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World Business Quick Take

■ Japan
No new DVD standard yet
Japanese electronics giants admitted yesterday that they have not been able to reach a common standard for next-generation DVDs and are going ahead with the production of their own incompatible formats. The failure to make a breakthrough after a series of talks means consumers will be forced to choose between DVDs which cannot be swapped between different players, as was the case for VHS and Betamax video formats. Toshiba Corp said it was still in talks with Sony to find a common format but in the absence of an agreement it was going ahead with the production of its HD DVD products. A Sony spokesman expressed confidence, though, that Sony's Blu-ray disc format would become the "single standard."

■ South Korea
Sovereign sells off LG stake
Sovereign Asset Management said yesterday it had sold off its entire stake in LG Corp and LG Electronics, the two key units of South Korea's third-largest conglomerate LG Group. The move ended the Dubai-based investment fund's two-year presence in South Korea, sometimes locked in a legal battle with local firms. "Sovereign sold off all of its holdings in LG Corp and LG Electronics overnight," said Carol Park, spokesperson for Sovereign's public relations agency Access Communication. Sovereign had retained a 7.0 percent stake in LG Corp and a 7.2 percent stake in LG Electronics, Park said, noting that further details about the deal were not provided. Sovereign said last month it had sold off its controversial entire 14.8 percent stake in SK Corp, the country's largest oil refiner, after a two-year dispute with SK Corp management over governance issues.

■ Semiconductors
Factory use rises 88.8%
Global semiconductor companies raised their factory use for the first time in a year in the second quarter as demand increased for personal computers, mobile phones and other electronic gadgets, according to industry figures. Factory use rose to 88.8 percent in the three months ended June 30, from 84.8 percent in the previous three-month period, according to Netherlands-based Semiconductor International Capacity Statistics. Chipmakers such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, the world's largest semiconductor manufacturers, are upgrading equipment and increasing production to meet expected demand ahead of the school year and Christmas shopping period.

■ Marketing
Survey reveals top brands
Asian consumers prefer regional brands such as Japan's Sony against internationally famous names, a survey said yesterday. Asian names filled nearly half of the top 20 slots in Media magazine's "Top 1,000 Brands in Asia," jostling with the likes of Nestle, Mercedes-Benz and McDonald's. Japan's Sony emerged as the favorite. Nokia and Panasonic rounded out the top three. Market-research company Synovate conducted the survey, which revealed that Japanese and South Korean brands are seen as market leaders in the region. The survey of 4,250 consumers in eight Asian markets placed Nestle, Coca-Cola and Kodak in fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively. Toyota was the top Asian car brand in ninth place, behind eighth-ranked Mercedes Benz.

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