Reuters Asia Business

By Hyunjoo Jin SEOUL/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Samsung Electronics on Wednesday unveiled its newest Galaxy S25 smartphones, powered by Qualcomm’s chips and Google’s artificial-intelligence model, hoping its upgraded AI features can reinvigorate sales and fend off Apple and Chinese rivals. Samsung also previewed a thinner version of the flagship models at the end of an event …

Samsung unveils AI smartphones with Qualcomm chips, teases slimmer Galaxy phones Read More »

TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan’s HTC said on Thursday it will sell part of its unit for extended reality (XR) headsets and glasses to Google for $250 million and transfer some of its employees to the U.S. company. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of this year, HTC said. The two companies will …

Taiwan’s HTC to sell part of XR unit to Google for $250 million Read More »

By Leika Kihara (Reuters) -The Bank of Japan concludes its first policy meeting of the year on Friday with the outcome to be announced days after the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Here is a guide on what to expect and why the BOJ’s rate review matters: WHEN DOES THE BOJ MEETING TAKE PLACE? …

Factbox-How likely is a Bank of Japan rate hike this week? Read More »

By Jihoon Lee SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korea’s economy barely grew in the fourth quarter of 2024, as the country’s worst political crisis in decades hurts already weakened domestic demand and threatens to further sap growth in a year of rising external risks under a second Trump presidency. In December, consumer and business sentiment dampened amid …

S.Korea’s economy barely grows in Q4 as political crisis jolts 2025 outlook Read More »

By Makiko Yamazaki TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese exports rose for a third successive month in December as a weak yen boosted the value of shipments, data showed on Thursday, though a decline in volume underscored doubt about an outlook clouded by the unpredictability of U.S. trade policy. With U.S. President Donald Trump flagging plans for tariffs …

Japan December export growth beats forecast amid tariff jitters Read More »

(Reuters) -OpenAI and Japanese conglomerate SoftBank will each commit $19 billion to fund Stargate, a joint venture to develop data centers for artificial intelligence in the U.S., the Information reported on Wednesday. The ChatGPT maker will hold a 40% interest in Stargate, and would act as an extension of OpenAI, the report said, citing OpenAI …

OpenAI, SoftBank each commit $19 billion to Stargate AI data center, the Information reports Read More »

By Laurie Chen, Mei Mei Chu, Ella Cao, Naveen Thukral and Ana Mano BEIJING/SAO PAULO (Reuters) -China, the world’s biggest soybean buyer, has stopped receiving Brazilian soybean shipments from five firms after cargoes did not meet plant health requirements, according to a statement from the Brazilian government confirming what Reuters had learned from two sources …

Brazil says soy shipments to China from five firms halted due to contamination Read More »

By Sam Nussey and Anton Bridge TOKYO (Reuters) -SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son’s plan to invest billions in AI in the United States shows one way to handle the new Trump administration: go big and deal with the details later. For a Japan Inc anxious about how to navigate the second term of President Donald Trump …

Japan Inc will struggle to follow SoftBank’s lead and go big with Trump Read More »