Asia
Taiwan cuts growth forecast on muted export demand
May 24, 2013 9:46 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsTaiwan has lowered its economic growth forecast for 2013 to a muted 2.4 percent as global demand for the island's electronics exports remained subdued. In February, the government predicted 3.6 percent growth this year. The economy grew 1.3 percent in 2012.
Sanyo may sell stake in Chinese joint venture
May 24, 2013 9:37 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsSanyo Electric a group company of Panasonic, is considering selling a stake of about 30 percent in its joint venture in the eastern Chinese province of Anhui, sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday. U.S. home appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. is one of the companies interested in buying the stake...
Sony mulls hedge fund's entertainment sale idea
May 22, 2013 10:42 am | by ELAINE KURTENBACH, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsSony's CEO Kazuo Hirai says the electronics giant's board will discuss a proposal by U.S. hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb to spin off up to 20 percent of its movie, TV and music division. Hirai was asked about the proposal at a corporate strategy presentation Wednesday.
Softbank to revise or cancel Hokkaido megasolar power plant
May 21, 2013 10:04 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsSoftbank Corp. may revise or cancel its plan to build three megasolar power plants in Hokkaido as Hokkaido Electric Power Co. has rejected its electricity sales application, industry sources said Tuesday. The local utility in April vowed to limit its electricity purchases from solar power plants to 400,000 kilowatts...
Smartphone sector sees vibrant performance in Southeast Asia
May 20, 2013 10:47 am | by GFK | News | CommentsConsumers in Southeast Asian markets continue to snap up mobile handsets at a rapid pace, propelling the region’s overall mobile phone market to expand further in the latest 12 months by 14 percent in value and 8 percent in units. Declining demand for basic feature phones are met by the corresponding spike in smartphone sales...
Japanese reactor said to stand on fault line
May 16, 2013 10:10 am | by HIROKO TABUCHI, Associated Press | News | CommentsSeismologists said Wednesday that a nuclear reactor in Tsuruga, in western Japan, stands above an active seismic fault, a finding that could lead to the first permanent shutdown of a reactor since the Fukushima crisis two years ago. Japan’s newly installed Nuclear Regulation Authority also said...
Japan watchdog to halt test reactor over safety
May 15, 2013 12:11 pm | by MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press | News | CommentsJapan's nuclear watchdog announced Wednesday that the nation's trouble-plagued next-generation test reactor will not be allowed to restart due to safety violations, dealing a setback to the country's pro-nuclear government. The Nuclear Regulation Authority's decision is the latest blow to the Monju fast-breeder reactor and Japan's nuclear fuel cycle program.
Nintendo turns to smartphone apps for its consoles
May 6, 2013 11:13 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsNintendo Co. is trying to enable users of its game consoles to enjoy popular smartphone applications on their devices in a bid to boost sales and return to profitability on an operating basis in the current business year, company sources said Saturday.
Taiwan's MediaTek profit up 51 percent in 1Q
May 6, 2013 11:10 am | by ANNIE HUANG, Associated Press | News | CommentsMediaTek Inc., Asia's largest chipset designer, said Monday its first quarter profit grew 51 percent from a year earlier, boosted by China's flourishing smartphone market. The Taiwanese company's net profit totaled 3.7 billion New Taiwan dollars ($125 million) in the January-March period on revenue of NT$24 billion.
Pentagon clears use of Samsung's devices
May 6, 2013 10:41 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsSamsung Electronics Co. says the U.S. Department of Defense has approved using Samsung smartphones for its networks. The South Korean company said Friday the Galaxy S4 smartphone has become the first Android device to meet the security requirements set out by the U.S. government...
China emerging as new force in drone warfare
May 3, 2013 11:43 am | by CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, Associated Press | News | CommentsDetermined to kill or capture a murderous Mekong River drug lord, China's security forces considered a tactic they'd never tried before: calling a drone strike on his remote hideaway deep in the hills of Myanmar. New light has been cast on China's unmanned aerial vehicle program, which has been quietly percolating for years and now appears to be moving into overdrive.
Taiwan probes insider trading in chip takeover
May 3, 2013 11:22 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsProsecutors are probing alleged insider trading connected to a $3.8 billion takeover of a Taiwan chip design company. Prosecutor Huang Mou-hsin said late Thursday that just before MediaTek's board approved a deal to buy its main rival MStar Semiconductor last June, four officials from the two companies bought shares of MStar.
B787 1st test flight in Japan since battery fire
April 29, 2013 10:29 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsJapan's All Nippon Airways has successfully conducted its first test flight of the Boeing 787 aircraft since battery problems grounded the planes earlier this year. Ray Conner, president of Boeing's consumer airline division, and ANA President Shinichiro Ito were aboard the flight Sunday.
TEPCO gears up to restart reactors by self-developing equipment
April 25, 2013 10:09 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsTokyo Electric Power Co. will equip its idled nuclear reactors with filtered venting systems developed on its own as part of its efforts to swiftly seek their restart, company sources said Thursday. Japanese utilities are trying to install the system because it will become one of the new safety requirements for reactors...
IAEA: Japan nuke cleanup may take more than 40 yrs
April 22, 2013 10:28 am | by MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press | News | CommentsA U.N. nuclear watchdog team said Japan may need longer than the projected 40 years to decommission its tsunami-crippled nuclear plant and urged its operator to improve plant stability. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency team said that damage at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant is so complex that it is "impossible" to predict...
STMicroelectronics powers advanced generation of smart IPTV
April 22, 2013 10:24 am | by STMicroelectronics | News | CommentsSTMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications and a top supplier of set-top box ICs, has revealed that its Orly system-on-chip is powering a new generation of advanced set-top boxes from NTT Plala, a leading Internet / IPTV service provider in Japan.
Utility to finish upgrading safety of 2 online reactors
April 18, 2013 12:27 pm | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsKansai Electric Power Co. said in a report submitted to regulators Thursday it will finish necessary preparations by the end of June to make its two reactors meet new safety requirements coming into force the following month. If the Nuclear Regulation Authority acknowledges that the No. 3 and 4 reactors at the Oi plant have no serious safety problems...
Nuclear plant halt to increase Japan's fuel costs
April 17, 2013 11:54 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has estimated that Japan's nuclear plant suspension may boost power generation fuel costs at nine utilities in fiscal 2013 by 3.8 trillion yen, ministry officials said. The extra fuel costs for non-nuclear thermal power generation replacing nuclear power output in the year to March 2014 are higher than the 3.1 trillion yen...
Operator of LCD plant in Osaka falls into the red
April 16, 2013 10:28 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsThe operator of a liquid crystal display plant in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, that is jointly managed by struggling Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. and Taiwanese business partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., reported Monday a 7.4 billion yen net loss for the April-December period.
Kansai Electric expects online reactors to meet new requirements
April 16, 2013 10:23 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsKansai Electric Power Co. plans to report that the only two nuclear reactors now in operation in Japan can meet new safety requirements coming into force in July, sources close to the matter said Tuesday. If the Nuclear Regulation Authority acknowledges that the No. 3 and 4 reactors at the Oi plant...
Mitsubishi eyes emerging countries for space satellite orders
April 15, 2013 11:41 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsMitsubishi Electric Corp. unveiled Friday its space satellite manufacturing factory that would double its production capacity to eight per year, eyeing emerging economies such as Southeast Asian countries as potential markets. The six-story plant with floors stretching 7,820 square meters is built adjacent to the company's existing production facility...
Precarious Japan nuke plant raises safety concerns
April 10, 2013 11:49 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsRecent problems at Japan's crippled nuclear power plant are highlighting its precarious state two years after it was damaged by a massive earthquake and tsunami. Nuclear Regulation Authority Chairman Shunichi Tanaka says the plant, which relies on makeshift cooling systems for its broken reactors, remains highly vulnerable.
Japan increasingly nervous about North Korea nukes
April 8, 2013 10:29 am | by ERIC TALMADGE, Associated Press | News | CommentsIt's easy to write off North Korea's threats to strike the United States with a nuclear-tipped missile as bluster: it has never demonstrated the capability to deploy a missile that could reach the Pacific island of Guam, let alone the mainland U.S.
Nuclear-Fukushima Update
April 8, 2013 10:25 am | by The Associated Press | News | CommentsTokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday up to 3 liters of radioactive water has leaked from a second underground storage tank at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Following the latest series of problems at the nuclear plant, the utility set up an emergency task force headed by its President Naomi Hirose.
Power restored to Japan nuke plant cooling system
April 5, 2013 10:06 am | by YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business Writer | News | CommentsPower was restored Friday to a cooling system at a tsunami-damaged nuclear plant in Japan that failed for the second time in a month after an outage caused by construction work to keep out rats suspected of setting off the earlier blackout.
