Media, Entertainment and Gaming
ò The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ announced that it has entered into an alliance with Walt Disney (Japan) to provide a new service for personal computers and mobile phones. Industry observers note that this marks the first time that Walt Disney has joined forces with a major Japanese bank to work in the online banking business. Under the agreement, an account is all that is needed to participate in the new Disney Osaifu (purse) Service. Points awarded for using financial services can be used to buy Disney goods and play games featuring Disney characters.
Internet
ò According to the Internet research firm Infoplant, the phenomenon of downloading manga to a computer or cell phone is gaining traction in the Japanese market. The survey was conducted via cell phone and covered some 5,400 respondents. The research firm said out of the people surveyed, 91.8 percent knew of the existence of manga downloads, and 40.2 percent had actually downloaded a manga title before. The study said that out of the people who downloaded manga and specified their gender on the survey, women outnumbered men 43.6 percent to 34.4 percent. The overwhelming majority of these women were age 19 or younger (61.7 percent). The survey also indicated that manga downloads are especially popular with commuters and younger users. The survey found out that the trend has interested others, with over 60 percent of those surveyed indicating that they plan to try downloading manga in the future.
Mobile/Wireless
ò According to the research by ROA Group, the number of mobile users in Japan will grow to 107.3 million by the end of 2010 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.9 percent during 2003-2010. The ROA Group report stated that the introduction of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) was the most important issue in the Japanese mobile market in the second half of 2006, even as the report said that it had a limited influence on the overall mobile market because mobile operators maintained a relatively low subscriber churn rate by offering attractive handsets, services and tariff plans. The report took note of another significant change in the Japanese mobile market with the emergence of SoftBank Mobile, created by the merger between SoftBank and Vodafone Japan. The ROA Group contended that 3.5G (HSDPA) networks are spreading and data services are expected to increase with an accelerating speed, providing another driving engine for market growth in Japan.
Hardware
ò 3M disclosed that it has settled a patent dispute involving lithium ion battery cathode materials with Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial. In a statement, 3M said that under the agreement, Matsushita and its subsidiary Panasonic Corp. of North America were now licensed sources of batteries. The US-based 3M did not disclose the terms of the settlement. The settlement is also expected to remove Matsushita and its Panasonic unit from the lawsuit as well as from a complaint filed with the US International Trade Commission. According to a 3M spokesperson, both the lawsuit and the complaint are proceeding against such companies as Sony, Lenovo Group, a US unit of Hitachi, CDW Corp., and Sanyo Electric Lithium ion batteries are a source of power for laptop computers, mobile phones and portable electronic devices.
ò Industry sources said Pentax Corp. has agreed to a takeover estimated to have reached about 105 billion yen ($860.2 million) by rival Hoya Corp. Under the agreement, Hoya is offering 770 yen ($6.3) a share for the Pentax shares, and plans to start the tender offer to shareholders in early June, and turn Pentax into a wholly owned unit. The two companies said details of the deal will be announced later.
ò NPC, a developer of equipment to manufacture solar batteries, has received approval to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Mothers Market. The company will offer 300,000 shares to the public in its initial public offering. Of those, 250,000 are newly issued shares and 50,000 are shares currently held in private. Okasan Securities is the lead underwriter of the offer. The company will offer all the shares through the book-building method. For the current fiscal year through February 2008, the company forecasts a group net profit of 443 million yen ($3.6 million), a pretax profit of 765 million yen ($6.2 million), and sales of 6.4 billion yen ($52.4 million).
Korea
Internet
ò Internet portals in the country said they will voluntarily submit internet advertisements for review before they are released and limit the number of pop-up ads to three per page. This was a response from the Ministry of Information and Communication announced that it would impose responsible behavior rules on portals and with them the law aimed at the industry. According to the ministry, the Korea Internet Advertising Deliberation Organization, which is made up of 60 web businesses including Naver, Daum Communication, Yahoo Korea and SK Communications, will begin reviewing Internet ads soon. The rules limit pop-up ads to three per webpage, and ads that put shortcuts to websites on users' desktops without their approval will be forbidden. Banner ads that users cannot close or that open other ads when users click the close button are also banned. Internet companies are also forbidden from collecting individuals' information without their approval via ads or web pages linked by ads.
ò Daum, the countryÆs second-largest web portal, announced its move to work with Google on key areas of services. According to its top officials, the two companies agreed to strengthen the synergy in their businesses through closer cooperation. Daum said, in particular, that it looks to the latest deal between the two companies to boost its blog and web-community function, as well as improve the quality of its user-created content or UCC services.
ò The South Korean government said it will invest some 1 trillion won ($1.1 billion) in a bid to help the country adopt a next-generation internet protocol by 2013. The new network layer system, called Internet Protocol version 6, abbreviated IPv6, provides a virtually infinite number of addresses, compared to the current IPv4. Under the new system, a senior official of the countryÆs Ministry of Science and Technology said all state and public Internet protocols will be converted to the IPv6 mode by 2010, with the private sector to be encouraged to switch to the new mode by 2013. The official said the government will prod local Internet system developers to boost their know-how regarding IPv6 equipment and hardware. Foreign companies such as Juniper Networks Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc currently dominate this field.
Mobile/Wireless
ò A top official of Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone manufacturer, called for South Korea to introduce a single and globally recognised mobile phone software platform. According to the official, the country has long maintained "its own software platform, different from the global standard," but this unique software standard of South Korea keeps it from entering other Asian markets despite its efforts to gain entry into those markets.
Software
ò According to the countryÆs Information and Communication Ministry, software exports posted a growth of more than 10% in 2006, compared to the year before. The ministry said software exports in 2006 added up to $1.3 billion, a 13 percent growth from 2005. Exports of digital content and IT service products formed the bulk, with China as the lead buyer of South Korean products. Noting a significant rise in exports to the Middle East and South America, the ministry said two-thirds of all exports went to Asian countries.
Hardware
ò LG announced filing a patent in the US for a washing machine with an MP3 player even as the product is still in the idea stage. The news of the device and the patent generated different responses with observers questioning its practicality as washing machine are known to make a lot of noise when they are working. Media sources also questioned the usefulness of the MP3 feature, pointing out that most people do not want to listen to music in front of a droning washing machine. LG, however, said the invention is aimed at responding to consumer demand in the changing electronics market.
Semiconductors
ò Samsung Electronics announced that it would invest 933.8 billion won ($1 billion) in a bid to build up its production facilities for memory semiconductors. Out of that total investment, the company said 646.5 billion won ($696.3 million) will be used for building new facilities while 163.4 billion won ($176 million) will be spent on improving existing facilities. The remaining 128.9 billion won ($138.8 million) are earmarked for related facilities. Samsung said it plans to start installing new production lines at its plants this month.
Ventures/Investments
ò LG announced setting up a one-stop manufacturing cluster for LCD components and televisions, with key components for the cluster to come from South Korea. LG said it plans to assemble and produce LCD components and finished TV sets at the cluster for distribution in Europe, the world's largest LCD TV market. Four LG Group affiliate facilities are operating in the cluster: LG Electronics' finished TV set assembly line, LG.Phillips' LCD module assembly plant, LG Chem's polarizer plant and LG Innotek's inverter and power module manufacturing plant. The 1.5 million-sq/m cluster is considered to be the companyÆs third-largest manufacturing base after the Paju Display Cluster measuring 4.4 million sq.m and the Nanjing Display Cluster measuring 2 million sq/m. The Poland cluster is estimated to be worth 500 billion won ($538.6 million). LG said plans to produce 2.4 million LCD units annually at the Poland site. With demand for LCD TVs expected to increase rapidly in the European region, the Poland cluster is expected to play a key role in LG's entry into Europe. Market sources said for 2007, Europeans are expected to buy 27 million LCD TVs, or 37 percent of the global LCD TV market.
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