Internet
ò Rakuten Inc announced its plans to launch virtual shopping malls for the US, European and Chinese markets by the spring of 2008. The company said it will set up a U.S. unit in Boston shortly to develop systems and localise them for different regions. Rakuten said it will also boost its staffing levels at its subsidiaries in the UK as well as in other foreign countries.
Mobile/Wireless
ò NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and Softbank Mobile announced that they will launch the "emergency call position notification" system in April 2007. The system can automatically notify an emergency agent of information on the position of the caller when the phone number of the agency is dialed from a mobile phone. With the service, it will be mandatory that an operator notify the position of the caller when an emergency call is made from a mobile phone starting April 2007. The position is pinpointed with the use of GPS and the mobile phone network. The companies said they will begin the service from a limited number of areas and then increase the service areas.
Media, Entertainment and Gaming
ò Nintendo disclosed that it has raised its fiscal year group net profit outlook by 20 billion ($166.1 million) to 120 billion yen ($997 million), ascribing the change to the growing sales worldwide of its portable game player Nintendo DS. Nintendo said it looking for sales of 900 billion yen ($7.4 billion) for the year, up from a previous forecast 740 billion yen ($6.1 billion). For this fiscal year, the company raised it sales outlook for two models of the hand-held game machine, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite, to 23 million units from 20 million units. The company also maintained its projection of selling 6 million Wii consoles by the end of March, even as it raised its Wii software sales from 17 million to 21 million units.
Hardware
ò Matsushita Electric Industrial announced its decision to invest some 280 billion yen ($2.3 billion) to build the world's largest plasma display TV factory in western Japan. The company leads the global market for plasma display televisions with a 33 percent share. It announced that it would also go online in May 2009 and is expected to have a monthly output capacity of one million units. According to DisplaySearch, global shipments for flat televisions are expected to almost triple in 2010 from last year, to 146.9 million units. Plasma televisions account for about 20 percent of the global flat television market which is still dominated by LCD technology. Matsushita said it is looking to its flat television business to help raise revenues overseas and generate a 10 trillion yen ($83 billion) revenue target in the year to March 2010.
ò Canon announced its decision to make a new type of ultra-thin flat-panel TV on its own, a decision that goes with its acquisition of Toshiba Corp.'s stake in their joint venture to resolve a patent dispute. Industry sources said that Canon and Toshiba would issue a statement on their joint venture, SED Inc. The firms have been working on developing surface conduction electron-emitter display (SED) TVs, with production due to begin at the end of 2007. SED TVs are thinner and consume less energy than liquid crystal display (LCD) and plasma TVs. Due to a patent dispute with Nano-Proprietary Inc., Canon and Toshiba had been considering delaying or scrapping their plan to build a US$1.7 billion plant. U.S. - based Nano-Proprietary filed a lawsuit against Canon in 2005, claiming that its license agreement with Canon covering its patented flat-panel technology did not extend to the venture with Toshiba.
Korea
Internet
ò Google and Samsung announced a partnership that will allow users easier access to the search engine's internet services from the South Korean electronic giant's mobile telephones. Under the offering, Samsung mobile telephones equipped with Google software applications will enable users worldwide to search the Internet, check email, and map routes. Google said the mobile telephones will be designed with a Google icon on the option menu to allow single click connection to Google search, G-mail, and maps.
Media, Entertainment and Gaming
ò Gravity announced that it is going to commence open beta testing for the French version of Ragnarok Online in French-speaking countries in Europe, including France this month. For this purpose, the company has put up Gravity EU SASU, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company for the purpose of providing online game services in anticipation and consideration of the potential growth of this region. France has been recognized over the years as the center of animation and the video game industry in Europe. Gravity also announced that it is planning to commence commercial service of Ragnarok Online in The Commonwealth of Independent States (or CIS) by the first quarter of 2007. The Company believes that this region, with a population of nearly 300 million in total, is well positioned for significant growth in the future. Gravity has acquired the company which offered the open beta testing of Ragnarok Online in Russia since July 2005, and is now GravityÆs subsidiary, with the company being renamed Gravity CIS, Inc. Based in Korea, Gravity is a developer and distributor of online games.
Hardware
ò According to Lehman Brothers, LG.Philips LCD should consider a partnership with Matsushita Electric Industrial by April as one of four options for the companyÆs fundraising. An analyst said that the tie-up would enable LG.Philips, the world's second-largest LCD maker, to compete against larger rival Samsung Electronics. Lehman said that the firm should do this as Royal Philips Electronics prepared to sell its 33 percent stake as early as July. Another option is for LG Philips to sell the stake held by Philips, valued at 3.3 trillion won to Toshiba Corp and Hitachi.
ò LG Electronics Inc. disclosed that it is set to achieve 4 trillion won ($4.2 billion) in global sales and plans to invest 3.1 trillion won ($3.3 billion) this year, in a bid to put itself up there with the world's top three electronics makers in terms of profit, market share and shareholder value. The company said that out of the 3.1 trillion won ($3.3 billion) the company has earmarked for investment, 1.4 trillion won (US$1.4 billion) will be allocated to facility investments and the remaining 1.7 trillion won ($1.8 billion) to research and development. For 2007, the companyÆs R&D investments will be focused on the mobile phone, flat-panel TV, navigation, air conditioning and home network sectors. LG generates about 85 percent of its profits from overseas markets, in which the United States takes the largest portion, at 25 percent. The company said it aims to earn $10 billion in the U.S. market this year with its third-generation mobile phones, liquid crystal display TVs, plasma display panel TVs and drum-type washing machines and three-door refrigerators.
ò Samsung Electronics registered an 8.5 percent decline in its fourth-quarter net profit of 2006 from a year ago because of falling flat panel prices and intense competition in mobile phones, despite a relatively good performance by its semiconductor division. Samsung said it earned 2.3 trillion won ($2.4 billion) in the October-December period, down from 2.5 trillion won ($2.6 billion) in the same period a year ago. Throughout last year, its net profits topped 7.9 trillion won ($8.4 billion), even as its turnover totaled 15.7 trillion won ($16.7 billion) in that quarter, a record for a quarter. Last year, sales amounted to 59 trillion won ($62.8 billion), beating its previous record of 57.6 trillion won ($61.3 billion) in 2004. The company said it posted a 31 percent rise in its fourth quarter operating profit in the semiconductor division from a year ago to 1.7 trillion won ($1.8 billion) on the back of a 13 percent rise in personal computer shipments, while its mobile division went down by 34 percent in a year-to-year comparison. It is targeting some 8.1 trillion won ($8.3 million) in capital spending for this year, down 19 percent from 2006, with R&D investments expected to hit 6.1 trillion won ($6.5 billion), up 10 percent from last year.
Ventures/Investments
ò SkyLake Incuvest, a venture capitalist firm, led by former Information and Communication Minister Chin Dae-je, announced it has selected Olaworks for its first incubating project. The firm said it would invest $4 million into the photo-based search engine, together with other foreign partners, including Intel Capital and Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati (WSGR). A company official said that SkyLake will continue to look for start-ups at an infant stage with growth potential and incubate them rather than venture firms ready for an initial public offering (IPO). Chin was president of Samsung Electronics in 2001 before becoming the information and communication minister.
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