Samsung takes aim at Apple's iPad, iTunes

Samsung's latest tablet device the Galaxy Tab is on display at the 50th edition of the IFA on September 2 in Berlin.

Photo: AFP

WASHINGTON - South Korea's Samsung took aim at Apple's iPad and iTunes on Friday with the US launch of its new Galaxy tablet computer and an online entertainment hub for movies and television shows.

Samsung said US wireless carriers AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon will sell the Galaxy Tab, which was unveiled at the IFA electronics trade fair in Berlin, Germany, in early September.

Samsung said the Galaxy Tab would be available in the US in the "coming months" but did not provide pricing details of the touchscreen device seen as its answer to the iPad.

The South Korean electronics giant said the Galaxy Tab will offer access to "Media Hub," a new content service at Samsung.com.

MTV Networks, NBC Universal and Paramount are among the partners in Media Hub, which Samsung said will offer a "robust library" of movies, including new release films, next day television episodes and full TV show seasons.

Movies and TV shows can be rented or purchased and shared with up to five devices including Galaxy S smartphones, Samsung said.

"The new site further shifts the company from a product and technology provider to providing an overall digital experience," Samsung said in a statement.

Releasing the Galaxy Tab in the US, Samsung sought to emphasize its differences with the iPad, which has been a hot seller for Apple since it hit stores in April.

Samsung noted that the Galaxy Tab has front- and rear-facing video cameras, allowing for video chat, and runs the popular Flash video software from Adobe.

The iPad does not have a camera and Apple has banned Flash from the device.

"With support for Flash Player 10.1, the Galaxy Tab delivers an enhanced content experience when compared to other tablets currently available in the US," Samsung said.

The Galaxy has a seven-inch (17.8-centimeter) touchscreen, smaller than the iPad's 9.7 inches, weighs 0.8 pounds (380 grams), almost half the iPad's 1.5 pounds, and is powered by Google's Android operating system.

"The Samsung Galaxy Tab is designed for people who want a premium mobile entertainment experience on the go, but don't want to be weighed down by a bulky device," Samsung said.

The Galaxy Tab provides access to the more than 80,000 applications available on the Android Market, Samsung said.

The Galaxy Tab is one of a number of tablet computers slated for release in a bid to challenge the iPad.

US computer maker Dell offers the "Dell Streak," an Android-powered device with a five-inch screen, and Japan's Toshiba unveiled its "Folio 100" at the IFA in Berlin.

US handset maker Motorola said this week it hopes to release a tablet computer powered by Android early next year and South Korea's LG Electronics has promised to release an Android-based tablet computer before December.

US computer giant Hewlett-Packard is pinning its hopes on its Slate.

Glenn Lurie, president of AT&T's emerging devices, welcomed the arrival of the Galaxy Tab.

"We're looking forward to expanding our computing device portfolio and giving our AT&T customers more great choices with this innovative device," Lurie said.

AT&T is the exclusive provider of 3G cellular service in the US for Apple's iPhone and iPad.

Related Articles

• Drug firms continue to deny wrongdoing in sticky Tamiflu scandal
• Counterfeit enforcement ineffectual, report says
• ASEAN prepared for summits
• ASEAN's socio-cultural issues promoted at Da Nang meeting
• Workshop calls for longer-term plans to audit State entities

VN to discuss free trade with Russia

MOSCOW — Viet Nam and the member nations of the Customs Union (Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan) have agreed to begin negotiations on a bilateral free trade agreement.

The first meeting of the joint working group for the Viet Nam-Russia FTA will be held in Ha Noi next month.

Consensus on the issue was reached at the 14th meeting of the Viet Nam-Russia Inter-government Committee for Economic, Commercial, Scientific and Technological Co-operation, which convened in Moscow on Tuesday and ended yesterday.

Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang and his Russian counterpart Viktor Khrristenko co-chaired the meeting.

The two sides focused on ways to step up co-operation on the economy, commerce, science and technology and trade.

Both sides noted that economic and trade relations had seen significant progress since the 12th meeting. Bilateral trade reached a decade-high of almost US$1.83 billion in 2009, which included $415 million in Vietnamese exports.

However, the officials said economic and trade ties remained modest.

The Vietnamese delegation affirmed its desire to co-operate more closely with Russia on energy, with top priority being given to oil and gas and construction of power plants and coal mining.

Other fields that need to receive a boost include mechanical engineering, automobile assembly, trade, finance, banking, education, training, agriculture, science, technology, telecoms, aviation, sports, culture, tourism and space research.

Both Hoang and Khrristenko affirmed the two governments' support for companies wishing to explore business and investment opportunities.

The two sides agreed to hold the next meeting in Viet Nam in 2011. — VNS

Related Articles

• Cashew traders yet to embrace trading center system
• Vietnam, Chile explore potential for bilateral ties
• Vietnam, Russia plan to hold FTA negotiations
• PM foresees bright future for co-operation with Africa
• Food promotions at Grand and First hotels

Lack of credit hampers SMEs

Workers make footwear at Thuong Dinh Footwear Company in Ha Noi. A recently-published survey revealed that many small and medium-sized enterprises say securing access to credit is one of their biggest problems. — VNA/VNS Photo Ngoc Ha

HA NOI — Access to credit remains the most serious obstacle to the success of Viet Nam's small-to-medium enterprises, a newly-published survey shows.

Falls in demand are also cited for the first time as a serious constraint to business which "might be a result of the general slowdown experienced in economic activity."

The survey of more than 2,500 SMEs in 10 cities and provinces last year found that almost 40 per cent of enterprises were credit constrained with the majority in rural Viet Nam.

The Central Institute for Economic Management; the Institute of Labour Science and Social Affairs; the University of Copenhagen and the Danish embassy organised the survey to research the country's business environment.

The survey investigated the interaction of SMEs with domestic and international business with the focus on growth, employment, production, technology and efficiency, diversification, innovation, survival and closure.

Questions about their role in the informal sector; informal payments as well as their bureaucratic and administrative burden were also asked.

Although almost 70 per cent of respondents said the international financial crisis had harmed business, 12 per cent – mostly larger enterprises – reported they had actually benefited from it, University of Copenhagen economist Dr John Rand told a conference to reveal the results of the survey in Ha Noi yesterday.

The benefits included cheaper inputs, weaker competition and more and better government support, he said.

The researchers say the survey found that the business environment appears to have deteriorated because the number of unconstrained enterprises fell between 2007 and last year.

The yearly survival rate of surveyed SMEs had declined to 91.6 per cent between 2007 and 2009 from 94 per cent between 2005 and 2007.

The survey shows temporary closure as a relatively common SME response to coping with the financial crisis.

"Closing temporarily to weather the storm appears to have been a widely used coping mechanism and illustrates why official bankrupt statistics may not give a fully accurate picture of the crisis impact," says the report.

Almost one-fifth of enterprises temporarily closed between 2007 and 2009 against the very few of 2005, 2007 surveys.

The survey results suggest that although Viet Nam's enterprises are becoming less specialised, the diversification may be at the cost of lower short-term revenue growth.

The diversification rate last year was 14.5 per cent compared with 8.2 per cent in 2007.

But researcher Finn Tarp warned that already tardy innovation among SMEs was in decline, especially among the smallest.

Just 2.7 per cent of surveyed enterprises introduced new products against 5 per cent in 2007 with 41 per cent having improved existing products against 44.5 per cent in 2007.

The researcher suggested the decline may reflect higher uncertainty as a result of the financial crisis which has limited demand for new technology.

The survey shows new production technologies improve an enterprise's chances of survival and he recommended the creation of incentives to innovate and invest in research and development.

"Market failures – the result of a tepid response to investment in R&D without incentives – must be addressed," he said.

The survey shows that although more SMEs are entering the formal sector, the incidence of informal payments is rising.

More and more SMEs recognised the benefits of formalisation, even households and micro firms, although high costs to enter the formal sector, high regulatory compliance costs, and punitive tax rates can force enterprises to operate informally and forego legal recognition, explained economist Dr Rand.

The benefits included better access to credit and investment and better employment conditions.

Thirty-five per cent of SMEs surveyed were designated as part of the informal sector; in 2007 the figure was 41 per cent.

More than 60 per cent of workers did not have formal contracts although the number increased markedly with enterprise size.

Researcher Tarp argued that the "bribe to hide" hypothesis that suggests informal-sector enterprises tend to pay more bribes than those of the formal sector had not been confirmed.

Domestic data shows that formal enterprises are the primary bribe payers.

The survey shows that registered enterprises are 24 per cent more likely to pay bribes than those of the formal sector.

It also shows the larger enterprises are more likely to pay bribes than their micro rivals and those in Ha Noi are more likely to pay bribes than similar enterprises in HCM City.

The researchers concede that regulation and corruption are "fundamental topics" in any discussion of private-sector development and the business environment in developing countries. — VNS

Related Articles

• Workshop calls for longer-term plans to audit State entities
• Greenback firmer on signs of rising demand
• Vietnam urged to continue good work, close the poverty gap
• Crisis impacts on two-thirds of local SMEs
• Heavy defeat dims Da Nang’s AFC Cup chances

Construction price index fails to reflect market fluctuations

HA NOI — Construction firms are complaining that they are being put at a disadvantage by the Ministry of Construction because its quarterly price reports do not reflect monthly market movements.

The issue was raised during a seminar organised by the ministry this week.

Those at the meeting said the ministry should publish its research monthly so that firms could more accurately assess their costs and charges.

Lam Van Hoang, from the Ministry of Transport's Project Management Unit No2, said quotes were based on projected figures, which themselves were calculated on official price-fluctuation forecasts. Because of monthly market fluctuations, particularly during the 2004-08 period, construction firms say they have been losing out.

Wang Gui Jun, of Ha Noi-based China State Construction Engineering Corporation, said it was virtually meaningless to publish the construction price index on a quarterly basis.

The time between purchasing and the publication of the price index could be very significant, Wang said.

He added that the price index should protect the interest of contractors.

Ngo The Vinh, from the Institute of Construction Economy, said steel prices had risen from VND11-VND16 million ( (US$564-$820,512) per tonne in a 40-day period. Every two or three days the price of steel rose by VND200,000 to VND300,000 per tonne which had a major impact on construction, he said.

To make the index more effective, Tran Dang Luyen, from the Department of Construction Management at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, said the construction price index needed to be published monthly.

He also said the index should be applied to all 63 provinces and cities instead of 12 regions. — VNS

Related Articles

• Assoc insists on power price hike despite protests
• High rice price cuts exports
• Energy group asks for 50% price hike
• NA concerned over human trafficking, securities market
• Prime Minister Dung sets construction sector agenda

Tightened credit chills real estate sales

Work underway on a low-cost housing project in the northern province of Vinh Phuc. Commercial banks are tightening their real estate lending policies, sending a new chill over the property market. — VNA/VNS Photo Tuan Anh

HA NOI — Commercial banks are tightening their real estate lending policies, sending a new chill over the property market.

Since July, banks have hiked lending interest rates and applied greater restrictions on mortgage loans, following a warning from the State Bank of Viet Nam urging greater caution on loans for real estate projects.

The warning was a response to the fact that real estate loans had risen to account for over 5 per cent of the bad debts of several commercial banks.

The real estate market contained high risks since many investors had leveraged existing projects as collateral to finance new projects, said Asia Commercial Bank credit council chairman Pham Trung Cang.

Speculators were also financing the acquisition of homes and apartments in order to obtain additional capital for investment, allowing one housing project or unit to be used as collateral for a loan up to three times, Cang said.

Driven by this speculative fever, the prices of homes and apartments have increased substantially, and unequally among cities and provinces. For instance, in the last quarter of the year, the cost of a plot of land in the western part of Ha Noi rose by 30 per cent between December and July, while prices in HCM City remained fairly constant.

The risk to banks has become significant. In recent years, loans to build, purchase or improve homes have accounted for 35-50 per cent of outstanding commercial bank loans made to individual borrowers.

As of July 31, total outstanding mortgage loans totalled VND210.7 trillion (US$10.8 billion), an increase of about 14.4 per cent from December 31 of last year, the ministry said. But loans for new housing projects, meanwhile, actually fell by 2.35 per cent during the period.

To cool down real estate lending, banks have recently hiked real estate interest rates from a low of 15 per cent to a high of 20 per cent, according to the Ministry of Construction.

But, in a report submitted to the Government Office last week, the ministry complained that tighter credit posed major obstacle to further real estate development and was adding to the instability of the real estate market.

In early 2009, the report said, the availability of low interest loans under the Government's economic stimulus package caused a short term spike in real estate prices in Ha Noi. But, since the end of the subsidised-interest loan programme, the real estate market has remained quiet, and in the third quarter of this year, threatened to become frozen due to tighter credit policies.

The report urged greater flexibility in regulating the real estate market.

About 2,500 housing projects are currently under construction, according the ministry figures, including 800 projects in Ha Noi, 1,400 in HCM City, 260 in Hai Phong, and 120 in Da Nang. — VNS

Related Articles

• Lack of credit hampers SMEs
• Assoc insists on power price hike despite protests
• Girls gear up for Vietnam’s Next Top Model
• Banks scramble for mid-level managers
• HCMC to relay grand sale program to November

September inflation set for small rise

HA NOI — Inflation is unlikely to increase sharply in September despite some factors likely to exert upward pressure on the index.

Recent estimates indicated that the consumer price index (CPI) this month would record a month-on-month increase of one per cent.

However, official sources said that a CPI increase of one per cent was unlikely because price rises in some essential goods were less than previously estimated.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade's Domestic Market Management Team expected September's CPI to increase by just 0.3-0.4 per cent against August.

Crude oil registered a slight reduction, but many other essential goods continued to increase in price, including sugar, fertiliser, food and catering services, animal feed, milk, medicines, consumer goods and steel ingots.

So far this month, rice prices had increased by VND1,000 per kilo in the first week but saw a slight reduction of VND200-300 per kilo in the second week.

With the onset of the rainy season, food prices would increase in some places which had experienced heavy rain, storms and flood, said the team.

An increase in the interbank rate early this month had also pushed prices of imported products up, so a future rise in the CPI could be possible.

The new school year started in September, and increased school fees saw educational products and related services rise.

However, the prices would have little effect on the CPI because this spending accounted for only 5.72 per cent of total household expenditure, constituting the CPI.

Meanwhile, recent sharp increases in the price of gold and US dollar would not affect the CPI this month, as the index excluded the prices of those products, the team said.

The team believed many factors would lead to an increased CPI, but the rise would not be sharp due to the Government's effective policies on curbing inflation. — VNS

Related Articles

• PM sets agenda for insolvent shipbuilder
• Lack of credit hampers SMEs
• Beer imports rise on luxury tax cut
• Prime Minister Dung sets construction sector agenda
• Trial set for jailed transport official in Japanese graft case

Pact boosts South Korea-ASEAN trade

HCM CITY — The Korea-ASEAN Free Trade Agreement in 2007 has significantly increased trade between the two sides, a Korean foreign ministry official said.

Speaking at the Korea-ASEAN FTA Forum in HCM City on Thursday, Lee Yun Young, deputy director general for FTA Policy in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said trade expanded by over 23 per cent in 2008, the first year after the treaty came into force.

It was worth US$75 billion last year and is forecast to top the $100 billion mark this year, he said, pointing out it was worth $47.1 billion in the first half, 39.4 per cent up year on year.

ASEAN became Korea's third largest trading partner in 2008 behind only China and the EU, he said.

Na Jong-tae from the FTA Implementation Division's Korea Customs Service said trade with Viet Nam jumped from $7.2 billion in 2008 to $9.5 billion last year.

Almost two-thirds of Viet Nam's top 50 export items to Korea received preferential treatment under the FTA last year, he said.

More than 81 per cent of items exported by Korea and ASEAN members are exempt from tariffs.

"However, only a few businesses in ASEAN countries are using the FTA effectively due to lack of understanding and knowledge," Lee said, noting that the current utilisation rate is below 20 per cent.

If the rate reaches 90 per cent like the Korea-Chile FTA, the effect achieved by the FTA will be enormous, he said.

The two sides proposed measures to improve the rate during talks at the ASEAN Economic Ministers Meeting last month, he said.

They include quickly improving minor procedures, creating an approved exporters system, introducing a system of self-certification of origin, and promoting economic co-operation to develop customs administration in ASEAN countries. — VNS

Related Articles

• VN to discuss free trade with Russia
• Cashew traders yet to embrace trading center system
• Officials nabbed in southern Vietnam on bribery suspicion
• Vietnam, Chile explore potential for bilateral ties
• Victims of food poisoning leave hospital