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News in Brief

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CIOL Bureau
New Update

EU approves NEC, Toshiba satellite joint venture



BRUSSELS: The European Commission said on Wednesday it had approved plans by
Japanese chip and electronic maker NEC Corp and Toshiba Corp to form a satellite

and satellite systems joint venture. "The investigation has shown the

absence of overlaps between the parties' activities outside the institutional

sector in Japan," the Commission said in a statement.



NEC and Toshiba said last December they would merge their satellite operations
in a bid to survive the intense global consolidation sweeping the industry. The

Commission said the joint venture would sell satellites and components primarily

in Japan with only minor activities in Europe.



"The companies will transfer the vast majority of their space related
business to the venture called NEC Toshiba Space Systems, which will be 60 per

cent owned by NEC and 40 per cent owned by Toshiba, but will be joint controlled

by both," the Commission said.-Reuters


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NIIT launches customer education progam



BANGALORE: NIIT has launched a customer education program, which would help
students get a preview of the IT opportunities in the wake of the temporary

slowdown in IT. According to NIIT chairman Rajendra S. Pawar, "We will be

educating the students that the temporary slowdown gives them a unique

opportunity to position themselves in the market just as it revives," he

added.



The company also announced that it would expand its NIIT i-GNIIT program to 10
mini metros. The i-GNIIT program comes with a personal computer, a colour

printer, modem and an Internet connection for which Citibank, IFC and NIIT have

created a unique Rs 400 crore seven-year study loan.-CIOL Bureau

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Wipro Infotech sets up office in Dubai



BANGALORE: Wipro Infotech on Wednesday announced that it has launched its
Middle East operations. According to a release, Wipro Infotech business

development manager Moiz Vaswadawala would head the new office, located in

Dubai.



According to business head, Asia Pacific and Middle East Tapan Bhat, "In
addition to working with global technology partners, we will see sign-up

complementary alliance partnerships for the Middle East market, which include

local system integrators and solution providers who have the reach in the

market. We expect to firm up our partnerships within the next 4-6

weeks."-CIOL Bureau

Goldman Sach cuts Yahoo Japan rating

TOKYO: Goldman Sachs Group Inc said it has downgraded its rating on Yahoo

Japan Corp to 'market performer' from 'market outperformer' on Tuesday, citing a

downturn in Japan's Internet advertising spending. Yahoo Japan, which is 50.8

per cent owned by Japanese Internet investor Softbank Corp and 33.8 per cent by

US Internet media giant Yahoo Inc , will see weaker earnings as advertising

spending slows, Goldman Sachs said.

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The US investment bank said that Yahoo's peer Value Click Japan Inc's

downward revision of its own earnings outlook was indicative of an industry-wide

slowdown. Yahoo Japan saw its parent-only net profit hit a record 2.97 billion

yen for the year ended March, up 158 per cent on soaring advertising revenues.

But the Internet portal had warned that the lower-than-expected earnings in

the January-March period could put a dampener on profit growth.-Reuters

China's legend confirms AOL talks on joint venture



HONG KONG: China's largest personal computer maker Legend Holdings Ltd.
confirmed on Wednesday it was in talks with US media giant AOL Time Warner to

set up an Internet-related services joint venture targeting Chinese consumers.



The statement, made at the request of the Hong Kong stock exchange, is the first
formal announcement regarding a report on the AOL-Legend venture. It gave no

further details on the deal. On Tuesday, Legend Chief Executive Officer Yang

Yuanqing said on the sidelines of Computex 2001 in Taiwan that the PC maker had

been in discussions with AOL Time Warner for some time, and plans could be

announced in a few days.



Shares of Legend surged 5.56 per cent to close at HK$5.70 ($0.73), outpacing the
1.85 per cent gain in the Hang Seng Index .



The report said the two companies would each contribute $100 million to set up a
new company to develop interactive services targeted at Chinese consumers, with

Legend holding a 52 percent stake, reflecting China's tight restrictions on

foreign ownership in the telecommunications and Internet sectors.-Reuters



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