■ Software
Trend Micro future's bright
Trend Micro Inc, which is to supply anti-virus software for Microsoft Corp's Hotmail e-mail service, said it may add US$50 million in sales to household computer users outside Japan next year, partly because of the agreement. "We will see an extra US$40 million to US$50 million in the consumer market outside of Japan in 2005," Steve Chang (張明正), the Tokyo-based company's chief executive officer, said yesterday in a telephone interview from Taipei. Chang declined to say how much the company, which has seen its shares almost double in the past year, will earn from the contract.
■ Copyrights
Pirates sub-contract prison
A five-year piracy investigation by Sony has discovered its popular PlayStation game consoles being assembled in a Chin-ese prison, a news report said yesterday. The inquiry has unearthed a network of at least 10 pirate operations with a production capacity of 50,000 units a day for PlayStation consoles and controllers, as well as mod-ifying chips, the Finan-cial Times said in a dispatch from Shanghai. The factories Sony identified as part of the piracy ring have been raided numerous times by the Chin-ese authorities and their owners fined in recent years, the newspaper said. How-ever, they have continued operating by setting up the sub-contracting network, it said.
■ Gaming
New consoles in demand
Nintendo Co boosted its shipment forecast for its new console amid high demand in the US and Japan. The company will now ship more than 2.8 million of its dual-screen Nintendo DS systems to North America and Japan by the end of the year, Nintendo said in an e-mailed statement. Earlier this month, Nintendo said it planned to ship as many as 2.8 million units, 800,000 more than a previous estimate, by Dec. 31. Nintendo started selling the Nintendo DS in the US in November and in Japan this month. Many retail stores have run out of the game console, which costs ?15,000 (US$143.75) in Japan and $149 in the US.
■ Production
Shin-Etsu spreads to US
Japan's Shin-Etsu Handotai Co, the world's leading silicon-wafer maker, plans to more than double production capacity for 300mm wafers, a report said yesterday. The company plans to invest a total of at least ?200 billion (US$1.9 billion) in Japan and the US to raise its combined monthly 300mm wafer pro-duction capacity in the two countries to 700,000 units in a few years, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. It will be the firm's biggest capital investment, with the hope of capturing half of the global market for 300mm wafers, from the current share of 30 percent, it said. Under the plan, Shin-Etsu Handotai will become the first Japanese company with 300mm-wafer production operations overseas, the paper said.
■ Media
Media Corp listing dazzles
The first overseas listing of a Chinese media company made a dazzling debut on the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday, with shares of Beijing Media Corp soaring 20 percent. Beijing Media is the advertising arm of Beijing Youth Daily, the Chinese capital's second-biggest selling newspaper with a circulation of about 600,000. Beijing Media's share price closed at HK$22.7 (US$2.91), far higher than the IPO price of HK$18.95, set at the top end of the indicative range.
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
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
SHOT IN THE ARM: The new system can be integrated with Avenger and Stinger missiles to bolster regional air defense capabilities, a defense ministry report said Domestically developed Land Sword II (陸射劍二) missiles were successfully launched and hit target drones during a live-fire exercise at the Jiupeng Military Base in Pingtung County yesterday. The missiles, developed by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST), were originally scheduled to launch on Tuesday last week, after the Tomb Sweeping Day holiday long weekend, but were postponed to yesterday due to weather conditions. Local residents and military enthusiasts gathered outside the base to watch the missile tests, with the first one launching at 9:10am. The Land Sword II system, which is derived from the Sky Sword II (天劍二) series, was turned