■ Semiconductors
Elpida plant to open in 2005
Elpida Memory Inc, Japan's sole maker of computer memory chips, will spend Y500 billion (US$4.5 billion) on a new semiconductor plant that will go into production late next year. Monthly production at the plant in Hiroshima is expected to reach 60,000 wafers a month, the com-pany said in a statement on its Web site. The venture between NEC Corp and Hitachi Ltd did not say how it will pay for the plant. Elpida's investment repre-sents president Yuko Saka-moto's effort to keep pace with Samsung Electronics Co and Micron Technology Inc, the world's largest memory-chip makers. Elpida's share of the DRAM market slipped to 4.5 percent in the first quarter from 4.7 percent in the fourth quarter last year after Mosel Vitelic Inc (茂矽) overtook the Japanese chipmaker, according to market researcher Isuppli Corp.
■ Telecoms
Telstra to offer `i-mode'
Telstra Corp, Australia's largest telecommunications carrier, and Japan's NTT DoCoMo said yesterday they have agreed to provide "i-mode," DoCoMo's mobile based Internet service, to Australian customers. DoCoMo, Japan's biggest mobile-telephone service provider, launched i-mode in Japan in 1998. Boasting 48 million domestic subscribers and 2 million overseas, the service allows users to exchange e-mail, download ring-tones, search for restaurants and read weather reports on their cellphones. Telstra expects to add 1 million new mobile customers over the next three years by offering i-mode, said Ted Pretty, Telstra group managing director. It currently has 10 million cellphone sub-scribers. The Telstra deal is DoCoMo's ninth interna-tional tie-up for i-mode.
■ Music
BMG rebuts merger fears
Bertelsmann and Sony on Wednesday rebutted Euro-pean commission concerns over the proposed merger of their recorded music businesses. Bertelsmann's BMG and Sony Music will outline their case at an oral hearing in Brussels on Monday and Tuesday, with parties opposing the deal also attending. The joint venture, to be called Sony BMG, would create the world's second-largest record group, controlling about 25.2 per cent of the market. Allegations of price collusion in the sale of CDs featured prominently among the commission's concerns. "The commission has found that there is parallelism in the prices of the five major record companies in countries analysed and that the parallelism is likely to be the result of coordination and not of active competi-tion," the commission said.
■ Retailing
Wal-Mart denied zoning
Officials in Decatur, Indiana rejected a zoning change needed for a proposed Wal-Mart supercenter, dealing the retailer a third setback in Indiana in less than a week. Decatur's planning commission voted against changing the zoning for property on which Wal-Mart hopes to build the store. Opponents said rezoning could hurt nearby property values and contribute to a glut of retail in the city. Decatur already has a smaller Wal-Mart without a grocery. The City Council, which still could approve the rezoning, will take up the matter this summer. Walmart ran up against opposition in another Indianapolis suburb, Fishers, and has officials to shelve discussion of an expansion store there.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source