■ Web Sites
Monster may be sold
Monster Worldwide Inc, the world's most-used Web site for help-wanted advertising, may attract a buyout offer after a price drop has made it shares cheap, Barron's reported. Shares have fallen about 13 percent this year to about US$19 on Friday, said Barron's. The stock may be valued at US$30 each if Founder and Chief Executive Officer Andrew J. McKelvey sold, the newspaper said, citing Jim Treacy, a former chief operating officer who has "sizeable" holdings. A lack of interest in selling by McKelvey, who owns 10 percent of the shares and controls 34 percent of the votes with some "super-voting" stock, is blocking any offer, the weekly newspaper said. Monster is the lead online employment site globally, and with 12 million visitors in June, it's one of the Web's most heavily trafficked sites
■ Mobile Phones
NEC builds in China
NEC Corp plans to raise shipments of mobile phones to China more than double in the business year beginning April 2006 and introduce new models to expand market share, the Nikkei English News reported. NEC, Japan's biggest maker of mobile phones, targets selling 5 million handsets in China in the twelve-month period compared with 2 million this business year as it competes with larger rivals including Nokia Oyj, NEN reported without saying where it obtained the information. Demand for mobile phones in China is expanding. Sales of handsets gained 9 percent last year to 60 million, with NEC holding a 3 percent share of the market, NEN said. Sales of mobile phones and related equipment helped NEC return to profit for the first time in three years in fiscal 2003.
■ Trade
S Korea's deficit rises
South Korea had a trade deficit of US$1.3 billion in the first 19 days of this month as higher oil prices increased the import bill, Yonhap News said, citing an unidentified Commerce Ministry official. Imports climbed 36.2 percent to US$11.2 billion, while exports rose 26.3 percent to US$9.8 billion, Yonhap said. Imports are expected to exceed exports for the first time at the end of this month, it said. Imports rose because rising oil prices pushed up the value of South Korean imports of oil products, Yonhap said. At the same time, exports are showing signs of slowing down in the second half, it said.
■ Economy
Japan expects growth
Japan's economy should expand further as corporations invest in machinery and other equipment to boost output in response to rising consumer demand, Heizo Takenaka, the country's economy minister, said. Slower-than-expected economic growth in the second quarter of the year doesn't signal an end to Japan's recovery, Takenaka said on Asahi Television's "Sunday Project" program. "It was a slight adjustment in an upward trend," he said. Japan's gross domestic product in the three months ended June 30 rose an annualized 1.7 percent, less than half the 4.2 percent forecast by economists. The economy slowed from the first quarter's revised 6.6 percent pace as consumer spending flagged and companies curbed investment. That result pushed the Tokyo-based Nikkei 225 Stock Average to a three-month low and sparked the biggest drop in the value of the yen against the dollar in three weeks.
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
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
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