Internet
ò Nintendo announced that starting in June, its Nintendo DS will be offered with an internet browser in the US. The device with the online feature was introduced in Europe this past fall. The device comes with the Opera Web browser. Nintendo has not yet released a suggested retail price for the portable game player. The Nintendo DS features dual screens with touch screen, voice recognition and wireless communications capabilities.
Software
ò HI Corporation, a company specializing in computer software development, sales and support service as well as 3D consulting services, announced its listing on the JASDAQ Securities Exchange on April 12. The company will offer 5,000 shares in its initial public offering. Of those 4,500 will be newly issued, the other 500 are shares currently held in private. The tentative price range will be announced on March 26 and the fixed offering price will be announced on April 3. Nomura Securities is the lead underwriter of the offer.
Hardware
ò Renesas Technology Corp. announced that it has become the world's first company to ship more than 1 billion microcontrollers with on-chip flash memory (flash MCUs). Renesas Technology is the No. 1 supplier of flash MCUs worldwide, and MCUs are positioned as the company's core product. Flash MCUs are known for their superiority because of their easy re-programmability of on-chip flash memory. Microcontrollers with on-chip flash help shorten development time and offer flexibility since they can be re-programmed even after the MCU has been mounted on the product. Since Renesas' parent companies, Hitachi, and Mitsubishi Electric Corporation began full-scale production of flash MCUs in 1996, Renesas Technology has built up the industry's most extensive lineup of flash MCUs, based on proprietary flash memory technology and MCU technology. Building on the synergy effect of the two founding partners, the company produces in volume flash MCUs featuring excellent performance and reliability. The company said it will continue to develop flash MCUs and to deliver solutions to meet the diverse needs of customers quickly with strong support services. Renesas Technology is one of the world's leading semiconductor system solutions providers for mobile, automotive and PC/AV (audio visual) markets and the world's No.1 supplier of microcontrollers.
Telecommunications
ò KDDI announced that it has entered into an alliance with East Japan Railway to provide fibre-optic broadband services from April. Under the partnership, KDDI will offer the services to 120,000 households by using JR East's fibre-optic network and installing new lines. In October last year, KDDI acquired the fibre-optic business of Tokyo Electric Power in a deal valued at Ñ115 billion ($971.8 million), in a bid to catch up with former state monopoly Nippon Telegraph and Telephone which is also expanding its fibre-optic services.
Korea
Mobile/Wireless
ò KTF, Korea's second-largest mobile service operator announced its plans to spend W88.5 billion($93.7 million) to buy back and cancel its own shares this year in a bid to raise shareholder value. The company said it has decided to pay W600 ($0.6) per share in dividends, with the payment scheduled for March 30. KTF holds a 32 percent share of the nationÆs mobile phone service market, which registered 40 million total subscribers. KTF posted a 24.9 percent decline in its net profit in 2006 to W410.6 billion ($434.4 million) in net profit from a year earlier, even as sales registered a 7.5 percent growth to W6.5 trillion ($6.8 billion).
ò SK Telecom and KTF announced their plan to set up a system of warnings for mobile internet service users to prevent possible overcharging as some have already reported that bills could amount to more than W10 million ($10,580) a month. KTF said it will start giving notices to the users of its i-Plug service when they reach a certain level of internet use. SK Telecom also said it is considering adopting a similar system before its T-Login service is deployed in July. i-Plug and T-Login are internet services using mobile telephone networks. They enable laptop users to gain access to the internet by using a finger-sized transmitter that fits into a USB port.
ò LG Electronics announced that it has initiated producing handsets in Iran with a local partner Maadiran Group. The Iranian firm, which describes itself as the countryÆs leading technology and automation company, disclosed that it has started production of five models of handsets under license from LG Electronics. The South Korean company said it aims to be more competitive in the Middle East market, and plans to export the handsets to other countries in the region. LG has subsidiaries in Morocco, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. It also makes air conditioners in Turkey and TV tuners and components in Egypt, with Middle East sales posting about 3 percent of LG Electronics' global revenues of $38.6 billion in 2006.
ò Pantech, a South Korean mobile phone maker, announced that it will introduce the nation's slimmest handset model next month in a bid to appeal to design-conscious consumers. The company said the 9.9-millimeter-thick model is expected to be the slimmest slide-type phone ever launched in the local market. Currently, the slimmest phone is Samsung Electronics' 12.9-millimeter-thick Ultra Edition model.
Internet
ò Samsung Electronics announced that it has secured a contract to build a network in Washington, D.C. to enable high-speed mobile internet connectivity anywhere in the city from December for US-based wireless carrier Sprint Nextel Corp. WiBro is a version of WiMax that enables high-speed internet connectivity even when a user is in motion. WiMax refers to a wireless internet technology developed by the world's largest chipmaker Intel Corp. Samsung is one of the companies Sprint Nextel has been working with for its plan to launch the WiMax service for areas around Washington and Chicago starting as early as the end of this year. In a related development, a Samsung official said that the company will continue to hold its 4G Forums to promote 4G communications technology, an upgraded version of existing wireless communications platforms.
Semiconductors
ò A team of South Korean scientists from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology announced its development of what is considered the worldÆs first flash memory cell that employs an eight-nanometer design rule. The scientists said the achievement is expected to usher in the use of terabyte-level flash memory. When commercialised, a single terabyte-level chip will be able to store roughly 500,000 MP3 music files or 1,250 high-quality movies. One terabyte equals 1,000 gigabytes. Currently, the most advanced product is a 32-gigabit flash memory chip based on a 40-nanometer design rule that Samsung unveiled last year. Samsung is now going all-out to develop technology viable of making a 64-gigabit flash memory chip with 30-nanometer circuits, but it is a tall job even for such an R&D behemoth as Samsung.
ò Hynix Semiconductor announced that it has developed the industryÆs fastest and most efficient 512-megabit memory chip for handsets and other mobile devices. The chip is expected to be used in a wide range of gadgets, with mass production slated to begin in the second half of 2007. The new DDR SDRAM, or double-data-rate synchronous dynamic random access memory, has the industryÆs fastest clock speed of 185 MHz. It is also equipped with Error Correction Code (ECC), which ensures data integrity and reduces power consumption by up to 50 percent.
Hardware
ò Samsung Electronics said it is looking to more development in the business-to-business office appliances market such as printers, servers, monitors and network equipment. The move is seen as its response to the slow sales of its consumer goods businesses since last year. The President of SamsungÆs Digital Media division said the company is aiming to set up a premium brand of office appliances, just as Samsung has succeeded within the semiconductor chip, mobile phone and digital TV sectors. According to the official, the initial goal is to be one of the top three sellers of printers by 2010 and to pose a threat to market leader Hewlett Packard. Samsung has been one of the leading makers of semiconductor chips, mobile phones and TVs, but its operating profit has been sliding, from W12 trillion ($12.6 billion) in 2004 to W8 trillion won ($8.4 billion) in 2005 to W6.9 trillion ($7.3 billion) in 2006. All of its three key business divisions û semiconductor, mobile phone and liquid crystal display (LCD) û have lost profits during the period, pressuring the firmÆs management to search for new products that can be its next growth engine.
China
Internet
ò Baidu.com announced that it had set up a Japanese subsidiary and would officially unveil it as early as this month. The company said it has already registered its web address for its Japanese language portal, a move that finally marks the mainland Internet search leader's first overseas expansion. The company said it is also employing a spider collection programme on Japanese websites, which is a programme that searches for information on the internet and is used by search engines to index web pages. In February, Baidu disclosed its plan to invest $15 million in Japan this year although it did not give a timeframe for the launch of a Japanese unit or service. With the move, Baidu now competes with global leader Google, which offers web search services in Japanese and Korean.
ò Tom Online showed a quarterly loss as it reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2006, posting a 28.5 percent decline in its total revenues to $33.6 million. The results also showed an 11.1 percent decline from the previous quarter. The internet firm reported a 0.2 percent growth in its total revenues for the year ended December 31, 2006 to $168.3 million from 2005, even as its revenues from wireless internet services went down 3.3 percent to $152.6 million for the year, from 2005. Tom Online reported online advertising revenues of $3.1 million, representing a 1.3 percent decline from the same period last year and 10.6 percent decrease from the previous quarter. Online advertising revenues made up 9.4 percent of the company's total quarterly revenues. The firm registered a quarterly net loss of $0.5 million, a decrease of 109.6 percent from the last quarter and a decrease of 104 percent from the same period last year, with Tom Online ascribing the results to the provision for goodwill impairment of $4.6 million for the company's Indiagames under discontinued operations.
ò Internet portal Netease.com reported that its board of directors has approved a new share repurchase program of up to $100 million of the company's outstanding American Depositary Shares for a period not to exceed three months. This authorisation follows the portalÆs completion of a share buyback programme previously announced in August 2006 in which approximately 3.6 million of the company's issued and outstanding ADSs were purchased for an aggregate purchase consideration of$60.1 million. Under the terms of the newly approved program, Netease may repurchase its issued and outstanding ADSs in open-market transactions on the NASDAQ Global Select Market. With the announcement, Netease released its plans to fund repurchases made under this program from available working capital.
ò Industry sources indicated that the Agricultural Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and China Construction Bank are working on plans to create an online joint transaction platform expected to extend their services and share resources. According to an official of the e-banking department at the Agricultural Bank of China, the further development of the internet will push each commercial bank to move their services from traditional counters to online areas. The official noted that these commercial banks will naturally deal with other business through the online platform as security levels increase for online transactions.
ò 51job.com announced that it has updated revenue guidance and provided earnings targets for the first quarter ending March 31, 2007. The Chinese online recruitment service firm said that, based on current market demand and operating conditions, the company is increasing guidance and now expects first quarter 2007 revenues in the estimated range of Rmb192 million ($24.8 million) to Rmb202 million ($26.1 million). The announcement also mentioned that co-founder Michael Lei Feng is moving from his position as Senior Vice President to a Strategic Advisor of the company, and that David Weimin Jin has been promoted to Senior Vice President of Sales.
Media, Entertainment and Gaming
ò Computer game operator Tencent announced its decision to close down its service for exchanging game coins into its virtual Q coin money. Currently, some sellers buy virtual equipment with Q coins and exchange it for some other game coins, and then they sell the game coins to other users for real money. Some officials have expressed their worries that the circulation of Q coins may affect China's currency and may even lead some teenagers to crime. The announcement of Tencent follows the issuance of a circular from different Chinese government ministries further regulating the management of Internet cafes and online games. The circular indicated that no new Internet cafes be set up in China this year and no virtual coins can be used to buy tangible items.
ò Sina.com announced that it has secured a strategic agreement with five international music groups û BMG Universal, Sony, Warner, EMI and Rock Records û to jointly launch a new music platform called Sina Music Storeroom. Under the agreement, the new music platform will offer free online music as well as wireless music services such as mobile ring tones, color ring tones and IVR services for Internet users. Sina says it will share the income from the online advertisements and wireless value-added services of this platform with the five partners and they might also try a paid download service at a later time. Market figures show that the digital music market will reach $14.9 billion by 2010, while the traditional music market will decline to $19.6 billion compared with the $27.3 billion in 2005.
Mobile/Wireless
ò Telestone Technologies Corporation (TSTC), a wireless communication company, announced that it has secured a new $4.5 million contract with China Mobile. Under the deal, TSTC will use its RF (radio frequency) products to integrate service from China Mobile for its wireless indoor coverage for 2007. TSTC will provide eight types of products that will be used in numerous configurations including repeaters, line-amplifiers and passive components. This marks the first time for TSTC to win the bid from China Mobile.
ò Industry sources indicated that China Unicom will formally launch GPRS service in no less than 50 cities across China at what the company called the ôappropriate timeö this year. According to the general manager of China Unicom's value-added service department, China Unicom would take the lead promoting GPRS service in 65 to 100 cities in China and gradually launch value-added services like WAP, Java and MMS. Earlier a report indicated that Beijing Unicom, one of China Unicom's subsidiaries, has already launched GPRS limited value-added service in the Beijing area around the Spring Festival holiday this year and is planning to put it into widespread commercial use very soon. In addition, Shanghai Unicom, another affiliate of China Unicom, also upgraded its GSM network to GPRS at the end of last year and the related value-added services have already been opened on a trial basis.
ò Reacting to the reports about Datang Mobile and Shanghai Putian talking about a merger, Dating Mobile issued a statement through its spokesperson that such a merger is impossible for Datang Mobile to consider. Datang Mobile explained that it is not looking to a merger as it has a better brand than Shanghai Putian. The company spokesperson also issued a denial about Datang Mobile being recombined with Datang Group's listed company Datang Stock. In previous reports, sources mentioned the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration of the State Council commenting about the feasibility of merging Putian and Datang and that it would encourage the tandem. Analysts have also commented that there are still possibilities for the merger, seen as being good for the development of Putian.
Semiconductors
ò Government sources said Intel has received approval to build a $2.5 billion chip plant in China. The announcement follows a surge in the demand for chips in China and the massive increase in its population of mobile phone users. The countryÆs National Development and Reform Commission said the factory is planned for the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian. The Intel factory approved for Dalian would use 90-nanometer technology. That suggests that Intel plans to use the facility to manufacture flash memory chips and chipsets, which act as a PC's central nervous system by sending data from the microprocessor to other parts of the computer. Intel has 6,000 employees in China and factories in Shanghai and the western city of Chengdu making memory chips, microprocessors and other products.
Information Technology
ò First Data International and China UnionPay (CUP) announced the launching of a joint service capability that enables Chinese visitor access to their cash via First Data's ATM network, Cashcard, the largest ATM network in Australia. Under the partnership, the two companies are aiming to enhance their working relationship to promote the use of CUP cards in markets outside China, with First Data providing transaction routing and payment processing services. China UnionPay is a shareholding financial service institution with the registered capital of Rmb1.6 billion ($206.8 million) through capital contributions by more than 80 domestic financial institutions. At the end of 2006, some 1.1 billion Chinese bankcards have been accepted via CUP network, with 189 member institutions having issued CUP cards and 520 thousand merchants able to accept CUP cards. First Data International maintains operation across Europe, Middle East and Africa, Latin America, Canada, Australia and Asia-Pacific, and serves 4.9 million merchant locations, 1,900 card issuers and their customers.
Telecommunications
ò ZTE announced that its entire set of TD-SCDMA equipment has successfully passed the tests of the Ministry of Information Industry and is one of the first recipients of the countryÆs TD-SCDMA network entry certificate. Covered by the new license are the four types of ZTE telecom equipment, including the core network equipment, wireless network control equipment, base station equipment and service platform equipment. The company explained that it has tested the entire set of TD-SCDMA equipment in Xiamen, Qingdao and Shanghai and is putting it into trial use in Beijing, Baoding, Qingdao and Xiamen. Even with this license granted to ZTE, nothing definite has been issued about the time frame for 3G being put into full commercial service throughout China.
Taiwan
Semiconductors
ò DisplayLink Inc. (formerly Newnham Technology) announced that Sunix has chosen its network display technology for the new Sunix VGA2625 family of USB-to-VGA / DVI adapters. Sunix, based in Taiwan, plans to market the VGA2625 in Europe and Latin America, where it has a strong brand name and distribution channel. The VGA2625 family provides a cost-effective and easy-to-use solution for adding extra monitors to a computer using USB 2.0 without requiring additional graphics cards. DisplayLink Corp is a network display fabless semiconductor company, formed in 2003 to lead the "second display revolution" by enabling flexible connections to be made between computers and displays using standard wired or wireless networking protocols. SUNIX specializes in the research and development of technology for I/O controller cards and markets its controller cards in the European market under the "Sunix" brand name. The technology and quality built into each and every Sunix I/O controller card has earned the company's products the nickname "Golden Card." Its customers include Fujitsu-Siemens, IBM and Quantum.
Hong Kong
Internet
ò Yahoo Inc. announced its plans to launch a Chinese language version of its popular photo-sharing site Flickr.com this year to tap demand from Chinese digital photo enthusiasts, which follows its move to localize and boost its services that focus on user-generated contributions. Online services, such as Flickr, Shutterfly Inc., Eastman Kodak's EasyShare Gallery and Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Snapfish, lets users load digital pictures online, where they can be edited, shared with others, printed and mailed. The new web site will target Hong Kong users and will offer all the core features currently available on the English platform. While the traditional version of written Chinese is widely used in Hong Kong and Taiwan, the simplified version of the script is the standard in mainland China. However, most mainland Chinese are able to read traditional Chinese, and vice versa. According to sources, after targeting Hong Kong consumers, Flickr's Chinese site will also focus on the Taiwan market, the spokeswoman said, but declined to elaborate on the mainland Chinese market. The countryÆs leading e-commerce company, Alibaba, absorbed yahooÆs China business in 2005. Yahoo Inc. also bought a 40 percent stake in Alibaba.
Singapore/Malaysia/Philippines/Indonesia
Mobile/Wireless
ò According to the Indonesian government sources, South Korea has provided Indonesia with mobile broadcasting equipment to help the country launch a digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) service in the nationÆs aim to get a foothold in the Southeast Asian market. DMB allows users to view TV programmes on personal devices even while they are in motion. South Korea, which was the first country to launch the service in 2005, is seeking to export its DMB technology and equipment. According to the countryÆs Ministry of Information and Communication, Indonesia already began a test run of ground-based DMB with encoders and mobile handsets provided for free by the South Korean government. The ministry said Indonesia plans to conduct the test operations for three months before choosing its DMB service standard.
Telecommunications
ò Telekom Malaysia announced that it will spend about M$40 milllion ($11.3 million) on infrastructure to develop a Malaysian-based Internet Protocol (IP) hub, a project to be in partnership with Verizon Business, a US-based global firm that provides communications and information technology. According to a TM official, the investment would allow TM to set up a physical node in Cyberjaya in June, which could be jointly operated by TM and Verizon. A memorandum of understanding will allow TM and Verizon to jointly operate the infrastructure and generate cost savings on international bandwidth connectivity for TM and other internet service providers (ISP) as internet queries and traffic are contained within the country. The TM official said the company looks to the collaboration as attracting new opportunities for Internet peering by major regional Tier-1 ISPs from South Korea, Japan, China and India to Malaysia, in order to further establish the country as a leading IP hub. TM has a presence in Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
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