A week in Japan tech
Mobile / Wireless
- NTT DoCoMo posts strongest-ever monthly growth in subscribers to its 3G wireless communications service, reflecting budding consumer demand for its newest 3G handset. It added 37,000 new subscribers to its 3G "FOMA" service in February. DoCoMo's 3G subscriber base now stands at 191,500 overall.
Internet
- Softbank to sell 40,000 Yahoo! Japan shares in March. The sale of stocks owned by Softbank and Softbank BB, its broadband unit, will reduce Softbank's stake in Yahoo Japan to 41.9% from 50%. That will help clear a condition for Yahoo Japan to switch to the first section, the Tokyo market's most prestigious listing, from its listing now on the over-the-counter Jasdaq exchange.
Hardware
- Toshiba will spin off its home-appliance business in an effort to focus on what it sees as growth areas, such as DVD players and wireless technologies. The electronics maker said it will seek to more than double its annual operating profit over the next three years by focusing on the three core businesses of digital-electronic products, electronic components and infrastructure systems.
- IBM Japan to roll out new PC servers later this month, including one with a price tag of less than Y80,000. The move is aimed at countering the aggressive sales strategies by the firm's competitors. Dell Computer KK is boosting its market share by selling products directly to customers online, and Hewlett-Packard Japan Ltd. has announced a series of price cuts.
Media, Entertainment and Gaming
- Sega claims it is not considering capital alliance with Electronic Arts. It also said in a statement that Electronic Arts has made no formal approach about a tieup. Insiders familiar with the negotiations believe that Electronic Arts is considering purchasing CSK's 22% stake in Sega. A CSK spokesman called the report speculative.
- Electronic Arts and Nintendo to co-develop a number of games, including sports titles for Nintendo's GameCube that EA had once considered abandoning. Nintendo has been working to boost the GameCube from its third-place position in the US market in the face of weak sales during the holiday season, particularly for some sports titles.
Software
- Toshiba teams up with Softbrain to develop and market sales support software. Starting in March, Toshiba will sell Softbrain's software products, which are designed to help sales representatives more efficiently manage their appointments. The software will be sold in an ASP format using Toshiba's data center.
- Fujitsu, Hitachi and NEC to jointly develop software for commercial grid computing. Grid computing is a form of networking that links numerous computers via the Internet so they can function as a single, high-performance computer. The technology promises to drastically reduce corporate and government spending on information technology.
Information Technology
- The breakdown of a flight control system caused Y1 billion worth of damage to All Nippon Airways and other major airlines. The huge damages caused by the incident could prompt carriers to seek compensation from the government. The system failure temporarily blocked planes from landing at airports nationwide. Flight schedules were disrupted, affecting about 300,000 travellers.
A week in Korea tech
Mobile / Wireless
- KTF is proceeding to integrate sister wireless unit KT ICOM in a move that will set the stage for the introduction of a full-fledged W-CDMA 3G mobile service. Government regulators recently gave the green light for the merger deal between the two mobile units of fixed-line telecom giant KT Corp. although the decision was widely expected.
- Korean government to issue 3G mobile access codes to three wireless carriers next month as part of a preliminary measure to streamline the nation's mobile phone number system. Korea Communications Commission said it will allocate the following mobile prefixes: "21" to LG Telecom, "20" to SK Telecom and "29" to KTF.
Internet
- E-payment market moves toward consolidation. Lee Keum-ryong, chief executive officer of Inicis, said e-payment solutions makers are expected to seek mergers and acquisitions in coming months since both internal and external factors are fast turning negative. Inicis posted W33.9 billion in revenue in 2002, up 45% from a year earlier.
- Dacom says it hasn't ruled out the possibility of taking over Korea Thrunet. This is despite recent failed talks to acquire a majority stake in Korea Thrunet. Dacom said disagreement over the purchase price for a 72% stake in Korea Thrunet was the main reason for the failed negotiations. Rival Hanaro Telecom had offered W194.9 billion for the 72% stake in January, but later scrapped that plan.
- Korea Thrunet files voluntary petition for court receivership with the bankruptcy court in Seoul citing its debt burden. Korea Thrunet, South Korea's third-largest broadband services provider, has been struggling to compete in a broadband market dominated by KT. Korea Thrunet said it will continue to provide its 1.3 million subscribers with Internet service.
Hardware
- Samsung Electronics joins the ranks of global blue chip firms in terms of profitability. Samsung posted a net profit of 7.05 trillion won ($5.9 billion), which is the third-largest net profit in the worldwide electronics and IT sector after GE ($15.1 billion) and Microsoft ($9.5 billion). Samsung's performance even compares with Intel's, which posted a net profit of $3.1 billion.
Information Technology
- IT-related exports rise 27% on year to $4.2 billion in January, boosted by increased shipments of semiconductors and wireless-technology products, said the Ministry of Information and Communication Tuesday. Semiconductor and other chip-related products continued to lead South Korea's IT-associated exports higher in January, rising 41% from January 2002 to $1.62 billion.
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