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'Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart' gameplay reveals what the PS5 can do

Richard Lawler
·Senior News Editor
·1 min read

Ever since Sony started showing off Insomniac's next game, it has highlighted how Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart takes advantage of the PS5's speedy SSD to enable dimension-shifting gameplay. A longer look from today's State of Play event goes into detail about what players will feel via their DualSense controllers, as the adaptive triggers and haptic feedback adjust based on what weapon they're using.

This video shows how the mechanics observed in the packed-in Astro's Playroom experience will work in a full game. Naturally the new-gen graphics and lighting look impressive, with large levels to explore even when you're not jumping into pocket dimensions. At the 16 minute mark they previewed some of the game's accessibility tweaks, including a Game Speed slider that should help even more people play when it's released on June 11th.

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  • China's 2021 gold demand seen reverting to pre-pandemic levels - WGC official

    China's 2021 gold demand will see annual growth and will revert to pre-pandemic levels if there are no dramatic changes to the global economic and geo-political situation, a World Gold Council (WGC) official said on Thursday. "For China we had better first quarter growth even compared to 2019 ... If things are stable, we are sure China can stay in such a positive growth," said Wang Lixin, WGC managing director in China, adding that the jewellery and investment segments would drive China's gold demand.

  • Record $1.8 trillion of Asia bonds maturing this year to drive refinancing surge

    A record $1.8 trillion worth of bonds are set to mature in Asia this year, data shows, leading to a rush to refinance them in the coming months. Most of the maturing bonds in Asia are from China, South Korea, Australia and India and the region dwarfs Europe and the United States in terms of the total, the data from Refinitiv showed. The refinancing surge is set to bring a fee bonanza to banks, even though investors are viewing bonds from China with caution after some issuers defaulted, and as risk is growing in markets such as India due to a resurgence of COVID-19 cases.

  • U.S. Sells Debt at 0% Yield for First Time Since Early Pandemic

    (Bloomberg) -- The Treasury’s bill auctions Thursday drew the lowest yield in more than a year as an excess of cash in front-end of fixed-income markets kept borrowing costs anchored near zero.The U.S. government’s $40 billion sale of four-week bills on Thursday went off with a yield of 0%, the first time that has happened since March 2020, in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic. The Treasury also sold $40 billion of eight-week bills at 0.01%. Existing rules prevent issuing debt with negative yields at auction.The four-week sale last came in at that level when anxious investors were pouring cash into money-market funds. Fast forward to this year and rates on Treasury bills have been under pressure with the government reducing issuance of short-term securities to draw down its mammoth cash balance so it can comply with a possible debt-ceiling reinstatement and to cover expenses.“Given the outlook for bill supply, zero percent stops are going to be the norm going forward,” Jefferies economist Thomas Simons wrote in a note to clients.The rate on overnight general-collateral repurchase agreements remains cemented at zero, while yields on Treasury bills maturing in three months or less range from minus 0.018% to plus 0.01%. As a result, participation in the Federal Reserve’s facility for overnight reverse repurchase agreements is surging to the highest levels in more than a year.Pressure on secured rates also spilled over to unsecured benchmarks, with the Overnight Bank Funding Rate dropping 1 basis point to 0.05% as of April 28, according to New York Fed data released Thursday.Still, Fed policy makers have yet to make adjustments to benchmarks they use to control short-term funding costs. Chairman Jerome Powell said Wednesday the effective fed funds rate -- the bank’s key target -- remains within the 0% to 0.25% range and “money market conditions are fine,” while acknowledging there’s room for further downward pressure.Bill PaydownsIn its survey of dealers ahead of the refunding announcement on May 5, the Treasury asked about “the impacts that reinstatement of the debt limit could have on the Treasury market as well as on broader financial markets.” Related to that, it also sought comment on expectations for bill supply over the next three months and adjustments in issuance.Under current law, the Treasury’s cash balance must return to around $130 billion by July 30, the level where it was when the borrowing limit was suspended. It’s currently at $959 billion, and to close the gap it has to reduce debt in addition to covering the recent pandemic stimulus payouts. And that means downward pressure on short-term rates isn’t likely to ease anytime soon.Read more: Scale of T-Bill Drought Hinges on Biden Rescue, Income-Tax HaulThe Treasury has paid down about $415 billion of T-bills this year. Credit Suisse estimates about another $500 billion in paydowns may be needed, while TD Securities strategists believe Treasury will need to trim supply by another $300 billion to $400 billion by the end of July.“This means more pain for money fund investors,” said TD Securities strategist Gennadiy Goldberg. “The fear that there won’t be enough product for investors tomorrow is what is driving front-end rates lower.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Lufthansa, Heathrow Airport See Delayed Rebound as Virus Flares

    (Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Lufthansa AG reined in capacity plans and London’s Heathrow airport lowered passenger forecasts as new waves of coronavirus infections dent prospects for a travel rebound by the start of summer.Lufthansa now expects to offer only 40% of its pre-pandemic capacity for 2021 as a whole, according to a statement Thursday, a figure that’s below the level it has said is needed to generate positive cash flow. Heathrow cut its outlook to as few as 13 million passengers, less than the number it attracted last year.Airlines and the hubs they serve are wrestling with an uncertain outlook as governments work toward reopening travel while the virus surges in countries such as India. Europe remains in the grip of the pandemic amid a sluggish vaccine rollout, with the International Air Transport Association forecasting that the region will be the slowest worldwide to reduce losses this year.Lufthansa shares were trading down 1% as of 9:03 a.m. in Frankfurt. The German airline, Europe’s biggest when flying a full schedule, posted a first-quarter operating loss of 1.1 billion euros loss ($1.3 billion). Closely held Heathrow had an adjusted pretax loss of 329 million pounds ($459 million).Lufthansa Chief Executive Officer Carsten Spohr said that with travel restrictions still in place in most parts of the world, a “significant market recovery” won’t come until the second half as inoculation programs progress, with only a gradual pickup in demand expected before then.The group’s individual carriers, which include Austrian Airlines and Swiss, will therefore ramp up flights later than previously planned to reflect the delayed lifting of curbs, he said. The full-year capacity estimate is at the bottom end of a previous 40% to 50% range.Long-Haul HitHeathrow, which is heavily reliant on the long-haul flights worst hit by the crisis, said it’s expecting a passenger tally somewhere between 13 million and 36 million, compared with a previous estimate of 37.1 million issued Feb. 24.The hub handled 22 million passenger in 2020, buoyed by three months of near-normal operations before the virus led flights to be grounded, and 81 million in 2019.European operators are closely monitoring plans to resume flights in the U.K., usually the region’s biggest aviation market.Heathrow CEO John Holland-Kaye said it’s vital Britain restarts international travel from May 17 as announced. Though the government plans to say how far flights will be reopened early next month, there’s concern that only a handful of destinations will be on a “green list” where no quarantine is required.Airbus GloomHeathrow’s investors including Spanish builder Ferrovial SA, the Qatar Investment Authority, private-equity firm Alinda Capital Partners and China Investment Corp.Planemaker Airbus SE CEO Guillaume Faury said Thursday that the first quarter showed “the crisis is not yet over for our industry,” adding that the market “remains uncertain.”Lufthansa reduced its monthly cash drain to 235 million euros in the first three months, though that was aided mainly by strong cargo demand, and sees a drop to 200 million euros this quarter. Spohr reiterated that he expects a lower operating loss for the full year.The group was able to offer only 21% of its 2019 seating level in the first quarter, when its airline brands flew 3 million people, down 90% on the pre-crisis number. Heathrow’s tally of 1.7 million passengers was 91% lower.(Updates with Heathrow outlook throughout, adds shares in fifth)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Exclusive-Major Chinese investors in talks to take Aramco stake -sources

    HONG KONG (Reuters) -Major Chinese investors are in talks to buy a stake in Saudi Aramco, several sources told Reuters on Wednesday, as Saudi Arabia's state oil firm prepares to sell another slice of its business to international investors. Saudi Arabia was in discussions to sell 1% of Aramco to a leading global energy company and could sell further shares including to international investors within the next year or two, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said in televised remarks on Tuesday. A stake of 1% would equate to around $19 billion based on Aramco's current market capitalisation.

  • Analysis: Why Apple has chips for iPhones while Ford got caught short

    On the same day that Ford Motor Co said it would be able to produce only half as many cars as planned due to a global chip shortage, Apple Inc announced blowout quarterly earnings as smartphone and computer sales soared, with the chip shortage having only a small impact on its business. The contrasting results show how major players in the electronics industry, accustomed to the long time horizons of chip production, have mostly avoided major disruptions from the chip shortage. Apple said Wednesday that it would lose $3 billion to $4 billion in sales in the current quarter due to limited supplies of certain older chips.

  • AMD CEO Lisa Su: 'This is a very unique time in the semiconductor market'

    AMD CEO Dr. Lisa Su talks with Yahoo Finance Live about the chip-maker's explosive growth and outlook.

  • StanChart to cut branch network in half, quarterly profit beats expectations

    LONDON (Reuters) -Standard Chartered PLC is to reduce its global branch network by half to around 400 to cut long-term costs after the British bank reported a stronger than expected first-quarter profit. "Those markets that are higher on branch numbers we'll be looking at more closely," StanChart's CFO Andy Halford told reporters, without giving more details, beyond noting branch numbers in the lender’s most profitable market Hong Kong were modest. The cost-cutting drive came as StanChart posted an 18% increase in first-quarter pre-tax profit, beginning a recovery from the economic hit caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

  • Risk management breakdowns over Archegos in Fed focus - Powell

    Archegos, a family office run by ex-Tiger Asia manager Bill Hwang, along with major banks that financed the fund’s trades, lost billions of dollars last month as its leveraged bets on media stocks quickly soured. "It seems as though there were risk management breakdowns at some of the firms, not all of them, and that's what we're looking into," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in response to questions at a press conference following the end of the Fed's two-day policy meeting.

  • STMicro's shares bounce back on upbeat Apple-related CEO comments

    Shares of Franco-Italian chipmaker STMicroelectronics bounced back in early trading on Thursday after boss Jean-Marc Chery signalled sustained demand from the smartphone industry, which includes top client Apple. Investors poring over STMicro's latest earnings report had first winced at rising operating costs despite a global surge in demand for semiconductors that helped it beat market expectations in the first quarter. Apple is one of STMicro's 10 biggest clients.

  • EU Pushes Back on China With Powers to Thwart State-Backed Firms

    (Bloomberg) -- The European Union is looking to strengthen its hand against the growing economic threat posed by China, with new powers targeted at foreign state-owned companies.The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, proposed new rules to levy fines and block deals, according to a draft obtained by Bloomberg. While China isn’t specifically mentioned in the proposal, the move follows complaints from European businesses that the Asian nation’s firms get support they can’t match.Chinese business groups have already complained about the latest initiative, which will need support from EU governments before they become final. The document is a draft and could still change before it’s set to be proposed next week.It’s the next step in the EU’s efforts to ward off China, building on a push by member states to protect strategic companies from takeovers by non-European buyers.Amid the steepest recession in almost a century, Europe has shown signs of increasing protectionism. EU governments have been debating the “repatriation” of supply chains after the pandemic exposed the region’s vulnerability to disruptions, while France and Germany say the bloc should allow the creation of “European champions” big enough to compete with the U.S and China.Member states have voiced growing alarm at the prospect of European companies being bought by firms with unlimited credit lines or being forced out of business because rivals can afford to sell below cost.The new rules would run in parallel with oversight on foreign direct investment, which European governments have been ratcheting up in the last few years to give them more power to stop deals over industries or sectors they view as crucial. The increased scrutiny can be imposed even for minority stakes of more than 10%.Germany blocked a Chinese bid for the first time in 2018 by vetoing the potential purchase of machine-tool manufacturer Leifeld Metal Spinning AG. Last year, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government agreed to buy a 23% stake in CureVac AG, at the time a key player in the race for a coronavirus vaccine which had been the focus of takeover speculation from the U.S.Alongside similar moves in other member states, Germany’s cabinet on Tuesday approved more changes to rules on foreign investment to give the government enhanced powers to scrutinize transactions that could impact national security. The new regulations, which need parliamentary approval, are targeted at high-technology sectors like artificial intelligence, autonomous driving and quantum computing.France recently halted the purchase of grocery chain Carrefour SA by Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., citing food sovereignty and the need to secure supply chains amid the pandemic. The country also vetoed the Teledyne Technologies Inc.’s purchase of Photonis, a company that makes night-vision gear for the military, citing strategic interests.In recent weeks, Italy coordinated with France to protect truckmaker Iveco SpA from an takeover by China FAW Group Co. Prime Minister Mario Draghi also sent a message by blocking a bid by China’s Shenzhen Invenland Holdings Co. for the small semiconductor firm LPE SpA.Spain’s government has signaled it could block at least two deals, one involving a utility and another involving a maker of aviation components.Under the draft EU rules, companies that generate at least 500 million euros ($600 million) of revenue in Europe and received more than 50 million euros of support from a foreign state in the last three years will need the bloc’s approval for deals.The EU also wants to be able to fine companies as much as 10% of their yearly revenue if it finds a firm unfairly benefited from a foreign subsidy -- including an unlimited state guarantee or credit line that undercuts European rivals. It warns in the draft that it could cancel government contracts granted to firms that gain an unfair advantage from such subsidies.European officials are seeking the power to inspect companies’ offices outside of Europe, with the permission of the company and the knowledge of the foreign state, according to the draft.Regulators suggest ways that companies could allay concerns over subsidies, including granting rivals access to infrastructure, licensing on fair terms or publishing research. Companies can also reduce capacity or market presence, divest assets or refrain from investment, according to the document.The European Commission declined to comment and the Chinese mission to the EU didn’t respond to a request for comment.Despite the tougher stance, the EU continues to actively build business ties with China, including an investment agreement. The bloc has promoted the deal, which could enter into force early next year, as a way to rebalance economic relations with its second-largest trade partner.The accord expands access to the Chinese market for European investors in industries ranging from cars to telecommunications. It also seeks to tackle underlying Chinese policies deemed to be market-distorting, such as industrial subsidies, state control of enterprises and forced technology transfers.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Bitcoin Is Facing a Make-or-Break Moment, Technicals Show

    (Bloomberg) -- Bitcoin is facing a make-or-break moment following a recent bout of selling, according to technical analysis.Though the cryptocurrency has rebounded above its average price over the past 100 days, it’s still trading below its 50-day moving average. Such a dynamic typically indicates an asset is nearing an inflection point.If Bitcoin can’t overtake its 50-day mean -- which currently sits at about $57,000 -- then it might be in for a period of volatility as the gap between the two trend lines converges. Technical indicators suggest breaking out might not be an easy feat -- Bitcoin failed to do so on several occasions last week.Trading in the world’s largest digital asset has been choppy in recent days after it hit a record high in mid-April above $64,000. It’s down more than 15% since then, though it rebounded earlier this week amid positive news, including comments from Tesla Inc.’s chief financial officer that reiterated the company’s commitment to the cryptocurrency.“The drastic -- relative to what we’ve seen of late -- pullback certainly was a point of eyebrows being raised, but at the end of the day, I think the fact that things were able to rebound and stabilize is a good thing,” said David Tawil, president of ProChain Capital. “It shows real power to the token, the staying power to the asset class.”The coin fell 1.4% on Wednesday following an announcement by the Securities and Exchange Commission that it will delay a decision on a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund. It was at about $54,586 as of 9:43 a.m. in Hong Kong Thursday.Sam Stovall, chief investment strategist at CFRA Research, says that if the stock market continues its advance, he expected Bitcoin to follow.Despite its recent turbulence, Bitcoin is still up 511% over the past year. Inflation and central bank policies have been its biggest drivers during the past 12 months, according to Quant Insight, a London-based analytics research firm that studies the relationship between assets and macro factors.While some dispute the idea that Bitcoin can act as an inflation hedge, the argument has been a key tenet for its bullish thesis and rings true for a lot of crypto fans. Proponents have seized on the money-printing narrative to promote the notion that Bitcoin is a store of wealth, an explanation that’s gained traction in recent months with economists expecting price pressures to pick up.Read more: Don’t Count on Bitcoin to Be a Sure-Thing Inflation Hedge“No question about it -- what drives a big chunk of the interest in Bitcoin has been just the tremendous amount of money that has been printed and will be printed and really the fundamental thought that you cannot have that much money in the system and not have it be inflationary,” said Chuck Cumello, president and chief executive officer of Essex Financial Services.(Updates markets in the sixth paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • JP Morgan explains why Ethereum is outperforming Bitcoin

    Multinational bank and asset manager JP Morgan has published a note to investors stating that Ethereum is outperforming Bitcoin due to improvements in liquidity and a higher turnover on the public Ethereum blockchain.

  • Money Printer Goes Quiet and Argentine Government Gets Squeezed

    (Bloomberg) -- The Argentine central bank’s fight against inflation is upending the local bond market and squeezing government finances as the country struggles to regain traction while the pandemic rages on.Long known as some of the world’s most prolific money printers, Argentine policy makers are cutting back on the largesse in an effort to curb inflation running at more than 40% a year. While the move toward orthodoxy has often been urged by economists, the timing is difficult. Slower expansion of the money supply over the past six months has cut liquidity and sapped demand for debt, pushing up interest rates and making it harder for the government to fund itself given its lack of access to overseas markets.The policy clash between the central bank and Treasury means the government has had difficulty raising pesos from recent sales in the local market, even as spending climbs ever higher to offset the economic effects of coronavirus lockdowns and appeal to voters before congressional elections set for October. Now, less than two years after Argentina emerged from its last default on local debt, investors are eyeing the situation with trepidation, with some increasingly concerned it isn’t sustainable over the long term.“There is an inconsistency between fiscal and monetary policy,” said Juan Manuel Pazos, the chief economist at TPCG Valores in Buenos Aires. He said a debt auction today, at which the government will seek to sell inflation-linked bonds and other securities as 123 billion pesos ($1.3 billion) of notes come due, will provide a test of investor demand.A central bank spokesman declined to comment. An Economy Ministry spokesman didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.For years economists and international finance officials urged Argentina to get a handle on inflation by tightening the money supply and paring back government spending. While the U.S. and much of the developed world has gone decades without seeing significant price pressures even amid huge increases in the money supply and plenty of deficit spending, fear of inflation is so ingrained among Argentines after multiple currency and economic crises that any signs of trouble ahead tend to ring alarm bells.And to be sure, the 52% growth in Argentina’s money supply over the past year is still very high. But the slowdown in money printing has been drastic. The annual rate of expansion was as high as 81% in October.Meanwhile, President Alberto Fernandez’s goal of paring the budget deficit excluding interest payments to 4.2% of gross domestic product this year from 6.5% last year now seems like it will be hard to meet amid pandemic-related spending. Fernandez announced new aid measures in recent weeks, including extra payments for social-service beneficiaries and a one-time bonus for health-care workers. Last year, the deficit including interest payments totaled 8.5% of GDP.So with foreign markets effectively closed to Argentina and amid delayed talks with the International Monetary Fund, the country has no choice but to seek funding from the local bond market, and that’s been difficult.Investors rolled over the smallest percentage of maturing debt in nine months at an auction in early April, and the 51% pace of rollovers so far this month is on pace to be the lowest in more than a year. Traders are even avoiding notes that compensate holders for inflation -- pushing the interest rate on the securities to 1.9% this month from 0% in March.“The market is low in volume, with little liquidity,” said Federico Perez, who helps oversee 33.5 billion pesos at Mariva Asset Management in Buenos Aires. He says demand has been further weakened because the government is issuing new maturities, which investors fear will be even less liquid.Investors also see trouble on the horizon from the government’s increasing reliance on inflation-linked bonds. Since Fernandez took office in December 2019, the total amount of debt outstanding that compensates holders for consumer-price increases has tripled to 3.8 trillion pesos. Linkers now make up 74% of the local debt stock, up from 53% when Fernandez took over.If inflation continues to accelerate -- as it has for the past four readings -- it could help fuel a cycle of ever-expanding debtloads. There’s also some concern that Argentina could seek to manipulate inflation data to score political points and reduce its payouts, a practice the government of former President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, who is now vice president, was accused of during her time in office from 2007 to 2015.“The auctions are getting complicated and this can be seen in the rise in rates, both for the discount notes and for CPI instruments,” said Adrian Yarde Buller, the chief economist in Facimex, a brokerage in Buenos Aires. “The government will have to engineer a reduction in the fiscal deficit or raise the rate of economic growth.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • China's Huawei reports quarterly revenue drop as smartphone income hit

    China's Huawei Technologies saw revenue fall 16.5% in the first quarter compared to a year earlier, hurt by a dip in sales after selling its budget smartphone unit Honor in November. "2021 will be a challenging year for us, but it's also the year that our future development strategy will begin to take shape," Huawei's rotating chairman Eric Xu said in the statement. The ban put Huawei's once lucrative handset business under immense pressure, prompting the sale of its Honor budget smartphone unit to a group of agents and dealers in November.

  • The chip shortage has finally come for Apple

    Apple announced that it could take a $3 billion to $4 billion hit due to the global chip shortage, but the iPhone will remain unscathed.

  • Global Chip Drought Hits Apple, BMW, Ford as Crisis Worsens

    (Bloomberg) -- The global chip shortage is going from bad to worse with automakers on three continents joining tech giants Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. in flagging production cuts and lost revenue from the crisis.In a dizzying 12-hour stretch, Honda Motor Co. said it will halt production at three plants in Japan; BMW AG cut shifts at factories in Germany and England; and Ford Motor Co. reduced its full-year earnings forecast due to the scarcity of chips it sees extending into next year. Caterpillar Inc. later flagged it may be unable to meet demand for machinery used by the construction and mining industries.Now, the very companies that benefited from surging demand for phones, laptops and electronics during the pandemic that caused the chip shortage, are feeling the pinch. After a blockbuster second quarter, Apple Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri warned supply constraints are crimping sales of iPads and Macs, two products that performed especially well during lockdowns. Maestri said this will knock $3 billion to $4 billion off revenue during the fiscal third quarter.“It’s a fight out there and you have to be in daily contact with your suppliers. You need to make sure that you’re important to them,” Nokia Oyj Chief Executive Officer Pekka Lundmark said Thursday on Bloomberg Television. “When there is a shortage in the market, it is things like how important you are in the big picture, how strong your relationships are and how you manage expectations.”Meanwhile, companies that supply chips are reporting surging sales and pledging to invest billions to expand capacity as they struggle to keep up with demand. Qualcomm Inc., the world’s largest smartphone chipmaker, said demand for handsets is surging back as life returns to normal in some markets that had been locked down by the Covid-19 pandemic.STMicroelectronics NV, a key chip supplier for carmakers, said profit for its auto and power unit jumped 280% in the first quarter. CEO Jean-Marc Chery credited a surprise rebound in demand as well as the industry’s adoption of new, digital features that require more chips for the latest wave of supply chain constraints.Samsung, which is both a producer and user of chips, said Thursday that component shortages will contribute to a slide in revenue and profit this quarter at its mobile division, which produces its marquee Galaxy smartphones.The shortfall of critically needed semiconductors has forced the entire auto industry to cut output, leaving thin inventories at dealerships just as consumers emerge from Covid-19 lockdowns. In just the past week, Jaguar Land Rover Automotive Plc, Volvo Group and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. have joined the list of manufacturers idling factories.“The second quarter is going to be worse for automakers than the first quarter,” said Song Sun-jae, an analyst at Hana Daetoo Securities Co. in Seoul. “The chip-shortage problem could end up lasting longer, maybe into next year.”Beyond Apple, whose high-specification iPhones and aggressive demands typically place it at the front of the line, the dearth of chips threatens to dampen a nascent rebound in the entire smartphone market. Worldwide shipments surged an estimated 27% to 347 million devices in the first quarter, aided by a plethora of new models and China’s swift post-pandemic recovery. A shortage of components such as app processors could sap that momentum over the rest of 2021.“Covid-19 is still a major consideration, but it is no longer the main bottleneck,” Canalys Research Manager Ben Stanton wrote Thursday. “Supply of critical components, such as chipsets, has quickly become a major concern, and will hinder smartphone shipments in the coming quarters.”At Ford, the shortage will likely reduce production by 1.1 million vehicles this year, CFO John Lawler said on a call with reporters. The carmaker expects a $2.5 billion hit to earnings due to scarce chip supplies.Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk earlier this week called the chip shortage a “huge problem.” NXP Semiconductors NV said it’s expecting supply to be tight all year and warned constraints for the auto industry could extend into 2022.“There are too many uncertainties about when chip supplies will improve, and that’s making it difficult for automakers,” said Lee Han-joon, an analyst at KTB Investment & Securities Co. in Seoul. “For semiconductor makers, the auto industry isn’t really seen as one of their key customers and that’s putting the carmakers in a much tougher position in securing supplies.”(Updates with Caterpillar in the second paragraph.)For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Tesla slips below 10% of Cathie Wood's flagship fund

    Cathie Wood's flagship Ark Innovation fund has allowed its stake in Tesla Inc, its largest holding, to slip below 10% this week for the first time in over a month. Tesla made up 9.7% of the Ark Innovation ETF as of Thursday, down from 10.9% a month ago, with a net sale of about 252,000 shares over that period, according to portfolio listings on the website of fund manager Ark Invest. The fund's remaining Tesla stake is worth $2.4 billion.

  • Sanjeev Gupta Approaches Buyers for Potential Sale of Engineering Assets

    (Bloomberg) -- Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance approached buyers for the potential sale of some engineering assets, people familiar with the matter said, signaling he may not be able to keep his embattled business empire intact.Since the industrialist’s main financier Greensill Capital collapsed in March, Gupta has been in a race to find new sources of cash, though has insisted he’ll find new lenders to replace about $5 billion he’d borrowed from the supply chain finance firm.But in recent days, GFG’s advisers contacted potential buyers for parts of its engineering business that’s largely based in the U.K., according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The talks are at an early stage and there’s no guarantee of a deal, one of the people said.GFG declined to comment.It’s not clear exactly which assets he may be willing to sell. His Liberty Engineering Group Pte has assets in several countries including the U.K., France and United Arab Emirates, according to the Singapore entity’s financial report for the year ended March 2019, the latest available. The units include assets Gupta took over from administration, such as businesses that used to be part of Caparo Industries Plc in the U.K. and vehicle converter Durisotti in France.Gupta’s empire employs some 35,000 people worldwide, with steel and aluminum plants in the U.S., U.K., France, Romania and Australia. As he fights to stave off insolvency, he’s benefiting from soaring steel and aluminum prices.“I’m confident that we will achieve refinancing,” Gupta said in a podcast for employees earlier this month. “Because our business is so spread out across the world, and each business is different and separately funded, it takes time to get things done. But one by one we’ll get to all of them.”Still, he acknowledged that the future was bleak for some of his businesses, with the U.K. one of the “challenged spots within our alliance.” Some of GFG’s units in France were put in insolvency proceedings earlier this month, Bloomberg has reported.Last month, GFG asked the U.K. government for a 170 million-pound ($237 million) bailout, a request that was rebuffed. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng told a parliamentary committee this month that it would be irresponsible to give taxpayers’ money to the group, describing it as “very, very opaque” and having “liabilities that nobody seems to have got to the bottom of.”For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

  • Huawei cedes further ground as smaller smartphone rivals swoop in

    Smartphone shipments at China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, once the world's biggest smartphone maker, halved in the first quarter in China, as U.S. sanctions choked its supply chain even as the overall smartphone market rebounded. China shipments fell to 14.9 million handsets in the quarter ended March from 30.1 million in the same period last year, according to research firm Canalys. Outside China, Huawei shipped 3.7 million units.