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World Business Quick Take

■ Communications
Ericsson may cut prices
Ericsson AB, the world's largest maker of wireless networks, may use rising earnings to reduce prices, in a bid to gain market share from Chinese competitors including Huawei Technologies Co and ZTE Corp, Dagens Industri reported, without saying where it obtained the information. Ericsson hasn't yet felt the full effects of a cost-cutting program, which involved more than halving its workforce to about 47,000 people, the paper said. At the same time, the Stockholm-based company's customers have resumed spending as they prepare to introduce high-speed wireless networks after three years of slashing investments.

■ Technology
New glass prolongs LCD life
The liquid crystal displays (LCDs) that make their way into so many computer screens and televisions today are likely to get a boost in their life expectancy, thanks to technological advancements from Mainz-based glassmaker Schott Glassworks (http://www.schott.com). The company recently unveiled two new types of glass with special UV blocking properties. The result is said to be plastic components that protect LCD displays years longer than they currently do. Best of all, the new technology should not make LCD displays any more expensive than they currently are, according to Schott. Up to now, UV rays from backlighting which damage plastic materials on the inside of the screens have been a factor in shortening the lifespan of LCD displays.

■ Electronics
Sony aims to triple sales
Sony Corp, the world's second-biggest consumer electronics maker, aims to triple computer sales to companies in two years to counter sluggish sales from individuals, Nikkei English News said. Sony plans to boost Vaio computer sales to companies to 50 billion yen (US$455 million) from 15 billion yen, Nikkei said, citing the company. It aims to increase annual personal computer sales to corporate clients by 56 percent to 5 million units. Sony's home electronics sales remain sluggish on increased competition from rivals such as Matsushita Electric Industrial Co and Apple Computer Inc. Tokyo-based Sony, which relies on electronics for more than two-thirds of its revenue, reported net income declines in five of the past six years. The company aims to secure more than 10 percent of the market for personal computers for companies and individuals, the paper said.

■ Aviation
Alitalia, unions in accord
Alitalia SpA, Italy's largest airline, reached an agreement with its flight attendants' unions to cut 900 jobs, clearing the way for the company to get a government bailout that will keep it in business for another six months. The deal with the flight attendants brings the total planned job cuts to 3,689, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The flight attendants' group was the last of the nine major unions Chief Executive Giancarlo Cimoli needed to settle with for the board to approve the Rome-based company's business plan today, thus qualifying the airline for a 400 million-euro (US$488 million) loan guaranteed by the government. Cimoli, 64, had sought to trim 5,000 of the Alitalia's 19,000 full-time and 1,700 seasonal posts. The job actions are part of his plan to save 1 billion euros in four years and post an operating profit in 2006, the airline's first since 1998.

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