■ ELECTRONICS
Hitachi's losses expand
Hitachi Ltd said yesterday its group net loss swelled to ¥58.1 billion (US$560.5 million) in the fiscal year through March, from ¥32.8 billion in the previous year, because of poor sales of plasma TVs in the US. “While domestic sales of plasma TVs were fine, those in the US were particularly sluggish,” Hitachi spokesman Masayuki Takeuchi said. The slump in US sales was a major cause of the company’s dismal performance, he said, but declined to give data on US sales of plasma TVs. Revenue at the Japanese firm rose 9.6 percent from the previous year to ¥11.2 trillion. Overseas revenue increased 14 percent to ¥4.7 trillion, lifted by steady demand in China and Europe.
■ INTERNET
Global telescope launched
Microsoft Corp launched its WorldWide Telescope late on Monday, bringing the free Web-based program for zooming around the universe to a broad audience. WorldWide Telescope, developed by Microsoft’s research arm, knits together images from the Hubble Space Telescope, the Chandra X-Ray Observatory Center, the Sloan Digital Sky Survey and others. Computer users can browse through the galaxy on their own or take guided tours of different outer-space destinations developed by astronomers and academics. The site lets users choose from a number of different telescopes and switch between different light wavelengths. The WorldWide Telescope is a powerful tool for science and education that makes it possible for everyone to explore the universe,” Microsoft chairman Bill Gates said in a statement.
■ COMPUTERS
IBM upgrading game chip
International Business Machines Corp (IBM), the largest computer-services provider, is making lower-cost supercomputers for Wall Street firms and movie studios using chips designed for video-game consoles. The BladeCenter QS22 uses a new generation of the chip developed for Sony Corp’s PlayStation 3. The machine is five times faster and has 16 times more memory than IBM’s earlier offering, the Armonk, New York-based company said in a statement yesterday. IBM, Sony and Toshiba jointly developed the original PlayStation 3 chip in 2006 at IBM’s research lab in Austin, Texas.
■ ELECTRONICS
Pioneer to cut 2,000 jobs
Troubled Japanese electronics maker Pioneer Corp plans to cut 2,000 jobs as it restructures its plasma TV operations in an effort to return to profit, the Nikkei Shimbun reported yesterday. The job losses in Japan and overseas, which are expected to be implemented in the current fiscal year to next March, follow the company’s decision in March to stop making plasma display panels. Instead it will buy them from Matsushita Electrical Industrial Co. The Nikkei said Pioneer would transfer about 200 researchers and engineers involved in the plasma operations to Matsushita.
■ AVIATION
A380 delayed again
European aircraft manufacturer Airbus formally acknowledged yesterday that delivery of its superjumbo A380 would be delayed again. A review of the program has shown “that the steep [production] ramp-up planned in 2006 is not fully achievable,” Airbus said in a press statement, confirming suggestions made recently by its management. As a result, Airbus is now scheduling 12 A380 deliveries this year, instead of the originally planned 13, and 21 in next year, instead of 25.
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