A week in tech, June 9 - 15

Taiwan

Internet
• Dopod, a Taiwan smart-phone supplier, announced its plans to publicly list its shares in Hong Kong as early as next year after becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of High Tech Computer Corp. High Tech Computer, a Taiwan-listed firm, said it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Dopod’s existing shareholders to acquire the company in a deal valued at about $150 million. Dopod reported net profits of $8 million for the 12 months to December last year on revenue of $130 million. For the three months to March this year, the company said it net profits reached $5 million. High Tech Computer's smart-phone and PDA phone clients include mobile operators Vodafone and Orange. Dopod operates in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the mainland, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia.

Semiconductors
• United Microelectronics Corp (UMC) announced a 30-percent rise in its revenue last month from the same month last year. For May this year, its revenue hit NT$8.5 billion ($261.4 million), compared to NT$6.4 billion ($196.8 million) in May 2005. The company’s products are used in desktop computers, notebooks, digital cameras and mobile phones. A JPMorgan analyst disclosed that UMC’s May revenue was slightly lower than the NT$8.8 billion ($270.6 million) predicted but said that the company is expected to post “decent” revenues in the second and third quarters. UMC counts Texas Instruments, the world’s biggest manufacturer of mobile phone chips by revenue, as one of its biggest customers.


Hong Kong

Media, Entertainment and Gaming
• PCCW may have Bloomberg Television, a US-based financial information provider, as a content partner for the business channel of its pay television arm NOW Broadband TV, according to an industry source. The NOW Business News Channel focuses on local and foreign stock market news and investment analysis and is seen as a Chinese version of Bloomberg and General Electric's CNBC. This move by PCCW is seen as a plan to help draw away audiences from major rival Cable Television, which also has a financial news channel. NOW's newly launched channel also said it aims to become a partner for foreign financial media firms who look for Chinese language programs. The report said Bloomberg expressed interest in the programs of NOW's financial news channel and proposed to use the programmes to build the Chinese version of Bloomberg Television Channel. Bloomberg could not be reached for any comment on the partnership. In another development, the Business News Channel said it plans to expand its coverage through mobile phone and the internet. Currently, the channel is now available on PCCW’s 3G mobile phones.

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