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■ No new mobile services yet
Taiwan Cellular Corp (TCC, 台灣大), the nation's largest mobile telecommunications operator by customer base, said yesterday that it is still too early to launch 3G mobile services as handsets and local consumers appear not ready for the faster, data-oriented transmission services.
"We're not in a rush to launch such services," TCC president Harvey Chang (張孝威) said, citing a lack of sufficient mobile phones supporting 3G technology and an absence of killer applications to lure consumers to subscribe to the new services.
However, the company will continue to spend on its 3G infrastructure this year, chief financial officer Cheng Hui-ming (鄭慧明) said, without elaborating. State-run Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) said it is scheduled to unveil 3G services for its subscribers during the third quarter of this year.

■ LCD volume reaches milestone
Production volume of liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors manufactured by Taiwanese companies broke through the 10 million units level in the fourth quarter of last year, the Market Intelligence Center (市場情報中心) said in a statement yesterday.
The LCD monitors accounted for 48 percent of total Taiwanese monitor shipment volume, which amounted to 21.3 million units in the fourth quarter, the center said. Volume growth for 17-inch displays was fastest in the last quarter, with shipment shares exceeding 40 percent, it added.
"Fueled by color display tube [CDT] monitor replacement effects and increased bundling rates with PCs, LCD monitors registered 15 percent sequential growth in the fourth quarter, up 64 percent year-on-year," the center said.

■ China Airlines raises millions
China Airlines Co (華航) raised a US$110 million syndicated loan to buy new aircraft. Credit Agricole SA and Industrial Bank of Taiwan were the lead arrangers, the Industrial Bank of Taiwan (台灣工銀) said in a statement.
China Airlines in December, 2002 ordered 10 Boeing 747-400s, including six cargo carriers. The company also ordered 12 Airbus SAS A330-300 planes to upgrade its fleet. The company said in a statement yesterday that it registered an unaudited profit of NT$1.79 billion (US$53.8 million) last year, compared with the audited net income of NT$3.12 billion for 2002.
Rival EVA Airways Corp (長榮) had an unaudited net income of NT$1.3 billion (US$39.1 million) last year, compared with an audited net income of NT$2.64 billion for 2002.

■ Trade with China rises
Bilateral trade between Taiwan and China registered a 23.2 percent year-on-year rise in the first 11 months of last year, according to the Board of Foreign Trade.
During the 11-month period, exports to China amounted to US$31.91 billion, up 19.5 percent from the year-earlier level, while imports from China totaled US$9.78 billion, up 37.3 percent.
Bureau officials said that exports to China will continue an upward swing this year thanks to rapid growth in Chinese exports and domestic demand, as well as a strong recovery in the global information technology industry.

■ NT dollar highest since 2002
The New Taiwan dollar had its highest close in more than one-and-a-half years amid speculation that the central bank will sell less of the currency, to reduce the prospect of criticism of such tactics by G7 finance ministers who meet Friday and Saturday in Florida, currency traders said.
The NT dollar rose 0.2 percent to close at NT$33.273 against its US counterpart, its strongest close since July 22, 2002, on the Taipei foreign exchange market.

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