the first half of 2020, driven by pandemic-fueled demand for consumer technology and vehicles. Semiconductor producers had pared invested in increasing output from their factories, and the sudden scarcity of chips disrupted production of everything from smartphones to pickup trucks. It also contributed to inflation by boosting supply costs.

Chip industry executives have cautioned that some customers will struggle to get enough supply until 2023. Much of the massive increase in building of new plants by companies such as Intel Corp. won’t bring production online until next year, at the earliest.

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(Bloomberg) — PLDT Inc., the Philippines’ biggest telecommunications and digital services provider by market value, has picked Edgepoint Infrastructure and edotco Group Sdn. as the preferred bidders for its local towers, people familiar with the matter said.

Edgepoint, backed by DigitalBridge and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, is in exclusive talks with PLDT for a portfolio of about 3,000 towers in the greater Manila area, according to the people. Malaysia’s telecommunications tower firm Edotco has entered into exclusive discussions for another 3,000 towers outside of Manila, said the people, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. 

The two deals could be valued at about $1.5 billion and agreements could be reached as soon as in the coming days, the people said.

Talks could still fall apart and no final decision has been made, the people said. Other bidders including private equity firms and industry players remain interested in the assets, the people said. Representatives for Edgepoint and DigitalBridge declined to comment, while representatives for Edotco and PLDT didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

PLDT has been working with an adviser to find a buyer for its phone towers in the Philippines, Bloomberg News reported last year. A transaction would involve PLDT selling the towers and then leasing them back, people familiar with the matter said at the time.

PLDT, which has a market value of about 392 billion pesos ($7.6 billion), counts Japan’s Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp. and Hong Kong-based investment firm First Pacific Co. among its major shareholders, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

(Adds no comment from DigitalBridge in paragraph four.)

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(Bloomberg) — U.S. regulators have asked LG Energy Solution about electric- and hybrid-vehicle fires involving batteries made by the company.

The probe covers an estimated 138,324 vehicles that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said are at risk of catching fire when parked or in use, according to documents posted Tuesday on the agency’s website. NHTSA opened the probe, known as an equipment query, on April 1. 

The regulator — which can deem cars defective and order recalls — said it launched its probe after receiving complaints about cars made by Stellantis NV, Volkswagen AG, General Motors Co., Hyundai Motor Co. and Mercedes-Benz Group AG. 

The agency aims to contact South Korea-based LG and its customers to “notify them of this defect in any vehicles they manufactured, and to ensure thorough safety recalls are conducted where appropriate,” according to the posting.

LG said it is cooperating with the inquiry. “We understand NHTSA’s latest request is a follow-up procedure to determine if the same or similar batteries involved in the recalls were supplied” to other carmakers, the company said in a statement.

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(Bloomberg) — Indonesia will start taxing crypto transactions and assets next month, along with some financial-technology services.

The finance ministry has set a 0.1% value-added tax on crypto asset purchases, while earnings and capital gains from such transactions will be subject to a 0.1% final income tax, according to a rule that will be effective on May 1.

Trading on platforms that haven’t been authorized by the local regulator would result in a higher VAT and income tax of 0.2% each.

Crypto trading is picking up in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, with 11 million market participants conducting $60 billion worth of transactions last year, according to Indonesia’s commodities futures trading agency, known as Bappebti. Such assets are regulated by the trade ministry as commodities and aren’t allowed to be used as legal tender.

The government has already told Indonesians who invest in non-fungible tokens to pay tax, citing a 2008 law.

Indonesia will also tax several financial-technology transactions, according to a separate regulation issued by the ministry. Interest income on peer-to-peer lending will be subject to a 15% tax for domestic taxpayers and 20% for foreign taxpayers. Other fintech services, such as payment settlement and equity crowdfunding, will also be subject to VAT starting May 1.

(Updates with tax plan for financial technology companies throughout.)

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(Bloomberg) — An Amazon.com Inc. executive responsible for implementing the company’s pledge to become the world’s best employer is leaving.

Amid labor unrest among frontline workers, Amazon last year vowed to sharpen its focus on employee welfare, adding “Strive to be Earth’s Best Employer” to a list of corporate values. Human-resources executive Pam Greer was asked to help fulfill the mandate by examining and overhauling existing policies.

News of her pending departure circulated at the Seattle-based company last week. “We’re grateful to Pam for all of her hard work during her time in multiple roles at Amazon and wish her well,” an Amazon spokesperson said in an emailed statement, declining to comment on her departure date or replacement. Greer didn’t respond to messages seeking comment. 

Greer, who reported to HR chief Beth Galetti, also led a data-analysis program called Connections that polled warehouse and logistics workers daily to gauge policy successes and inform changes. A peer oversaw the same program among corporate employees.

Amazon’s workforce has doubled in size since the start of the pandemic, straining the ability of HR teams to keep up. Meanwhile, the company faces the prospect of its first bargaining talks with warehouse workers in the U.S. after employees at a facility in New York recently voted to join the upstart Amazon Labor Union. The company has indicated it may challenge the result of the vote. 

Greer, who previously worked at Starbucks Corp. and Mattel Inc., according to her LinkedIn profile, is the latest in a string of senior human-resources executives to leave Amazon recently. In May, Cole Brown, an HR vice president with responsibility for the devices and services group, departed for the top HR role at American Airlines Group Inc. Darcie Henry, a vice president who led teams at Amazon’s Global Consumer and Operations organizations, left to run HR at Snap Inc. 

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(Bloomberg) — The shift to working from home during the pandemic fueled a resurgence in demand for personal computers. Now Microsoft Corp. is hoping a partial return to the office will spur sales of its latest Windows operating system.

With some employees still at home, some returning to offices, and others splitting time between the two, Microsoft is styling Windows 11 as the operating system for hybrid businesses. On Tuesday, the company unveiled a series of new features for the software, which first came out in October, aiming to improve network security for a mobile workforce and make it easier to move work between physical computers and the cloud. 

The idea is to “help companies be more agile and flexible for their employees and themselves,” Chief Product Officer Panos Panay said in an interview. They also need to be more resilient in dealing with security threats, he said.

Part of the pitch of Windows 11 is moving customers to a “cloud PC” model, where the software is delivered to individual computers but continues to be stored, updated and managed in the cloud. Users can access the same programs from the office or at home, blurring the line between cloud computing and traditional PCs.

The change will require Microsoft and its hardware partners to create devices for a work-from-anywhere lifestyle, said Panay, who also oversees the Surface line of computers and tablets. He declined to comment on specific plans for Microsoft’s hardware.

“We continue to figure out what people actually need from a hybrid stance, what flexibility means to a customer — all the way down to the silicon,” he said. Whether it’s for frontline workers or office employees, there will be strong demand for new kinds of products, Panay said. 

Part of Tuesday’s updates include better protection against phishing attacks. A system called Defender SmartScreen finds and alerts users when they’re inputting their Microsoft login information into a hacked website or malicious program.

Smart App Control, meanwhile, prevents anything but trusted apps from running. And a personal data encryption feature will protect information stored on a device when the user is not logged in. That makes it harder for sensitive information to be seized from a device that’s lost or stolen. 

Features aimed at blending the cloud and physical world include Windows 365 boot, which lets clients log directly into a cloud PC. There’s also a switch feature that allows users to easily move from a physical desktop to what they have stored in the cloud. An offline option enables customers to work on their cloud PC when they’re disconnected. 

The approach has begun to win converts. Accenture Plc said it has put Windows 11 on 30,000 devices so far and plans to have it on 300,000 by July. The rest of the consulting firm’s almost 700,000 workers will get the new operating system by the end of the year. 

Windows 11 is also adding some accessibility features, including live captions that help people who are deaf or learning a new language, according to a presentation by Microsoft executive Wangui McKelvey. A new voice clarity feature for meetings eliminates echo and background noise, she said.

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(Bloomberg) — Crypto technology firm Lightning Labs said it is bringing in new financing as it creates a protocol to facilitate fiat currency transfers to Bitcoin.

The protocol — called Taro — aims to enable high-volume transfers instantly for fiat currencies and other assets, Lightning Labs said in a statement. Valor Equity Partners, Brevan Howard Asset Management LLP and Vlad Tenev, CEO of Robinhood Markets Inc., are among new investors in the $70 million, Series B financing round. While Valor Equity was an early backer of Tesla and SpaceX, hedge fund Brevan Howard has been ramping up its own, new crypto unit with capital and staff. 

Taro will help developers issue assets such as stablecoins on the Bitcoin blockchain and convert them to other assets through the Lightning Network. The network is a decentralized system that intends to eliminate the custodial risk associated with high-volume micropayments, its website states. The idea is to make the crypto assets more easily transferable at a low fee, globally. 

“In essence, dollars will route through the Bitcoin monetary network using Lightning,” the firm said. “This new protocol cements Bitcoin in its place as the internet’s native digital money and protocol for value transfer.”

Lightning Labs, run by Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Stark and backed by entrepreneur Jack Dorsey, said its in talks with stablecoin issuers about using its technology. Lightning’s network, which is layered over Bitcoin, facilitates fast, micro transactions that typically take Bitcoin’s blockchain longer to process. Through the infrastructure, customers can use Bitcoin to pay for purchases across large corporations like Starbucks and Twitter. 

Stark’s firm expects Taro to speed up use of Bitcoin payments and transfers among emerging markets. Her firm has helped expand such movement in El Salvador since its adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender last year. 

Venture capital firms including Goldcrest Capital, Kingsway, Moore Strategic Ventures, bitcoin technology firm NYDIG and Silvergate Capital Corp. CEO Alan Lane also participated in the Series B funding round. 

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(Bloomberg) — Dutch electric bike maker VanMoof unveiled updated versions of its e-bikes, along with higher prices due to supply chain constraints. 

New features include LED displays on the handlebars that provide information on battery levels and speed, a torque sensor in the motor that adjusts the level of assistance based on how hard the rider pushes against the pedals, and a step-in frame option that makes it easier for riders to mount and dismount. With a base price of $2,998, the VanMoof S5 and A5 also come at a more than 20% price increase over their predecessors, the S3 and X3, which sell for $2,448. 

The $550 increase follows a $150 hike in the price of the S3 and X3 earlier this year, reversing what had been a downward trend for the 13-year-old company. When VanMoof launched the S3 and X3 in 2020, each model sold for just below $2,000—a $1,400 drop from the previous iteration of its e-bikes.

VanMoof spokesperson Austin Durling said in an email that the company is not immune from the inflationary pressures facing electric vehicle makers and hardware retailers of all kinds. “Our price adjustment is a result of the increased cost of materials and other supply chain challenges the world is facing,” said Durling. 

The e-bike industry has begun to gain traction in the U.S., thanks in part to long-term declines in the price and weight of lithium-ion batteries. The average U.S. selling price of an e-bike over the twelve months ending in January of this year was $1,825, according to the NPD Group, which collects point-of-sale data from bike shops, outdoor stores, and other big-box retailers but does not capture direct-to-consumer brands such as VanMoof. 

Overall e-bike prices declined by 10% from the prior year, according to NPD, even as the average price for traditional adult bikes rose by 10% to $466. Yet the industry has begun to split, says NPD outdoor industry analyst Dirk Sorenson, between basic transit e-bikes and higher end mountain and road e-bikes, which are seeing price increases. 

Price remains a major barrier for many potential buyers who are accustomed to paying less than $500 for a traditional bicycle. Late last year, the Build Back Better spending bill raised hopes of a federal tax credit of up to $900 for the purchase of an e-bike. The bill’s death in the Senate has left advocates pushing for state and local programs to subsidize the industry. 

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(Bloomberg) — California startup Joby Aviation Inc. has its sights set on the U.K. as a future market for its flying-taxi business.

Britain’s investments in sustainability, combined with a dense concentration of large, crowded cities makes it an attractive location for electric vertical takeoff and landing craft, said Joby founder JoeBen Bevirt.

“The U.K. market is really spectacular,” Bevirt said in an interview in London. “When you come here you can really feel the value of what a service like ours could mean for people being able to get around.”

Joby is scouting out potential areas for expansion once the Santa Cruz-based company has launched flights in the U.S. Bevirt, who is also chief executive officer, said he sees the firm’s five-seater eVTOL connecting cities like Bristol and Cambridge with London, as well as providing links between U.K. regions.

Joby is targeting a price point of about $3 per passenger mile by 2026, meaning a trip from Cambridge to the capital would cost $120 or so.

While Joby intends to pursue approvals from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration first, it will then seek bilateral agreements with regulators in markets like the U.K.

Bevirt said last month that Joby is joining British aerospace lobby ADS “to help support the successful launch of fast, clean and convenient air taxi services,” and has been working with the U.K. Civil Aviation Authority to establish a path toward type certification for its aircraft.

Britain’s exit from the European Union means the regulator is taking an approval role for the first time in decades, and pushing to expand its competence to include fledgling technologies such as flying taxis.

U.K. Competitor

Joby’s eVTOL model has a planned range of 150 miles and a top speed of 200 mph, with production of the first aircraft planned for this year and service entry slated for 2024.

In targeting Britain, Joby would face a homegrown competitor in Bristol-based Vertical Aerospace, which is developing a five-seater with the same top speed and a range of 100 miles. It has already taken more than 1,300 orders, opting to sell direct to leasing firms and operators rather than run an Uber-like service as Joby intends.

Bevirt said his attention isn’t on rivals but “relentlessly focused on our own execution.”

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(Bloomberg) — MicroStrategy Inc. used a loan against its Bitcoin holdings for the first time to purchase $190.5 million more of the cryptocurrency.  

The software maker controlled by Bitcoin advocate and CEO Michael Saylor now owns about 129,218 of the digital tokens valued at around $6 billion. The Tysons Corner, Virgina-based company acquired 4,167 Bitcoins between Feb. 15 and April 4 during its most recent buying spree, according to a regulatory filing. Bitcoin fell less than 1% to $46,004. 

Last week, the firm announced that it had taken out a $205 million three-year term loan from a unit of Silvergate Bank. The loan is backed by collateral roughly equal to four times its size or $820 million. 

“We view Bitcoin as pristine collateral for the digital age and believe this transaction allows us to continue pursuing our Bitcoin acquisition strategy in a manner accretive to our shareholders,” Saylor said in response to an email Tuesday.

MicroStrategy’s aggregate purchase price for its holdings is about $3.97 billion and the average purchase price of around $30,700 per Bitcoin, the filing shows. The company started acquiring Bitcoin for its balance sheet in August 2020, with Saylor citing the Federal Reserve’s relaxing of its inflation policy for helping to convince him to get out of cash.  

MicroStrategy has already sold two sets of convertible bonds and issued corporate debt to buy Bitcoin. 

Shares of MicroStrategy fell about 4.3% Tuesday. The stock has jumped about 300% since the company started buying Bitcoin, giving it a market value of around $5.7 billion.

(Updates first paragraph to say that the loan was used to make the purchase.)

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