A week in Japan tech
Telecommunications
+ Japan Telecom is to begin outsourcing telephone billing and collection to the two regional carriers of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone in October. Japan Telecom aims to cut costs by outsourcing these operations, while the two NTT carriers aim to expand their charge billing and collection services for other companies.
+ NTT Communications is expanding its electronic money business, which provides customers with a payment option in place of cash or credit cards. Internet banking clients of Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi will be able to use NTT Communications' e-money. Users of the service will be able to make payments at some 1,200 merchants.
Mobile / Wireless
+ NTT DoCoMo is to cut the charges for its i-mode service for frequent users. The company will cut i-mode packet-transmission fees for both ordinary personal digital communications, or PDC, services and its third generation FOMA-type services.
Software
+ DoubleClick Japan to collaborate on distribution of geographically targeted Net ads. Online content distributor J-Cast of Tokyo has granted DoubleClick Japan preferential use in Japan of a patented system that can determine users' physical locations based on their IP addresses.
Internet
+ Usen and ITX are teaming up in the area of high-speed telecommunications services. Usen will obtain the cooperation of ITX affiliates like Nissho Electronics, and ITX aims to strengthen its own business by taking advantage of high-speed infrastructure. As a first step, Usen and ITX will study the prospects of using Usen's cable radio infrastructure for high-speed telecom services.
+ Asahi Net will lower its internet access fee to make it the industry's lowest at Y700 a month. The service is compatible with the Flet's ADSL service offered by NTT East and West corporations. The discount will be made possible by more efficient use of the communications facilities at the firm's disposal.
Semiconductors
+ Worldwide sales of Japanese-made semiconductor manufacturing equipment are forecast to rise 6.1% year-on-year to Y937.3 billion for the current fiscal year through March 2003, the Semiconductor Equipment Association of Japan said, citing a recovery in orders from overseas chip makers amid an upturn in global chip demand.
Venture Capital / Investments
+ Geo has decided to leave the Nasdaq Japan market for another stock market by the end of the year. The video, CD and DVD rental/sales firm is the first to make such a decision among the firms whose shares are traded on Nasdaq Japan. Nasdaq Japan Inc. and its partner Osaka Securities Exchange are due to terminate their contract in October.
+ The Tokyo Stock Exchange announces new listing standards that will force struggling firms to exit quickly and also open the door to companies that have strong growth potential but are temporarily operating in the red. The TSE drew up the new delisting rules, slated to take effect in October, for its first and second sections in response to a series of major corporate failures.
+ Asset management companies and brokerages are strengthening their marketing efforts for Japanese equity investment trust funds. Fidelity Investments Japan and Nikko Asset Management, along with the financial institutions that distribute their funds, are embarking on marketing campaigns that will run until the end of September.
Media, Entertainment and Gaming
+ Bandai and Takara to start supplying game software for Nintendo's GameCube machine by the end of March 2003. The two toymakers expect the console, which topped 1 million units in domestic sales after debuting in September last year, to become one of the leading game machines. They especially hope to boost sales of games for younger customers.
+ Nintendo is to begin selling a modem adapter to enable owners of its GameCube game console to play each other over the Internet at high speeds. The maker of Pokemon video-game software will begin selling the modem in Japan on Oct. 3 for Y3,800 ($32).
Information Technology
+ Argo21 acquires an IT consulting company, Comnic-Soken, as part of its effort to strengthen its technical capabilities in the area of systems development. Specifically, the company has acquired all outstanding shares of Comnic-Soken, the wholly owned subsidiary of software developer Comnic, for a consideration of Y79 million yen.
+ Information Services International-Dentsu to start offering an Internet-based financial information service through a subsidiary. Its wholly owned unit has taken over the information service business from UFJ Tsubasa Securities. The service will offer market news, investment trust, stock price and other financial data provided information service companies.
A week in Korea tech
Telecommunications
+ Koreasat-5 has at least three bidders. KT has already signed an MOU to launch a new satellite for military purposes with defense authorities last year. The estimated price of satellite bidding was some W300 billion. Lockheed Martin, Boeing and European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company are each planning to bid for Koreasat-5.
+ The president of KT Corp is to request raising ceiling on foreign equity investment in the company. The foreign investment limit in the telecom company will be partially raised to 49 percent from Wednesday, from 37.2 percent currently. KT has not set a target date for the proposed lifting of the share limit for foreign investors.
+ KT Corp is also contemplating the sale of its 9.27% stake in SK Telecom to domestic and foreign investors. "It is our basic plan to trade our stake in SK for the KT equity held by SK," KT President Lee Yong-kyung said. His remarks refer to SK holding a 9.55% stake in KT to keep its ownership balance with KT owning the 9.27 percent stake in SK.
Mobile / Wireless
+ Mobile camera phones have become flagship sales items for electronics companies since their debut last September. Local electronic firms predict that at least 1.5 million cellular camera phones will be sold domestically this year, and a new line of the handsets will set the trend overseas as well.
+ Cheju provincial government and KT agree to build a wireless broadband Internet network on the scenic island. KT and Intel's Korean unit will cooperate to establish the mobile broadband Internet environment. The project, named the "Mobile Cheju Project," is expected to enable users to experience the benefits of mobility on the island while retaining broadband access to the Internet.
+ Mobile phone service companies rank as the most profitable among the 510 listed firms, according to data released by the Korea Stock Exchange. SK Telecom recorded an operating profit to revenue ratio of 33.8% for the first six months of this year. The other mobile carriers, KTF and LG Telecom, recorded 16.6% and 16.7% ratios respectively.
Internet
+ Thrunet reaches an agreement with Carlyle to sell its headquarters building for W38 billion in cash. The announcement came amid the Nasdaq warning over delisting Thrunet stocks in the U.S. Thrunet said it has received a letter from the Nasdaq stock market, warning its shares may be de-listed unless its stock price trades above $1 per share for 10 days for the next three months.
Semiconductors
+ Local semiconductor equipment providers expected to see upswing in 2H, Daishin Economic Research Institute predicted. The forecast is based on expectations domestic semiconductor producers such as Samsung Electronics will expand investment in facilities from the third quarter of the year in anticipation of a recovery in semiconductor business worldwide in the second half.
+ Samsung Electro-Mechanics to sell $500 million of next-generation circuit boards to Intel by 2005. The new boards allow closer connection with semiconductors through direct lead welding. Semiconductors, which are to be used in the new circuit board, don't need to have centipede-leg-shaped connections.
Media, Entertainment and Gaming
+ Software patch unlikely to become available for Starcraft. Hanbit Soft has asked the U.S. game developer to fix the error, but the company is highly unlikely to correct the problem, with Blizzard declaring there would be no release of a software patch to rectify the Starcraft program bug. The software bug causes one of the Zerg species to be overly powerful from the beginning of the game.
Information Technology
+ IT industry exports have increased for five months to July, the Ministry of Information and Communication said. In July exports of IT products soared 40.5% from a year earlier to $3.72 billion and imports stood at $2.58 billion, creating a trade surplus of $1.14 billion. In the January-July period, IT exports climbed 8.5% year-on-year to $24.87 billion.
A week in China tech
Telecommunications
+ China Netcom and global carrier Equant have boosted their expansion plans for the developing mainland market. Company officials claimed more than 35% growth in customer connections since last October, when the alliance was struck to provide a range of advanced networked communications services to multinational corporations and their subsidiaries in China.
Mobile / Wireless
+ Browser software developer Access is to provide e-mail software used in mobile phones to China Unicom, China's second-largest cellular phone service provider. The Japanese firm has also set up two subsidiaries in China to be in charge of marketing, licensing and development. China Unicom plans to offer a CDMA-based, third-generation cell phone service.
+ Ericsson gains three GSM network expansion deals in North China. The three networks are those in Liaoning Province (Northeast China), Gansu Province (Northwest China) and Inner Mongolia. The three contracts are worth more than $70 million altogether.
Software
+ Guangdong provincial government bypasses Microsoft and purchases 4,000 sets of locally-made WPS Office 2002 software in the largest deal of its kind in this booming province. The Director of the Beijing Science and Technology Commission has said the government will continue to give top priority to home-grown software products in procurement in the next two years.
Hardware
+ TCL announces exclusive distribution agreement with Philips to distribute the European company's televisions in Guangxi, Guizhou, Jiangxi, Anhui and Shanxi provinces. According to the Ministry of Information Industry, Philips produced 400,000 televisions in China in the first half, of which 230,000 were for export.
Media, Entertainment and Gaming
+ A mainland Web site offering free music downloads closes down after a group of 13 record companies including Vivendi Universal and Sony Music Entertainment, has sued several major Internet carriers, alleging their routing systems allowed users to access Listen4ever and unlawfully copy recordings. Listen4ever was designed for an international rather than domestic audience.
Information Technology
+ Digital China maintains double-digit earnings growth despite a market slowdown. The company boosted net profit by 18.4% to HK$36.2 million in the three months to June 30. Turnover rose 14.3% to HK$2.84 billion. In the same period last year, Digital China posted a net profit of HK$30.58 million on turnover of HK$2.49 billion.
A week in Taiwan tech
Software
+ Authorities in Taiwan reportedly launch an investigation into Microsoft for alleged unfair competition practices. The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) formed a task force to probe allegations Microsoft abused its software dominance to manipulate prices in Taiwan. The FTC planned to question Microsoft in the United States after having spoken to representatives in Taiwan and Singapore.
Semiconductors
+ Acer's board of directors to sell wholly owned AII Holding to another unit, Wistron, and make investments in six other companies. Acer said it would sell the unit to Wistron, but would pay NT$172.6 million cash in exchange for assuming AII's losses. Acer also planned to buy 100 percent of Acer Sales and Distribution for $61.28 million from Acer Computer International.
Hardware
+ Test Rite International to invest $4.5 million in CenDyne, a U.S. supplier of optical storage and computer peripherals products, as part of a broader alliance agreement. The agreement marks Test Rite's entry into the information-technology products sourcing business. The Taipei, Taiwan, company already provides a wide range of international purchasing services for major retail companies.
A week in Singapore / Malaysia tech
Semiconductors
+ Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing opens a regional office in Shanghai, China. The company said the Shanghai office is intended to provide customer service, engineering and marketing functions, and serve as a gateway to other regions within China. In Singapore, Chartered operates five fabrication facilities and has a sixth fab in the process of being developed as a 300mm facility.
Information Technology
+ Datacraft Asia shares tumble after Singapore authorities begin a probe into allegations of insider trading. The probe is the latest in a series of woes that have caused Datacraft Asia's shares to plunge more than 87% since the start of 2000. The probe appeared to be related to insider trading allegations brought against certain directors who sold shares before a profit warning in November.
A week in Hong Kong tech
Mobile / Wireless
+ Hutchison Whampoa partner KPN Mobile to sell its stake in British venture. The Dutch telecommunications firm announced a E9 billion (about $8.8 billion) write-down on its 3G investments, including 1.2 billion euros for its 15 percent stake in Hutchison 3G UK, which it said it no longer considered core. Hutchison and reaffirmed its intention to continue with its launch plans.
Media, Entertainment and Gaming
+ Li Ka-shing's Tom.com drops an offer to buy a stake in ATV - a day after it was revealed that ATV had secured the rights to air in Guangdong. Tom.com announced that it had scrapped its plans due to an inability "to conduct any meaningful due diligence." Sources have suggested that the decision was the culmination of a struggle between Mr. Li and ATV's dominant shareholder, former PLA officer Liu Changle.
+ Dotcom survivor Dotlove's dating game launched on CSL's One2Free mobile network this month, in co-operation with Australian mobile content developer Softgame. Dotlove founder Leslie Kenny said providing game content to mobile operators accounted for half of revenues, the rest coming from online subscription fees.
+ New pay-television entrant Pacific Digital Media offers an extended channel line-up for as little as HK$80 a month - less than a third of the price charged by dominant player i-Cable. Pacific Digital will add eight channels to its existing two. Three of the new channels will feature infotainment content, two are religion-related, one is travel-related and one is a financial news channel.
Information Technology
+ Cyberport is broadening its search for tenants to China, hoping to attract mainland information technology (IT) companies to set up operations in Hong Kong. The Pokfulam joint venture project between the government and PCCW is looking north to fill vacancies at a time when many overseas technology firms are delaying expansion plans amid poor market sentiment and economic downturn.
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