S&P Cuts Sony Rating, Warns of Further Action S&P lowered its long-term debt ratings on Sony to two notches above junk status and gave the Japanese electronics company a negative outlook.
Lenovo Says Lanci Didn't Violate Acer Deal Lenovo said it is confident that its relationship with Acer's former CEO meets all legal requirements, after the rival computer maker started legal action against him for breaching a noncompete clause in a contract.
UMC Profit Slumps 82% Taiwan-based UMC, the world's second-largest contract chip manufacturer, said it plans to increase 2012 capital spending by 20% after it posted an 82% fall in fourth-quarter net profit.
Renesas, Fujitsu, Panasonic Discuss Chip Tie-Up Renesas Electronics, Fujitsu and Panasonic are in talks to integrate some specialized chip operations in an effort to turn around their businesses and focus on more competitive chips.
Tussle in China Over iPad Name Proview Technology (Shenzhen) has filed for a temporary restraining order in a Shanghai court to stop Apple from using the iPad name in mainland China.
NTT Posts 56% Slump in Profit NTT, Japan's biggest telecommunications-service company, said its net profit for the fiscal third quarter fell 56% due to a write-down in tax assets.
KT Corp's Net Profit Rises KT Corp. said fourth-quarter net profit rose 13% on year largely due to gains from asset sales, but operating profit fell by nearly 20% on a decline in phone charges.
Samsung Says EU Probe Will Find It Compliant Samsung Electronics, in its first acknowledgment of the European Commission's antitrust investigation of its patent licensing practices, said it believed the commission would ultimately conclude the company complies with the rules.
Sony's U.S. Puzzle Incoming Sony CEO Kazuo Hirai will need to tread carefully with the company's movie and music divisions, whose profits are important counterpoints to deep losses elsewhere at the company.
India Court Cancels Telecom Licenses India's Supreme Court canceled more than 100 mobile-telecom licenses issued in 2008, raising uncertainty over billions of dollars that companies like NTT DoCoMo and Telenor have pumped into the South Asian nation.
Hynix Swings to Net Loss Hynix Semiconductor said it sees a brighter market for chips and a rebound in dynamic-random-access-memory prices from the second quarter, after reporting a fourth-quarter net loss on weak PC demand.
Hitachi Profit Tumbles 45% Japanese technology conglomerate Hitachi said its net profit for the fiscal third quarter fell 45% amid losses for its TV business.
Weak Chips, Strong Yen Sink Elpida Elpida Memory Inc. said that its net loss widened in the fiscal third quarter, as weak chip prices and the yen's strength continued to hurt its business.
Softbank Net Falls by Half on Sales Costs Softbank said its fiscal third-quarter net halved from the previous year as an increase in subscriber revenue from data communication thanks to Apple's new iPhone 4S was offset by higher sales-related costs.
SK Telecom Profit Falls 61% SK Telecom, South Korea's largest mobile carrier by subscribers, saw fourth-quarter net profit fall as spending on next-generation network technology rose and phone fees weakened.
Samsung: Court Rejects Apple Bid Samsung Electronics said the Munich Regional Court has rejected Apple's request to ban sales in Germany of the Korean company's tablet computers and Nexus smartphones.
Sony's New Chief Reveals His Plans The new chief executive of Sony promises to forge a new path for a company that once dominated the business of filling free time with the creation of wildly popular consumer products.
Sharp Swings to Loss on One-Time Costs Sharp said tax write-downs and one-time restructuring costs squeezed it into a loss of more than $2 billion in the fiscal third quarter, and warned that it now expects to post its biggest-ever full-year net loss in its 100-year history.
LG Electronics Posts Second Straight Loss LG Electronics said it posted a second straight quarterly loss in the fourth quarter, but year-to-year losses narrowed sharply due to positive contributions from its handset and flat-screen TV divisions.
Too Much Face for Renren The temptation is to use Facebook's IPO to justify a higher price for Chinese social-networking site Renren. But the comparisons go only so far.
EU Opens Samsung Antitrust Probe The European Commission opened a new front in the global patent war between Samsung and rivals such as Apple with a formal investigation into whether the company's use of patents is breaking EU antitrust rules.
Toshiba, Fujitsu Post Losses Toshiba and Fujitsu posted quarterly losses and cut their forecasts for the fiscal year as Thailand's flooding aggravated troubles from the strong yen.
Japanese Games Fight Deepens A legal brouhaha between Japan's two leading mobile videogame platforms just became messier. DeNA, which was sued by Gree last year, filed a countersuit Tuesday.
At Canon, Elder Gains Wider Leadership Role Canon's chairman and chief executive will also become president of the Japanese camera and printer maker in March. The company also posted a 14% increase in fourth-quarter net profit.
Fujifilm Proposed Investing in Olympus Fujifilm said it had proposed investing in Olympus, which is seeking a strategic partner to help shore up an eroded balance sheet. Fujifilm also posted a 51% drop in profit.
Chip Maker Elpida Looks Fried Facing steep operating losses, weak chip prices and significant debt repayments, Japanese chip maker Elpida Memory is beginning to look like a lost cause.
Samsung Profit Rises as Chips Gain Samsung's profit rose 17% as its chip business turned more profitable than expected while its smartphone business came under surprising pressure.
Elpida Mulls Capital Ties With Rivals Executives at Elpida Memory have floated the idea of capital ties with U.S. and Taiwanese rivals, as the struggling Japanese chip maker tries to ensure support from creditors.
LG Display's Net Loss Narrows Sharply Flat-panel maker LG Display posted a second-straight quarterly net loss for the last three months of 2011, largely because of tepid demand for large-screen televisions.
Apple Claimed Smartphone Lead in Fourth Quarter Apple overtook Samsung as the world's biggest smartphone maker in the fourth quarter thanks to robust iPhone 4S sales.
Nintendo Warns of Losses Nintendo, struggling with slack demand for its gaming systems and a strong yen, posted a loss for the first nine months and warned that its full-year loss will be three times greater than its projections in October.
NEC to Cut 10,000 Jobs NEC plans to cut 10,000 jobs and warned that asset write-downs and restructuring costs will result in a net loss of more than $1 billion this fiscal year.
KDDI Lifts Outlook on iPhone Demand KDDI lifted its full-year revenue outlook by 2.6%, benefiting from steady growth in demand for Apple Inc.'s iPhone 4S and other smartphones.
Samsung Shifts Its Focus for Chips Samsung's rapid ascent in smartphones has won lots of attention, But the company is growing even faster in the market for the logic chips inside the phones.
Fanuc Profit Rises 22% Fanuc said net profit for the nine months through December rose 22%, citing strong global sales of its factory-automation systems.
Yahoo, Japan Partner in Talks Yahoo Japan said it is in talks with its U.S. namesake on how the latter can sell its stake in the Japanese company, valued at around $6 billion, without paying hefty taxes.
Sony in Talks to Invest in Olympus In dire need of capital, scandal-racked Olympus is fielding offers from some of Japan's biggest companies to raise as much $1.3 billion.
Hitachi to Shut Its Last TV Plant Hitachi will stop making TV sets at its Japanese plant later this year as global price competition intensifies in the low-margin market.
Japan TV Makers Aren't Such a Smart Bet For Japan's electronics makers, the only "smart" television is one sold by a rival.
TSE Keeps Olympus Listed, Imposes Fine The Tokyo Stock Exchange said it will keep shares of Olympus listed, while slapping a $130,000 fine on the maker of cameras and medical imaging equipment for falsifying financial documents to conceal losses.
German Court Rules Against Samsung Samsung Electronics said a German court ruled that Apple hadn't violated one of its technical patents as part of a broader patent dispute.
Fujifilm Thrived by Changing Focus The difference between Kodak and Fujifilm, the Japanese company's CEO says, is that his company tapped its chemical expertise for drugs and LCD panels. Cosmetics, as well: The process to stop photos from fading can be used for skin, too.
China Criticizes U.S. Piracy List Beijing criticized the U.S. Trade Representative's recent inclusion of Alibaba's Taobao e-commerce operation on a list of "notorious markets" for piracy.
Fujifilm Reaches Out to Rival Olympus Fujifilm CEO Komori said his company would consider providing support for Olympus, a scandal-hit rival that needs to raise capital.
Web Takes Star Turn in China Government restrictions are driving young Chinese to turn off their TV sets and turn on their computers. Advertisers and Western studios are right there with them.
Olympus Is Likely to Remain Listed The Tokyo Stock Exchange is expected to keep Olympus shares listed, a move that would clear one of the many hurdles the company faces in recovering from a $1.5 billion loss-hiding scandal.
MindTree Profit Nearly Doubles MindTree beat forecasts as its third quarter net profit nearly doubled, aided by the Indian rupee's weakness, but the software company's products business weighed on sales growth.
TSMC Posts 22% Net Slide, Cuts 2012 Capex TSMC said the continuing slide in demand for computer chips led its fourth-quarter net profit to drop 22% and has prompted the company, the world's largest contract chip manufacturer, to cut planned capital expenditure by 18% in 2012.
What Is SOPA? A Guide to Understanding the Online Piracy Bill It will undermine free speech and due process, says one side. It will protect America's creative class from thieves, says the other. But what's really in the Stop Online Piracy Act?
R&D Shifts Toward Asia The U.S. is rapidly losing high-technology jobs as American companies expand their research-and-development labs in China and elsewhere in Asia.
