■ JAPAN
Q1 economic growth slows
Japanese economic growth slowed to a 2.4 percent pace in the first quarter as businesses cut back on investment amid worries about a slowdown in the US, one of Japan's biggest export markets. The GDP figures, released yesterday by the government, also came after an unusually strong October-December quarter, when the economy surged ahead at a 5 percent annual pace. Just hours after the figures were released, the central bank said after a regularly scheduled policy meeting that it was keeping its benchmark rate at 0.5 percent. The BOJ last changed the benchmark interest rate in February, doubling it to 0.5 percent.
■ MOBILE PHONES
Mega memory card
South Korea's Samsung Electronics said on Wednesday it had developed the world's largest storage-capacity memory card for mobile phones. The eight-gigabyte memory card, microSD, can store some 2,000 MP3 music files, 4,000 photographs or five DVD-quality movie files, the company said in a statement. It is only a quarter the size of the widely-used and existing SD card but much faster in downloading and uploading multimedia data, it added. SD cards are largely used for data storage in digital cameras and televisions. Samsung, quoting market researcher Gartner Dataquest, said the global multimedia memory card market would grow 10 percent annually until 2010.
■ PHOTOGRAPHY
Hoya in Pentax merger plan
Japanese camera maker Pentax has reached a preliminary agreement to be acquired by optical glass maker Hoya, a company official said yesterday. In a meeting on Wednesday, Pentax president Takashi Watanuki informed Hoya chief executive officer Hiroshi Suzuki of the company's intention to back an acquisition by tender offer, Hoya spokeswoman Akiko Maeyama said. "He said the company was preparing for a press announcement to be released as soon as all the board members agree to the tender offer," she said.
■ CHINA
Economic growth forges on
China's economy continued its brisk growth in April, data confirmed yesterday, as economists suggested more government measures might be needed to put it on a more sustainable path. Urban fixed asset investment -- mostly spending on key infrastructure such as roads and bridges -- rose 25.5 percent in the first four months of this year from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement. The figure compared with a 25.3 percent gain in the first three months. In the first four months of this year, foreign direct investment rose 10.2 percent from the same period last year, while the trade surplus was up by nearly 90 percent.
■ COMPUTERS
HP Q2 profit tumbles
Hewlett-Packard (HP) Co's second-quarter profit fell 7 percent because of a big tax gain recorded last year. For the three months ended April 30, HP earned US$1.78 billion, or US$0.65 per share, compared with US$1.9 billion, or US$0.66 per share, in the same period last year. Sales in the quarter leaped to US$25.53 billion, a 13 percent increase from the US$22.55 billion HP rang up in the same quarter last year. HP said it expects revenues of between US$100.5 billion and US$100.9 billion for the current fiscal year, with a profit of US$2.51 per share to US$2.53 per share.
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