
Australia's Cochlear taps into growing Asian market for hearing implants
KOJI NOZAWA and YUTA MAEDA
TOKYO -- Australia's Cochlear, the world's largest maker of hearing implants, has built out production capacity to pursue a bigger share in Asia's fast-growing medtech market.
Over the past several years, Cochlear has invested tens of millions of Australian dollars (AU$10 million equals $6.52 million) into three factories in Australia and one facility in Malaysia, CEO Dig Howitt said.

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The Mainichi
8 hours ago
- The Mainichi
Tokyo stocks fall for 3rd day as chip shares sold after recent rises
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Tokyo stocks fell for a third straight day on Thursday as investors continued to sell semiconductor-related shares after recent gains. The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average fell 278.38 points, or 0.65 percent, from Wednesday at 42,610.17. The broader Topix index finished 15.96 points, or 0.52 percent, lower at 3,082.95. On the top-tier Prime Market, notable decliners were pharmaceutical, transportation equipment and land transportation issues. The U.S. dollar traded mostly in the lower 147 yen range in Tokyo as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole economic symposium in Wyoming on Friday, dealers said. At 5 p.m., the dollar fetched 147.58-59 yen compared with 147.28-38 yen in New York and 147.62-64 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Wednesday. The euro was quoted at $1.1657-1659 and 172.04-08 yen against $1.1644-1654 and 171.66-76 yen in New York and $1.1644-1646 and 171.90-94 yen in Tokyo late Wednesday afternoon. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Japanese government bond briefly rose to 1.610 percent, its highest level since October 2008, on the back of stronger expectations for a Bank of Japan rate hike. It ended at 1.605 percent, unchanged from Wednesday's close. The Nikkei stock index mostly remained in the negative territory, with investors continuing to lock in gains amid lingering concerns about overheating. Some heavyweight chip issues also tracked an overnight fall by the tech-heavy U.S. Nasdaq index. Investors were also awaiting Powell's symposium speech to gauge whether there is any change in his stance on the Fed's monetary policy outlook, brokers said. "Market players are paying attention to see whether he will signal a rate cut in September based on the U.S. employment and inflation data released earlier this month," said Masahiro Ichikawa, chief market strategist at Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Co.


The Diplomat
11 hours ago
- The Diplomat
The Quad's Role Amid China-US Tech Competition
The global implications of the China-U.S. tech rivalry have raised the imperatives for Quad cooperation on AI and semiconductors. From left, Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi , Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meet at the Department of State in Washington, D.C., July 1, 2025. In July 2025, the Quad Foreign Ministers' Meeting concluded with announcements on strengthening maritime and transnational security, economic security, cooperation on critical and emerging technologies, and humanitarian assistance across the Indo-Pacific region. A significant takeaway of the convening was the launch of the Quad Critical Minerals Initiative to strengthen cooperation on securing and diversifying critical mineral supply chains. The joint statement by the foreign ministers of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States underscored concerns over 'abrupt constriction and future reliability of key supply chains, specifically for critical minerals.' They raised concerns about dependence on 'any one country for processing and refining critical minerals and derivative goods production,' which may lead to 'economic coercion, price manipulation, and supply chain disruptions.' This development came amid global manufacturers raising alarms over China's April 2025 decision to mandate licenses for export of rare earth alloys, mixtures, and magnets. China's action followed its trade tensions with the U.S. – at the time, the Trump administration had mandated export licenses for a wider range of chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications and limited China's access to chip-designing software. Amid China's bilateral trade and tech tensions with the United States, its decision to restrict rare earth exports impacted global supply chains and manufacturing (unlike China's December 2024 export ban on gallium, germanium, and antimony for the U.S. alone). In addition, the move highlighted Beijing's willingness to leverage its dominance in production and refining of critical minerals. Such instances of the China-U.S. tech rivalry resulting in implications for the world have raised the imperatives for deeper tech cooperation among Quad members. The first Trump administration (2017-21) used export controls to limit the flow of tech components to China, barred the use of federal funds to purchase Chinese tech equipment, and indicted Chinese tech companies for espionage activities. While the Trump administration used these measures against China's 5G equipment, the U.S. under President Joe Biden expanded the scope to also include other technologies. Under its 'small yard and high fence' policy, the Biden administration (2021-2025) employed the Trump playbook and hailed export controls as 'a new strategic asset in the U.S. and allied toolkit.' As a result, the Biden administration surpassed the Trump administration's tally of Chinese companies added to the U.S. Commerce Department's 'Entity List.' Moreover, the Biden administration expanded the scope of restricted technologies to include semiconductors and also addressed Chinese 'overcapacity' in clean energy tech (including solar cells and batteries). The current Trump administration (2025-present) has followed through on the Biden administration's tariffs on Chinese semiconductors (starting January 2025) and the December 2024 Section 301 probe into Chinese semiconductors used in American consumer products. Moreover, with DeepSeek highlighting China's advances in the AI domain, the Trump administration built on Biden's 2022 and 2023 restrictions on export of AI-relevant chips to China. This included the April 2025 action on mandating export licenses for less-powerful variants of AI-relevant chips (which the Biden administration backed down from acting against) and the May 2025 restrictions on China's access to chip-designing software. The China-U.S. tech rivalry, now well into its ninth year, has had global implications. Recently, Malaysia began mandating permits for export of U.S.-origin AI-relevant chips to clamp down against transshipment of components to China. Similarly, Singapore has cracked down on individuals allegedly involved in routing of Nvidia's chips to China's DeepSeek. The Trump administration has also continued pursuing the Biden-era goal of seeking compliance from Japanese and Dutch companies on curbing China's access to semiconductor equipment. In addition, the Trump administration's decision to rescind the Biden-era 'AI Diffusion Rule' has led to a scramble from nations seeking AI-relevant chips. The Biden-era rule had defined limits on export of semiconductors for nations categorized into three tiers. The Trump administration's decision to not adopt this framework has led to a country-by-country approach, which was on display during Trump's visit to the Gulf in May 2025. While hosting Trump, Saudi Arabia and the UAE finalized one-on-one agreements on access to American AI-relevant chips and partnerships with U.S. tech companies on AI infrastructure. Ahead of the Quad Summit in India later this year, there is immense scope for further refining AI cooperation among Quad nations. This may include a deeper focus on AI through research partnerships, cross-pollination between incubators, exploring joint workforce development programs, etc. Beyond research partnerships and institutional linkages, these steps can overtime develop bridges between Australian, Indian, Japanese, and American tech ecosystems on the mobilization of talent. Given the recent developments on the China-U.S. tech rivalry, Quad nations may explore a 'Joint AI Readiness Assessment' to determine areas of relative strength and areas of cooperation. This can be along the lines of the bilateral assessment on semiconductors announced by the U.S. Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) and India Electronics Semiconductor Association (IESA) under the India-U.S. initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET). Such an assessment may also draw from the Memorandum of Cooperation for the Semiconductor Supply Chains Contingency Network, which was finalized during the Quad Leaders' Summit in September 2024. Similarly, at the Quad Leaders' Summit in May 2023, the Quad nations finalized the Quad International Standards Cooperation Network and the Quad Principles on Critical and Emerging Technology Standards. This effort to synergize standards across the tech ecosystems of Australia, India, Japan, and the United States may now also consider a similar undertaking on operational matters. This may include sharing of best practices on regulatory compliance mapping, upkeep of databases on licensing records, investment screening mechanisms, etc. This can also be a focus area under the Track 1.5 dialogues on AI and Advanced Communications Technologies, which were announced by the Quad in 2024. Finally, the Quad nations have rightly committed to harnessing AI to empower farmers under the Advancing Innovations for Empowering NextGen Agriculture (AI-ENGAGE) initiative. This initiative exploring AI's applications at the ground level now also requires institutional heft, in terms of cooperation agreements between agri-tech companies, universities, research centers, etc. This may require financing from existing efforts like the Quad Fellowship's expanding donor base or the Quad Investors Network (QUIN), which was launched at the 2023 Quad Leaders' Summit. Given the initiative's aim to use AI for developmental needs, AI-ENGAGE can assume a central role in Quad tech cooperation, even as the China-U.S. tech rivalry raises regulatory and compliance-related challenges across the world.


Yomiuri Shimbun
a day ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japan's Nikkei Stock Average Falls as Tech Shares Track US Peers Lower
TOKYO, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Japan's Nikkei share average fell on Thursday as investors sold stocks to book profits from a recent rally, with technology stocks tracking U.S. peers lower. As of 0215 GMT, the Nikkei .N225 dropped 0.5% to 42,689.22. The index is headed for a third straight session of decline, slipping from record highs hit earlier this week. The broader Topix .TOPX slipped 0.42% to 3,085.78. 'Investors kept selling stocks to book profits, but some investors who were not able to buy shares during the rally picked up stocks on the dip… (which) capped the Nikkei's losses,' Shinkin Asset Management's senior fund manager Naoki Fujiwara said. Chip-making equipment maker Tokyo Electron 8035.T fell 2% and technology investor SoftBank Group 9984.T lost 2.05%. On Wall Street, the Nasdaq .IXIC and S&P 500 .SPX fell overnight as investors sold tech stocks and moved into less highly valued sectors. .N Drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo 4568.T lost 5.75% to become the worst performer among the 225 stocks on the Nikkei. Bucking the trend, shares of chip-testing equipment maker Advantest 6857.T rose 1.95%, rebounding from a 5.6% loss on Wednesday. Cable makers, considered a gauge for demand for data centers, rose, with Furukawa Electric 5801.T and Fujikura 5803.T gaining 1.54% and 1.28%, respectively. The market awaited remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who is expected to speak on Friday at the Fed's annual conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for policy signals. Investors have been pricing in a 25-basis-point rate cut in September, according to data compiled by LSEG. Shinkin Asset's Fujiwara said the market already priced Powell's dovish comments, so remarks that are in line with expectations may trigger a sell-off in local stocks next week. 'For the Nikkei to rise further, the market needs to confirm the Fed's rate cut in September, and the fate of Japanese politics and Japanese corporate outlook for the second half of the year,' Fujiwara said.