World Business Quick Take

■ Electronics
Sony may raise investment
Sony Corp, the world's second-biggest consumer electronics maker, may increase investment in semiconductors and liquid-crystal display (LCD) televisions, president Ryoji Chubachi said. "We will need to increase investment in chips," said Chubachi, 58, speaking to reporters in Tokyo yesterday. "For displays, we are looking to make additional investment in S-LCD to raise capacity." S-LCD is a panel-making venture between Sony and Samsung Electronics Co. Sony's shares had their biggest drop in two months on Monday after the company forecast its first annual loss in more than a decade and said it will slash 10,000 jobs over three years. Analysts say Sony needs to give more details on how it plans to turn a profit at its money-losing electronics business.

■ Internet
Baidu, music firms to talk
China's Internet search engine Baidu (百度) and seven global music giants agreed to enter into mediation on the first day of a high-profile copyright trial, state media said yesterday. The companies including Universal, Warner, EMI and Sony BMG are suing the NASDAQ-listed Baidu whose MP3 search technology provide links to Web sites which allegedly allows users to illegally download copyrighted music. The firms are suing Baidu for allegedly infringing the copyright of 137 songs and are seeking compensation of 1.67 million yuan (US$206,000). Baidu has maintained it is not at fault as it merely provides the search technology and not the offending downloading service. The plaintiffs, who also include Cinepoly, Go East and Gold Label, local subsidiaries of the international music giants, said the judge would settle the case if the issue cannot be resolved through mediation.

■ Securities
Venture to target the rich
Merrill Lynch & Co and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, a soon-to-be-formed major Japanese banking group, will jointly set up a securities company targeting rich people, a news report said yesterday. The joint venture, to be set up in November in preparation for starting operations next May, will combine Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group's strong customer base and the US firm's expertise in product development, the leading business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported. Tsukasa Noda, a spokesman for Merrill Lynch denied the report, saying that nothing has been decided and the company is looking at various options.

■ Auto industry
Germans to make VW's SUV
Volkswagen AG said yesterday it has decided to build its new sport utility vehicle (SUV) in Germany after securing "competitive conditions" from labor representatives. VW management had suggested that the new vehicle, the Marrakesh, could be built in Portugal rather than Germany. But VW said yesterday that the SUV could only be built at its main Wolfsburg plant at costs below those laid out in existing wage agreements. Wolfgang Bernhard, the chief executive of the VW brand, said he had achieved his aim of reducing production costs by 850 euros (US$1,026) per vehicle in talks with employee representatives and the IG Metall labor union. Bernd Osterloh, the chief employee representative at the company, said the agreement secured work for more than 1,000 people.