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Sony to boost output of DVD players
TOKYO: Japanese electronics and high-tech giant Sony Corp will boost its annual
output capacity of DVD players by 60 percent in order to improve price
competitiveness, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper said on Sunday.
Citing company sources, the paper said Sony, which accounted for 25 per cent of
the 16 million DVD units sold worldwide last year, will raise its annual output
capacity of DVD players to seven million units. The increase will help enhance
Sony's price-competitiveness at a time when DVD players are gaining popularity
in Japan, the United States, and Europe, the business daily said, adding that
prices of DVD players are estimated to fall 30 percent in the 2001/02 business
year that began in April. The rise in output capacity will be achieved mainly by
increasing production capabilities at a production facility in Malaysia, Nihon
Keizai said - Reuters.
Lucent in deal to sell plants to Celestica
NEW YORK: Lucent Technologies is poised to sell two key plants to Celestica
Inc in a deal that would boost the telecom-equipment maker's cash position, The
Wall Street Journal reported in its online edition on Monday. Citing people
familiar with the negotiations, the newspaper reported that an official
announcement of the deal was not expected for a few weeks but that it could
yield between $600 million and $900 million for Lucent if it went ahead. The
newspaper said Lucent was still talking to at least two other suitors, according
to sources. But Celestica was preparing to take control of the Lucent plants in
Columbus, Ohio, and Oklahoma City, which make wireless and switching gear, the
newspaper said. Officials from the Toronto-based Celestica declined to comment,
the newspaper said. - Reuters
Key CA investor backs management
the US software group's current management as it battles a revolt by Texas
tycoon Sam Wyly, the Financial Times reported on Monday. It quoted a letter to
Wyly from Swiss billionaire Walter Haefner, who controls 21 per cent of CA, as
saying he did not share Wyly's view that CA management had to be replaced.
"I have complete confidence in the existing CA management team and intend
to support them fully," the FT quoted the letter as saying. A spokesman for
Haefner's AMAG car dealership said he could not confirm the existence of the
letter and could not speak for Haefner, who was travelling and unavailable for
comment. — Reuters.
Indian Rayon to buy bull stake in PSI
MUMBAI: Diversified firm Indian Rayon and Industries on Monday informed the
Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) it has approved the purchase of a 50.35 percent
stake in PSI Data Systems from France's Groupe Bull. The notice said Indian
Rayon will buy the controlling stake at a price of 186.80 rupees per share,
totalling Rs 710 million. Indian Rayon will make an open offer to public
shareholders to acquire a further 20 percent stake at the same price, it said.
This may take Indian Rayon's total shareholding in PSI to 70.35 pct for 992
million rupees, it said. - Reuters
Sybase releases new version on database
EMERYVILLE: Software maker Sybase Inc., the No 4 database seller, on Monday
said it would begin shipping the latest version of its database on June 29. Last
year, Sybase ranked behind Oracle Corp., International Business Machines Corp.
and Microsoft Corp. with a 3.2 per cent share of the database market. The
company, once a major player in the space, still has a strong hold in the
financial services market. The company said its newest offering, called Sybase
Adaptive Server Enterprise 12.5 or ASE 12.5, has features that enable developers
to use Java in the database. It also has XML search capabilities, which Sybase
said may make it easier to generate Web content from existing data and XML
documents - Reuters