Archives: October 2009

Sony's Outlook Brightens

Posted by: Kenji Hall on October 30

Sony's future is looking a bit brighter. The company said today that it now expects an operating loss of $655 million (60 billion yen) rather than $1.2 billion (110 billion...

Casino Trading: China's Nasdaq-style Exchange Opens

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on October 30

China’s newest roller coaster opened today in Shenzhen. It’s called ChiNext, and is the country’s answer to Nasdaq. The long awaited bourse has been nearly 10 years in the birthing,...

After Tough 2Q Earnings How Can Nintendo Rebuild?

Posted by: Kenji Hall on October 29

After Nintendo announced weaker-than-expected second-quarter earnings and lowered its full-year forecasts, attention now shifts to the company's press conference in Tokyo on Friday. All of the video game maker's bigwigs--President...

Christie's Sees Recovery in Chinese Contemporary Art

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on October 29

Never before have I dined with so much wealth. At lunch in the newly refurbished offices of Christie's in Hong Kong, we were surrounded on four sides by a collection...

How Ugly is the Tata Nano?

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on October 29

Tata Motors has won kudos for its low-cost Nano, the world's cheapest car. Here's one honor the Indian company won't want to trumpet: According to my BusinessWeek colleague Damian...

Geely rises to record high on Volvo progress

Posted by: Ian Rowley on October 29

Even with confirmation from Ford that China's Geely is the preferred buyer for the U.S. automaker's Volvo marque, there are still concerns that the long-rumored deal won't get off...

China-India Tensions Still Strong at Meeting with Russia

Posted by: Dexter Roberts on October 28

Just three days after a not-so-cordial meeting between Chinese premier Wen Jiabao and Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh in Hua Hin, Thailand, the foreign ministers of the two countries, Yang...

Samsung Upbeat about Memory Chip Recovery

Posted by: Ihlwan Moon on October 28

A year ago, the global semiconductor industry was fraught with overcapacity. The situation was particularly bad for memory chips. But suddenly the tech industry is facing supply constraints for DRAM...

A Tense Meeting for China and India's Premiers

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on October 26

Check out this Xinhua picture of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at their meeting over the weekend. Wen has a wan smile, and Singh can’t...

Hyundai Beats Rivals in U.S., China; Profit Soars

Posted by: Ihlwan Moon on October 22

No other market showed higher growth in auto sales than China this year and no other major automaker outperformed Hyundai Motor there. That more or less explains the South Korean...

China's 3rd Quarter GDP 8.9% -- But is it Sustainable?

Posted by: Dexter Roberts on October 22

For those who believe China is an unstoppable economic machine, more evidence out today with third quarter growth clocking in at an impressive 8.9%, up from 7.9% in the second...

LG Beats Profit Forecasts, Growth Seen Slowing

Posted by: Ihlwan Moon on October 21

South Korea’s LG Electronics continued its stellar performance, reporting a quarterly profit that beats corporate analysts’ forecasts. LG, which is trying to follow the footsteps of its compatriot Samsung Electronics...

In India, a Sigh of Relief Over Rajaratnam's Sri Lankan Birth

Posted by: Mehul Srivastava on October 20

Here in India, newspapers are following the Galleon hedge fund insider trading scandal with just a little bit of relief - "Thank god," you can read between the headlines. "He's...

Japan Govt's Poverty Data Signals Policy Shift

Posted by: Kenji Hall on October 20

It’s hard to imagine that there would be much hand-wringing in Japan over poverty figures. After all, this is the market where many of the world’s top luxury brands were...

Taiwan Postpones Trade Talks with China

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on October 19

The controversial proposal for a new trade deal between China and Taiwan suffered a setback on Monday with the Taiwanese government announcing it was calling off a meeting scheduled to...

Hunger Scorecard: China Improves, India Deteriorates

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on October 16

In a report released to mark World Food Day on Oct. 16 by anti-poverty NGO ActionAid, China gets high marks for hunger alleviation while India is singled out for...

Acer Passes Dell as World's No. 2 PC Maker

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on October 15

We've seen this one coming for a while, and today it's official: Acer has overtaken Dell to become the world's second-largest PC company, with market share behind only HP. According...

GM’s Korea Problem Lingers On

Posted by: Ihlwan Moon on October 15

Even as General Motors is trying hard to ramp up its product pipeline to stop a slide in its market share, the company’s management is still struggling to rescue its...

China and India Business Grows as Border Dispute Flares

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on October 14

Fresh on the news that Indian outsourcing power Tata Consultancy Services plans a big expansion of its China operation comes an interesting op-ed in today’s Indian Express by Washington-based scholar...

Analog in a Digital Age: Polaroid Re-launches its Cameras

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on October 13

I had something of a “Mad Men” moment during today's re-launch event hosted by Polaroid in Hong Kong’s Grand Hyatt Hotel. Leggy models touting vintage Polaroid cameras prowled the room...

Now Hiroshima, Nagasaki have Olympic ambitions

Posted by: Ian Rowley on October 12

Less than two weeks after Tokyo lost out to Rio for the 2016 Summer Olympics, Japanese politicians are keener than ever to host the games. According to a Kyodo Newswire...

China-US Trade War?

Posted by: Dexter Roberts on October 12

One more sign that trade tensions are heating up between China and the world: as announced on the Ministry of Commerce’s website today, Beijing will impose tariffs as high as...

Asia to Lead Global Economic Recovery

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on October 12

Singapore’s economy, one of the worst hit in Asia early this year by the global downturn, has catapulted its way out of recession, clocking a 14.9% quarter-on-quarter annualized growth in...

Chinese Company Buys Hummer from GM

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on October 10

GM’s iconic Hummer brand has been acquired by a Chinese heavy construction equipment maker for about $150 million, marking another step in the long march by China to develop a...

Japan Tech Makers Bet Exposure Can Help Sell 3D TVs

Posted by: Kenji Hall on October 09

Anyone who visited Japan’s electronics show, CEATEC, this week would not have missed the next big thing for the country’s largest technology makers: 3D TVs. Panasonic, Sony, Sharp and Toshiba...

Wynn's Macao Hong Kong Debut Fails to Dazzle

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on October 09

Shares in Wynn Macau, the Chinese operations of Las Vegas casino operator Wynn Resorts closed up just 6.9% on their first day of trading in Hong Kong, reflecting the limited...

Taiwan Museum Should Give Chinese Bronzes to Beijing

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on October 07

The fate of the Chinese bronzes belonging to the estate of fashion icon Yves Saint Laurent has taken yet another strange twist. Taiwan’s National Palace Museum has rejected an offer...

Hopeful Signs from China's Consumers

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on October 07

China is in the midst of its eight-day holiday to celebrate its National Day. Golden Weeks like this (there’s another at Chinese New Year) provide many Chinese with the only...

Toshiba Puts Cell Chip In TVs

Posted by: Kenji Hall on October 05

What does the future of TV look like? If you believe Toshiba, it will be a 55-inch, flat-screen, liquid-crystal-display TV. It will come with a 3-terabyte hard disk drive. And...

Toyoda on Toyota: "Grasping for Salvation"

Posted by: Kenji Hall on October 02

Akio Toyoda thinks he knows what’s wrong with Toyota, the world’s biggest car maker. Success has made it cocky. It has been expanding in an undisciplined fashion. It has been...

Chinese IPOs Flop in Hong Kong

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on October 02

So much for the revival of the IPO market in Hong Kong. Demand for new listings evaporated after the Lehman bankruptcy last year, but signs of economic recovery in China...

China's Military Parade and Foreign Journalists

Posted by: Dexter Roberts on October 01

China’s 60th anniversary celebration, in many ways was a huge success. Beijing no doubt wowed its own populace with its two-hour-plus colorful, well rehearsed extravaganza of synchronized performers plus military...