■ Mobile phones
LG expects more shipments
LG Electronics Inc, Asia's second-largest mobile-phone maker, plans to ship more than 70 million handsets this year, the company said in a statement. The forecast suggests LG, which in October predicted shipments of 55 million units for last year, expects handset shipments to rise 27 percent this year, according to Bloomberg calculations. LG, based in Seoul, forecast in October that its mobile-phone shipments will rise 25 percent this year after growing about 23 percent last year. The company plans to double sales and profit by 2010, LG said in the statement. LG said on Friday that it expects sales of 24 trillion won (US$24 billion) this year, missing the 26 trillion won average estimate of 30 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
■ Internet
Microsoft eyes telephony
Microsoft intends to break into the increasingly contested Internet telephony market in cooperation with phone company MCI, company officials announced in Redmond in the US state of Washington. MCI Web Calling for Windows Live Call will soon be tested as part of Windows Live Messenger in the US, France, Germany, Spain and Britain. Access to the service will be limited initially. On registration, clients will be able to phone free of charge for one hour using the network, according to information released by Microsoft. When the hour is up, clients will be charged US$0.0223 per minute for calls between the US, Canada and certain European countries. Links between more than 220 countries are being set up, with prices being published during the course of the year.
■ Toys
Toys `R' Us to close outlets
Toys "R" Us Inc, acquired for US$6.6 billion last year by an investment group, plans to close 73 outlets and convert 12 others to Babies "R" Us stores, the Chicago Tribune reported, citing spokeswoman Kathleen Baugh. After the closings, the company will have 587 Toys "R" Us and 230 Babies "R" Us stores left, the Tribune said. The stores will close by June, the newspaper said. Investors Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, Bain Capital LLC and Vornado Realty Trust bought the retailer in July. Toys "R" Us has struggled to compete against Wal-Mart Stores Inc, which passed Toys "R" Us in 1998 to become the biggest toy seller, the Tribune said, citing George Whalin, president of San Marcos, California-based Retail Management Consultants. Babies "R" Us stores sell furniture, clothes and accessories for babies.
■ Aviation
Malaysia Air left on its own
The Malaysian government said it will not interfere in the management of Malaysia Airlines amid speculation that the loss-making national carrier will sell its landmark headquarters to raise money, a newspaper reported yesterday. "We don't micromanage Malaysia Airlines," Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak was quoted as saying by the Sunday Star. Malaysia Airlines Managing Director Idris Jala last week informed staff at the headquarters in central Kuala Lumpur that they will be relocated to two other offices, prompting talks that the carrier is proceeding with a plan to sell the building. Malaysian senators had opposed the sale last month, saying it would seriously hurt the carrier's image. Idris, who was brought in on Dec. 1 to revamp the airlines, said then that the company needed 3 billion ringgit (US$794 million) to get it back on track.
MILESTONE: The foreign minister called the signing ‘a major step forward in US-Taiwan relations,’ while the Presidential Office said it was a symbol of the nations’ shared values US President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed into law the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the state department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct a review “not less than every five years.” It must then submit an updated report based on its findings “not later
The Presidential Office today thanked the US for enacting the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which requires the US Department of State to regularly review and update guidelines governing official US interactions with Taiwan. The new law, signed by US President Donald Trump yesterday, is an amendment to the Taiwan Assurance Act of 2020 focused on reviewing guidelines on US interactions with Taiwan. Previously, the department was required to conduct a one-time review of its guidance governing relations with Taiwan, but under the new bill, the agency must conduct such a review "not less than every five years." It must then submit an updated
CROSS-STRAIT COLLABORATION: The new KMT chairwoman expressed interest in meeting the Chinese president from the start, but she’ll have to pay to get in Beijing allegedly agreed to let Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) around the Lunar New Year holiday next year on three conditions, including that the KMT block Taiwan’s arms purchases, a source said yesterday. Cheng has expressed interest in meeting Xi since she won the KMT’s chairmanship election in October. A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said a consensus on a meeting was allegedly reached after two KMT vice chairmen visited China’s Taiwan Affairs Office Director Song Tao (宋濤) in China last month. Beijing allegedly gave the KMT three conditions it had to
STAYING ALERT: China this week deployed its largest maritime show of force to date in the region, prompting concern in Taipei and Tokyo, which Beijing has brushed off Deterring conflict over Taiwan is a priority, the White House said in its National Security Strategy published yesterday, which also called on Japan and South Korea to increase their defense spending to help protect the first island chain. Taiwan is strategically positioned between Northeast and Southeast Asia, and provides direct access to the second island chain, with one-third of global shipping passing through the South China Sea, the report said. Given the implications for the US economy, along with Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductors, “deterring a conflict over Taiwan, ideally by preserving military overmatch, is a priority,” it said. However, the strategy also reiterated
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