■ Plasma displays
Matsushita takes top spot
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co overtook Samsung SDI Co as the world's biggest plasma display maker for the first time in more than a year, after raising production capacity, a market researcher said. Shipments by Osaka, Japan-based Matsushita tripled in the October to December quarter from a year earlier, grabbing 28 percent of the global plasma display market, compared with 27.1 percent in the previous quarter, Austin, Texas-based DisplaySearch said in a statement yesterday. It was the first time since the April-June period in 2004 that the Panasonic-brand electronics maker held the top spot. Matsushita has increased production and is building the world's largest plasma panel factory in Japan to cut costs and make bigger televisions.
■ Automotive
Toyota's profit jumps
Toyota Motor, the world's No. 2 automaker, said yesterday its net profit jumped 34 percent in the three months to December, helped by the growing popularity of its fuel-efficient hybrid cars. Toyota, which is on track to overtake struggling US rival General Motors as the world's top auto group, reported a third-quarter net profit of ?397.6 billion (US$3.34 billion), up from ?296.5 billion a year earlier. Revenue rose 14.8 percent to ?5.33 trillion. Toyota has been investing billions of dollars in development and production facilities to boost global production in response to record sales as sky-high oil prices fuel unprecedented interest in its gas-electric hybrid models. Toyota sold 1.98 million vehicles in the three months to December, a rise of 7.6 percent from a year earlier.
■ Telecoms
Portugal Telecom shares up
Shares of Portugal Telecom SGPS SA, the nation's largest telephone company, had their biggest gain ever after competitor Sonae SGPS SA offered to buy the company for 10.7 billion euros (US$12.8 billion). The shares rose as much as 22 percent to 10 euros, and traded at 9.75 euros as of 9:26am in Lisbon, exceeding Sonae's offer of 9.50 euros a share. Sonae, based near Oporto, Portugal, announced the unsolicited offer in regulatory filings on Monday. Sonae's market value is a quarter of that of Portugal Telecom. Belmiro de Azevedo, Portugal's richest man and the main shareholder of Sonae, wants to expand in the telecommunications business where he already operates through Sonaecom SGPS SA, the smallest of Portugal's three mobile-phone operators. Sonaecom is also taking part of the bid, according to the statement.
■ Beverages
Coke workers strike in Europe
Hundreds of Coca-Cola employees from across Europe converged on the company's French headquarters on Monday to protest planned job cuts across the group's European operations. Workers and union activists from Britain, Belgium and Luxembourg, numbering between 300 and 400, joined their French colleagues outside the building in Issy Les Moulineaux, south of Paris to demonstrate against the cutbacks. According to unions, some 600 European jobs will go under the restructuring plans, almost a quarter of them in France where two bottling plants are to close entirely. Coca-Cola Enterprises, which received a delegation of workers on Monday, announced plans in December for a "logistical and commercial redeployment" of staff.
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
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft