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World business quick take

Trade show: COMDEX gets cancelled
The organizers of COMDEX Chicago, at one time one of the largest technology trade shows in the nation, announced the show's cancellation because of declining interest. Besides the show in Chicago, Key3Media Group said Wednesday it will no longer hold shows in Vancouver, Montreal, Atlanta and New York. It will continue to hold shows in Las Vegas, Toronto and San Francisco. The company also plans to close one of its largest offices in Needham, Massachusetts, on Dec. 18. "Our customers have told us that what would help them the most is for us to concentrate on a single show national strategy," said Fred Rosen, Chairman and CEO of Key3Media Group.

Publishing: Tom.com in China venture
Tom.com Ltd, a media and Internet venture controlled by tycoon Li Ka-shing, has announced an advertising and magazine distribution joint venture with a Chinese publishing company. Hong Kong-based Tom.com will pay about 312 million yuan (US$37.8 million) for a 49 percent stake in the joint venture with the mainland's Popular Computer Group, according to a statement issued late Wednesday. Popular Computer Group will hold the remaining 51 percent, injecting its advertising and distribution operations into the venture, it said. Popular Computer Group's flagship magazine, Popular Computer Week, has a weekly nationwide circulation of 700,000. It also publishes information technology reference books. Tom.com, whose IPO in March 2000 sparked a stampede among investors hoping to rake in quick profits during the dotcom boom, has shifted its focus from Internet ventures to conventional media and advertising, particularly in China and Taiwan.

PlayStation2: Shipments reach 40m
Sony Corp, the world's No. 1 supplier of video-game machines, said shipments of its PlayStation2 console reached 40 million this week, hitting that milestone about 14 months quicker than its original game console. Tokyo-based Sony shipped 10 million of the consoles in the past four and a half months alone, the company said in an e-mailed news release. PlayStation2, the second in the PlayStation series, reached stores in Japan in March 2000. The world's second-largest consumer-electronics maker has said it plans to ship 20 million PlayStation2s in the year to March 2003. As of March this year, the company had shipped slightly less than 29 million units. PlayStation2 is expected to grab about 60 percent of the global console market this calendar year, Japanese market researcher Nikkei Market Access forecasts.

GM fish: Dealers spurn mutations
About 200 restaurants, grocers and seafood distributors pledged Wednesday not to buy, serve or sell fish created by biotechnology, joining some environmental groups and fishermen in opposing genetically engineered seafood. "Scientists and corporations are playing with genetics without knowing the consequences," said Eric Ripert, executive chef of New York restaurant Le Bernadin. Among those signing the pledge were a dozen Alaskan seafood distributors and two dozen organic-food-oriented grocery stores and chains, including Whole Foods Market, which has more than 130 stores. The move was organized by Center for Food Safety, Clean Water Action and Friends of the Earth.

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