Print

Mail

wiki links

World business quick take

■The Koreas
Economic discussions start
North and South Korean officials opened economic talks in the communist state's capital yesterday as inter-Korean exchanges continue apace despite a brewing dispute over North Korea's nuclear arms program. A 35-member South Korean mission led by Vice Finance Minister Yoon Jin-shik flew to Pyongyang via China on Wednesday for four-day talks on economic projects, including an industrial park in the North for manufacturers from the South. The proposed complex at the border city of Kaesong is one of many projects the two Koreas agreed to in 2000 but have only started to implement since ties warmed up in August. The industrial park at Kaesong, an ancient Korean capital and commercial city about 50km north of Seoul, would marry South Korean capital and technology with the North's cheap labor to help revive North Korea's decrepit economy.

■ Mobile phones
DoCoMo's profit plunges
NTT DoCoMo Inc, Japan's largest mobile-phone company, said its fiscal first-half profit plunged 95 percent as it took charges to write down the value of AT&T Wireless Services Inc and other overseas investments. Tokyo-based DoCoMo posted group net income of ?4.2 billion (US$35 million), or ?83.68 a share, for the six months ended Sept. 30, compared with ?89.2 billion, or ?1,777.74, a year ago, the company said in a statement to the Tokyo Stock Exchange. First half sales rose 4.3 percent to ?2.40 trillion. DoCoMo spent ?1.8 trillion between December 1999 and February 2001 buying minority stakes in mobile-phone operators, including Hutchison 3G UK Holdings and AT&T Wireless Services.

■ Computers
Regional sales increase
Sales of personal computers in the Asia Pacific region increased nearly 10 percent to 5.6 million in the third quarter to September from a year earlier, technology research firm Gartner said yesterday. The 9.6 percent surge in PC demand, which came in spite of widespread worries over the global economy, was driven mostly by China which accounted for 46 percent of total sales, US-based Gartner said in a report. "Demand in the home market was steady due to the seasonal holiday week in China, as well as in countries where vendors offered aggressive promotions during computer exhibitions," it said. Despite the rise in third quarter PC shipments, Gartner said the volatile external environment including the prospect of a military conflict in the Middle East would keep consumers at bay.

■ Processors
AMD may cut jobs
Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Intel Corp's biggest rival in personal-computer processors, will detail plans to reduce its workforce at an analyst conference tomorrow. The chipmaker, which last month announced plans to eliminate US$350 million a year in operating expenses, will discuss the job cuts as it gives more details about how it intends to achieve that goal, spokesman Drew Prairie said. "As we target a reduction in our expenses, it will cause us to reduce our workforce," said Prairie. AMD sales have fallen for the past six quarters from year-earlier periods as corporations and consumers have curbed purchases of PCs. Intel used the slump to steal market share, watching it grow to 87 percent in the third quarter from 83 percent in the previous quarter.

Agencies
This story has been viewed 1478 times.