Samsung to launch smartphone, tablet PC in Japan

Samsung's latest tablet device the Galaxy Tab is on display at the 50th edition of the IFA in September in Berlin.

Photo: AFP

SEOUL - South Korea's Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it would release a smartphone and tablet PC in Japan before December, its latest move in an ongoing battle with US giant Apple.

The planned launch of the Galaxy S smartphone and its first tablet PC, the Galaxy Tab, in Japan comes amid growing rivalry with Apple at home and abroad.

Samsung launched its Galaxy S domestically in June, seven months after Apple's iPhone hit South Korea. Samsung has since launched its smartphone in China and other countries.

The company said NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile operator, would release the Galaxy S at the end of this month and the Galaxy Tab in late November.

More than 70 percent of Japan's mobile market is dominated by local brands, but Apple's iPhone has become the most popular smartphone since its debut in 2008.

Samsung said in a statement the Galaxy S has been "a phenomenal success" in the global smart market, recording worldwide sales of more than five million.

Global computer and handset makers have scurried to respond to the roaring success of Apple's iPhone and iPad.

Tablet PCs feature bigger screens than smartphones and have no keyboards, instead employing touchscreens or stylus pens as input devices.

The global table PC market is expected to expand to 30 million units next year, from 13 million this year, according to industry data.

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Italian investors keen on Vietnam’s infrastructure

Italian enterprises are interested in infrastructure investment in form
of public-private partnership (PPP) model in Vietnam , especially
in developing highways.

At a workshop on developing infrastructure in Vietnam held on Oct. 4
in Hanoi , Italian Ambassador to Vietnam Andrea Perguni said the PPP
model has been successfully applied in his country and the embassy has
introduced several projects in Vietnam to Italian enterprises.

According to Counsellor Marco Saladini of the Italian Trade
Commission, Italy is experienced in building infrastructure
facilities as the country has 5,000 km of highways mostly built in the
form of PPP.

Italian investors are interested in
building underground car parks, highway and power projects in Vietnam,
he said at the workshop, which was jointly organised by the Ministries
of Planning and Investment and Transport, and the Italian Trade
Commission.

However, he expressed concerns about
shortcomings in the current tender process in Vietnam , saying most
major Vietnamese enterprises still enjoy State support in infrastructure
development.

Statistics released by the Asian Development
Bank (ADB) showed that the capital flow into infrastructure development
in Vietnam between 2006-2010 was estimated at 140 billion USD, a
modest amount compared to the real needs of transport, energy and
environment projects. Therefore, there are many investment chances for
investors in the PPP form.

The country will need
to build 3,000-5,000 km of highways, 300-400 km of metro lines in the
next 10 years, requiring hundreds of billions of USD.

However, the State budget, government bonds and ODA will be able to
meet only half of the demand, therefore, it is necessary to attract
private-sector and FDI capital, according to ADB.

Deputy
Minister of Planning and Investment Dang Huy Dong said Vietnam gives
top priority to infrastructure investment and is implementing pilot PPP
investment to attract capital from the private sector.

A representative from the Transport Ministry said that several
transport projects, including the upgrading of National Highway No. 1,
Ha Noi-Lao Cai railway and Phnom Penh-Ho Chi Minh City
highway are being implemented by using FDI and PPP capital.

Vietnam is calling for PPP and FDI capital in such highway
projects as Da Nang-Quang Ngai, My Thuan-Can Tho, Noi Bai-Ha Long, Dau
Giay-Da Lat and Ben Luc-Long Thanh, and other transport projects,
including Hai Phong international port and HCM City-Can Tho express
railway./.

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Foreign firms look to raise city investment

Small- and medium-sized foreign firms in HCM City are looking to
increase their capital because they see potential for expansion and
growth.

The Dau Tu (Vietnam Investment Review) newspaper quotes the HCM City
Department of Planning and Investment as saying 65 FDI projects
operating in the City have raised their investment capital to 168.9
million USD in the first nine months of this year.

These projects are mainly in the manufacturing, industrial, service and retail sectors.

Fastfood chain Lotteria Vietnam Ltd Co has decided to invest an
additional 7 million USD to expand its chain, while sporting goods
manufacturer Adidas Vietnam has decided to raise its investment by a
million dollars to 3.9 million USD.

Retailer Giant
South Asia has poured an additional 15 million USD into its distribution
network and warehouses, raising its total investment capital to 20
million USD.

Lu Thanh Phong, DPI deputy director,
said FDI businesses in the city had, compared to previous years,
increased investments in manufacturing, processing and industrial
production over the last two years.

Nguyen Tan
Phuoc, deputy head of HCM City Export Processing and Industrial Park
Authority, said the capital increase showed trust in the market's
development potential and stability.

Yuki Vietnam
Ltd, a company that produces industrial sewing machinery, has invested
an additional 5 million USD this year, bringing its total investment
capital to 20 million USD. This is the third time it has increased its
capital investment in the city.

Tsunoda Shinji,
general director of the company, said the increase in capital aimed to
expand its domestic market share, instead of focusing on exports.
Currently, the company earns 16 million USD per year from the domestic
market, and it aims to increase this to 24-26 million USD a year in the
near future.

A representative of Australia 's RMIT
University said it had invested more than 15.1 million USD to build a
dormitory for its students in Vietnam .

Merilyn
Liddell, director of RMIT Vietnam, said the investment aimed to expand
the school area by 2013 to meet rising demand for international standard
education in Vietnam .

However, many FDI
businesses had also complained that they were hampered by the lack of
skilled workers, and were having to provide the needed training by
themselves, the newspaper reported./.

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Toshiba to launch 'world's first' glasses-free 3D TV

TOKYO - Japanese electronics giant Toshiba on Monday said it will launch the first liquid crystal display 3D television that does not require users to wear special glasses.

Toshiba will offer 20-inch and 12-inch Regza GL1 Series sets in Japan from the end of December, the company said.

The 12-inch model is expected to sell for about 120,000 yen (US$1,400) and the 20-inch model will carry a price tag of 240,000 yen, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Current 3D-capable televisions require viewers to wear glasses that act as filters to separate images to each eye to create the illusion of depth.

Makers have turned to 3D sets in a bid to boost demand for new TVs and halt a slide in prices, but the key challenge has been how to enable groups of viewers to all see 3D from different angles at the same time without glasses.

Toshiba's screens use processing technology to create depth-filled images from any angle.

The company added that it planned to offer larger screen models that use glasses as well as smaller personal screens.

Rival Sharp earlier this year unveiled a small glasses-free LCD touchscreen that shows 3D images for use in mobile phones, digital cameras and games consoles such as Nintendo's 3DS, to be released in Japan in February 2011.

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Toshiba to launch 'world's first' glasses-free 3D TV

TOKYO - Japanese electronics giant Toshiba on Monday said it will launch the first liquid crystal display 3D television that does not require users to wear special glasses.

Toshiba will offer 20-inch and 12-inch Regza GL1 Series sets in Japan from the end of December, the company said.

The 12-inch model is expected to sell for about 120,000 yen (US$1,400) and the 20-inch model will carry a price tag of 240,000 yen, Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Current 3D-capable televisions require viewers to wear glasses that act as filters to separate images to each eye to create the illusion of depth.

Makers have turned to 3D sets in a bid to boost demand for new TVs and halt a slide in prices, but the key challenge has been how to enable groups of viewers to all see 3D from different angles at the same time without glasses.

Toshiba's screens use processing technology to create depth-filled images from any angle.

The company added that it planned to offer larger screen models that use glasses as well as smaller personal screens.

Rival Sharp earlier this year unveiled a small glasses-free LCD touchscreen that shows 3D images for use in mobile phones, digital cameras and games consoles such as Nintendo's 3DS, to be released in Japan in February 2011.

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Banks turn cautious about rate cuts

HANOI - Banks in Vietnam have received another call to lower interest rates, but neither the lenders nor the central bank are expecting any cuts to be large, said economists.

The Vietnam Banks Association, which acts as a mediator between the State Bank of Vietnam and lenders, called on banks last Wednesday for the third time in the past six months to cut dong deposit rates, this time to 11 percent from 11.2 percent by Oct. 15.

The association referred to amendments the central bank made to a new set of banking safety rules last Tuesday, suggesting that they would make it easier in future to raise deposits.

But the industry association had previously urged banks to slash deposit rates to 10 percent and lending rates to 12 percent by the end of September, and the new target of 11 percent appeared to reflect an understanding that macroeconomic developments were making it hard to bring rates down by much.

The association's request came as the Ministry of Planning and Investment said economic growth would reach 6.7 percent this year, exceeding the official target of 6.5 percent.

September annual inflation hit 8.92 percent, quickening for the first time in half a year.

"With current market movements, the recent decrease in interest rates is positive, but they cannot drop much more," the newspaper Vietnam Investment Review quoted government adviser Tran Du Lich as saying.

Many lenders considered the central bank's original set of safety rules too stringent. Lich said the amendments may not have a direct impact on rates, but they aimed to give banks with low liquidity more time to prepare for new requirements.

The central bank was also urging lenders to cut rates to help spur economic growth, but its enthusiasm appeared curbed by the 1.31 percent surge in consumer prices in September.

"Monetary policy needs to guarantee the two targets of boosting economic growth and containing inflation are met. It is necessary to cut interest rates, but it requires time and gradual steps", Nguyen Dong Tien, deputy governor of the State Bank of Vietnam, said last week.

But Le Dang Doanh, an independent economist, warned that a minor cut in rates would not be enough.

"Vietnam's economic growth this year has been fueled by public investment and an increase in exports. If interest rates remain high, businesses, especially those in the private sector, will feel the heat early next year," he said.

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Garment exports on target

The textile and garment industry will meet its annual export target of
10.5 billion USD by November, said vice chairman and general secretary
of the Vietnam Textile and Apparel Association (Vitas) Le Van Dao.

Dao estimated that the industry would earn more than 1 billion USD each month in the fourth quarter.

September was the third consecutive month the industry fetched more
than 1 billion USD from exports, bringing the sector's total export
value in the first nine months of this year to more than 8 billion USD, a
year-on-year increase of 20.6 percent, according to the General
Statistics Office.

Dao said many garment exporters had orders for the end of this year and even for the beginning of next year.

Over the past nine months, exports to the big markets have recorded
high growth. Exports to the US increased 22.1 percent to 3.94 billion
USD while the rising figures to the EU and Japan were 6.7 per cent
and 14.3 percent to 1.18 billion USD and 691 million USD, respectively.

Exports to the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea surged 64 percent thanks to the impact of its Free Trade
Agreement with ASEAN.

However, Pham Xuan Hong, Vitas
deputy chairman, said the garment industry was facing a shortage of
labour and an increase in the price of transport and power.

A surge in the price of cotton on the world market also had a negative
impact on the industry. A tonne of cotton has risen 45 percent since
the same period last year to 1,900-2,000 USD while the industry has to
import up to 95 percent of its cotton. The industry imported 260,000
tonnes of cotton in the first nine months of the year and estimates that
figure will reach roughly 370,000 tonnes by the end of the year.

Hong said garment exporters were seeking new sources from Japan
and ASEAN countries in order to enjoy preferential taxes.

To fulfil the target of 19 billion USD from exports by 2015 and 25
billion USD by 2020, the garment sector is actively implementing
programmes related to cotton cultivation to increase domestic supplies
and develop human resources to meet the increasing demands of the
sector.

The sector is also promoting its trademark
and setting up distribution networks nationwide to take a firm foothold
in the domestic market./.

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