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World Business Quick Take

■ Economy
Japan's recovery continues
Japan did not mention the danger of deflation in its monthly government economic report released yesterday, the latest indication that the economy is on a recovery track. The Cabinet Office otherwise left its overall assessment of the economy unchanged, saying it continues to recover. Japan's economy has been emerging from more than 10 years of stagnation that was exacerbated by a falling prices, or deflation, that eroded paychecks and profits. But recent data shows that consumer prices are steadily rising, unemployment is falling and exports are booming.

■ Telecoms
DoCoMo may form alliances
NTT DoCoMo Inc is in talks to form alliances with Google Inc and Yahoo Japan Corp by October, president Masao Nakamura said yesterday in an interview. The company on Tuesday concluded agreements for search services of nine companies including Microsoft Corp, Japan's Livedoor Co and Rakuten Inc, which will be added to its mobile offerings from October, Nakamura said in Tokyo. Agreements with Google and Yahoo Japan would help DoCoMo maintain its market lead over rivals KDDI Corp and Softbank Corp, which are seeking to offer online services to mobile phone users.

■ Telecoms
KDDI to co-develop software
Japan's No. 2 telecom operator KDDI said yesterday it will jointly develop cellphone software with Toshiba Corp, Sanyo Electric Co and Qualcomm Inc in hopes of slashing hefty development costs. In its latest joint development deal, KDDI plans to expand its existing partnerships with the three firms to offer integrated software providing advanced online features, a KDDI spokesman said. The cost of developing a handset is estimated at ?10 billion to ?20 billion (US$85 million to US$170 million), straining manufacturers' budgets as they try to keep up with new features and technological advances, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. Software development accounts for two-thirds to three-quarters of development costs, the daily said.

■ Telecoms
LG Telecom loses 3G rights
South Korea stripped LG Telecom Ltd of its third-generation service license and said that its chief executive officer Nam Yong will have to resign for scrapping plans to develop the technology, Minister of Information and Communication Rho Jun-hyong said at a press conference yesterday. LG Telecom bought the so-called synchronous CDMA IMT-2000 carrier license in May 2002, after rivals SK Telecom Co and KT Corp in 2000 won the right to operate services based on technology known as wideband code division multiple access, or WCDMA, which has become the most common type of 3G technology worldwide.

■ Electronics
IBM's Q2 profit rises
IBM said on Tuesday its quarterly profit rose 10.5 percent as improved results from software operations offset lower revenues following the sale of its personal computer unit. The company said net profit amounted to US$2.02 billion in the second quarter. Earnings per share (EPS) came in at US$1.30, up 14 percent from the same period in the prior year. Wall Street analysts had forecast EPS of US$1.29. However, overall revenues dropped by 2 percent to US$21.89 billion during the quarter.

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