Jostling for the front row
China's massive economic expansion is testing global commerce to the limit, developed as well as emerging markets qualify the risk to their economies as 'systemic' and the Chinese society itself riks being torn apart
facts – however patchy – provide guidance in investment decisions, performance & risk exposure on pininvest.com will be a reality check
Cooling overblown expectations
Toning down the feverish wait for conclusive China-US negotiations, the general thrust of the commercial agreement taking form starts more and more to look like a truce in a drawn-out confrontation...
Peugeot puzzles
French Peugeot (Groupe PSA) is an interesting investment story, restructuring successfully its audacious Opel acquisition but still lacking the international footprint of a diversified car manufacturer
What is Volkswagen up to ?
Betting the house on e-mobility, Volkswagen prepares to confront market reality and strict environmental regulations. Prioritizing China, world's growth market, the strategy shows the way for the truly global car manufacturers left standing
Tackling the Chinese offensive
The semi-conductor industry is at the nexus of the most critical issues overshadowing US-China relations, from the protection of intellectual property to fair competition to national security
China's Silicon Hearts
Whoever controls the production of advanced Integrated Circuits commands the terms of trade between nations...With US and Asian semi-conductor majors protective of their Chinese market shares, it is for the US government to confront new reality
Stadia - what is in a name ?
Stadia, plural of the Latin ‘stadium’, were arenas – where citizens of Ancient Rome shared entertainment and interacted in many ways …and the ambition of the Google platform of the same name is no different
Videogames in the cloud
With cloud-based game streaming, Google's Stadia upends the gaming industry, disrupting traditional business models, calling for fresh multiplayer game creativity and testing alternative revenue streams
Tencent's Makeover
An improbable feat but the tight integration of its social network with mass entertainment has a reach which will keep the company in the sights of regulators and central authorities
Tencent of China
While relatively – and unduly – ignored by the general public in the West, there are many reasons to pay attention to Tencent's dominating presence and interlocking platforms on China's Internet
Battery illusions
The strategies of Western car manufacturers for electric mobility prioritize growth markets and partnerships with Asian battery providers, none of which bodes well for a balanced and mutually beneficial EU-China relationship
Shock and Awe... and Conquer ?
Asian battery providers have achieved global dominance and western car industries have little choice but to tie their technological ambitions to the master player and largest market, China - in the short and medium term
The conceptual framework of Newell
A dropping share price and the departure of the CEO calls for a rethink of the conceptual framework of Newell. Could a flexible and loosely knit structure succeed where a centralized organization has failed ?
Newell - Once bitten, twice shy ?
Restructuring at Newell – a transformation or more of the same ?
Is the ‘schwarze Null’ a black hole ?
Black zero has been the cornerstone of responsible German budgets but, with looming economic uncertainty, there are many reasons to reconsider
The making of semi-conductors
Semi-conductor equipment makers, a small number of highly specialized companies, have recently been exposed to the uncertainties of a technological shift but the impact of stringent (and unpredictable) constraints to trade may be worse
The future of energy storage
Associate Professors J. Johnson and J. DeCarolis, North Carolina State University, envision the advent of grid-scale batteries, providing the utilities with flexible energy delivery, if the price per KwH of lithium batteries continues to plummet
Improved lithium-ion battery technology
To charge the battery, the anode loads up lithium ions. Ions travel through the electrolyte to the cathode to generate power With a higher ‘upload’, replacing the graphite anode by a silicon – graphite mix anode, the battery will generate more power