■Mobile phones
Nokia's sales may rise
Nokia Oyj's sales growth will probably accelerate this quarter, from a 2 percent rise in the previous three months, as the world's largest mobile-phone maker grabs market share from rivals, investors said. The company today is expected to repeat its October forecast for sales growth of 2 percent to 5 percent and earnings excluding some costs of US$0.23 (US$0.23) to US$0.25 a share in the period, analysts said. That compares with US$0.24 a share a year ago. Sales at Nokia, which makes almost two in every five phones sold, rose last quarter for the first time in 15 months. The stock has surged in the past four months on optimism the more than 30 models Nokia introduced this year will help it widen the gap with Motorola Inc and other rivals. This quarter will depend a lot on consumer demand during the holiday gift season, investors said.
■ Solar Battery
Sanyo begins production
Sanyo Electric Co, whose shares have declined 48 percent this year, said it will begin producing solar batteries at a factory in Mexico next year, to expand sales in the growing North American market. Production will begin in the summer of 2003 at Sanyo Electric's Monterrey, Mexico plant, where it makes rechargeable batteries, the No.1 maker of cell-phone batteries said. The Osaka-based company will invest Japanese Yen 250 million (US$2 million) to produce the solar panels. The battery component of the solar panels will continue to be produced and shipped from Japan. Solar-power use, especially in the US, is growing following power shortages in California two years ago that lasted for months. Sharp Corp, the world's largest maker of solar panels, said last month it will start making panels at its plant in Tennessee by April next year.
■ Server Processor
AMD has faster product
Advanced Micro
Devices Inc will start shipping a faster chip for computer workstations and servers as Intel Corp's biggest rival in making computer processors tries to stay competitive. Advanced Micro's Athlon MP 2400+ will deliver 19 percent better performance than Intel's 2.4GHz Xeon processor, Advanced Micro spokeswoman Duyen Truong said. The chips will sell beginning tomorrow for US$228 apiece in 1,000-unit quantities, about the same price as Intel's 2.4GHz Xeon. The server market has become increasingly important for Advanced Micro, Mercury Research analyst Dean McCarron said. Sales of server chips have held steady over the past several quarters as revenue from products for personal computers fell, he said.
■ US retailers
Kmart to restate results
Kmart Corp, the largest US retailer to file for bankruptcy protection, will restate financial results for at least three years because of errors found during an internal review of accounting practices. The discount retailer will make adjustments for some leases, the accounting of inventory and transactions with suppliers. The company's losses for the six months ended July 31 will narrow by US$100 million and reported net income or losses in prior years will be adjusted by a comparable amount, CFO Albert Koch said during a conference call. It's the second restatement since Kmart began reviewing events that helped push it into bankruptcy in January.
Agencies
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique