Archives: November 2009

Battle of the Disneylands: Advantage Hong Kong

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on November 30

A month after the Chinese government finally gave the okay for Shanghai Disneyland, skeptics are pointing out the park’s success is hardly a sure thing. The latest edition of the...

Sony Gets A TV Repairman

Posted by: Kenji Hall on November 26

It's been a hard slog for Sony in flat-panel TVs. The business has lost money for the past five years, and is expected to do so again this year. In...

Saab Retreat Hits China's Auto Ambitions

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on November 25

Koenigsegg Group's decision to walk away from a deal to buy Saab is not just a blow to GM, which now probably has no choice but to shut down Saab...

China Attacks U.S. 'Commission' as Biased

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on November 24

A week after President Obama's trip to China, relations between the two countries have taken a new hit. Today's China Daily, the government's official English-language newspaper, has a story filled...

Sony's Hirai Talks About An i-Tunes-like Store

Posted by: Kenji Hall on November 20

Sony's Kazuo Hirai has a lot of ideas about what he would do if it had an iTunes-like online store. The company wouldn't just sell digital music, movies and books...

U.S. Ambassador: China-U.S. Ties are World's Most Important

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on November 20

A day after President Obama left Asia after an 8-day visit, Jon Huntsman, the American ambassador in Beijing, tried to counter the spin in the media that his boss's China...

Microsoft Suffers a New China Setback

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on November 18

How big of a defeat did Microsoft just suffer in China? Some observers are saying a Chinese court ruling against Microsoft won’t hurt the company, since its piracy-depressed sales in...

Korea’s Kia Opens Auto Plant in U.S.

Posted by: Ihlwan Moon on November 17

While other automakers slash output and close production lines, South Korea’s Kia Motors has just opened a $1 billion plant in Georgia. The new factory, part of Kia’s growing presence...

More Consolidation for Taiwan's LCD Panelmakers

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on November 16

Samsung and LG, the world’s biggest producers of TFT-LCD panels, may finally be getting some more serious competition from Taiwan. The island’s overcrowded LCD industry has just taken one big...

Got A Cell Phone? I'll E-Mail You Money

Posted by: Kenji Hall on November 15

My BusinessWeek colleague, Amy Feldman, wrote in this week's issue about a service that will soon be available in the U.S.: emailing money to friends and family. In Japan,...

Beijing Snow Storms Spur Angry Debate

Posted by: Dexter Roberts on November 13

As north China shakes off its worst snow storms in more than five decades, leaving flights grounded, highways closed, and stranding tens of thousands, some tough questions are being asked....

Infosys Acquires McCamish Systems for Up To $58 million

Posted by: Mehul Srivastava on November 13

India's second largest IT company by revenues, Infosys Technologies, says it has agreed to pay upto $58 million for Atlanta-based McCamish systems, adding some 300 U.S. staffers to its payroll,...

Manmohan Singh, India's Economy and Free Trade

Posted by: Mehul Srivastava on November 09

After a long hibernation from the lecture circuit, India's soft-spoken and carefully scripted Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, stepped onto a dais and promised more of the same. Well, not exactly,...

Nissan-Renault chief Ghosn says cheap car is still coming

Posted by: Ian Rowley on November 09

There are some interesting comments by Nissan and Renault chief Carlos Ghosn today in an article in India's Economic Times. In the piece, Ghosn reaffirms Nissan and Renault's commitment to...

Disney Shanghai: Good for China, Bad for Hong Kong

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on November 05

It’s been a crummy 24 hours for the Hong Kong tourism industry. The first piece of bad news: China has given the green light to Disney to build a theme...

Will Blue Lights Reduce Suicides in Japan?

Posted by: Kenji Hall on November 05

The color blue has been thought to have a calming effect on people. But can it prevent suicides? Railway operator JR East is hoping that blue light-emitting-diode, or LED, lamps...

After iPhone's China Launch, Is BlackBerry Next?

Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on November 04

The China iPhone wait has ended, so now it’s time to obsess about another smartphone that’s pretty much missing in action in China, the BlackBerry. China Unicom launched its version...

New World Bank China GDP Growth Forecast: 8.4%

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on November 04

The World Bank raised its forecast for China’s GDP growth in 2009 to 8.4%, providing yet more evidence that the Chinese economy is in full recovery mode. Six months ago...

Asian B-Schools Give U.S. Programs Run for Their Money

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on November 04

More and more Asians are looking closer to home when choosing B-school programs. Regional schools such as Indian School of Business and National University of Singapore are starting to give...

Panasonic To Pay At Least $4.5 Billion For Sanyo Stake

Posted by: Kenji Hall on November 04

Panasonic said today that it's finally moving ahead with its acquisition of Sanyo Electric. Sanyo is the largest global supplier of rechargeable batteries for laptops, cameras, mobile phones and other...

World Bank Raises China GDP Growth Forecast to 8.4%

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on November 03

The World Bank revised upwards its forecast for China’s GDP growth in 2009 to 8.4%, providing yet more evidence that the Chinese economy is in full recovery mode. Six months...

As Japan Helps Consumer Lenders, Bankers Worry About Zombies

Posted by: Kenji Hall on November 03

In Japan's consumer lending industry, there has been little to cheer about lately. Less than three years ago, the government began tightening rules on consumer financing firms to discourage them...

China Invests in West Texas Wind Farm

Posted by: Frederik Balfour on November 02

Late last week, a Chinese-U.S. consortium announced it was building a 600 megawatt wind farm in Texas costing $1.5 billion. The deal, in which the Chinese partner is putting up...