It is perhaps surprising to see that Steve Haber, President of Sony’s Digital Reading Division, has expressed his satisfaction to the arrival of Apple iPad tablet. Sony has its own e-book reader and iPad is thought to be a device that would give every e-book reader of every company a run for their money. So, why, Mr. Haber is welcoming iPad?
In fact, he said, "The introduction of another mobile device, which includes digital reading as part of its functionality, is a good thing for the digital book business. Mobile devices with reading capabilities will play a key role in the paradigm shift from analog to digital content. At Sony, we’re focused on devices optimized for digital reading and believe that digital books sales will surpass print sales within five years, if not sooner."
The essence of his statement is that because of iPad, many people would not feel interested about e-book readers and reading digital content will become popular. Naturally, the market will become bigger and Sony will get good profit from the expanding market.
I agree with Mr. Haber because still now, most people are habituated to read books printed on paper not in digital screen.
When the economies of many rich countries are gradually coming out of the recession, Japanese economy is still suffering. So, Japanese government has taken an extra ordinary measure to announce second stimulus package in one fiscal year. Japanese fiscal year will finish on March and now, the government is going to inject nearly $80 billion. This is a lot of money but the government is helpless.
Consumer confidence in Japan is not improving at all and this is one of the main worries for Japanese government and the business people. Another problem is that a strong Yen is not helping the country in export. Many small companies are almost becoming extinct and even some big companies have suffered very big blows. So, the government is going to help those companies to survive and this matter is very important because unemployment is exceptionally high in Japanese standard at this moment.
I think that Japan has become very rich and one of the problems that this country is facing at this moment is that people have got habit to luxury. In the past, we have seen that Japanese people are very patriotic and they are capable of doing many sacrifices. So, I think that the government should do some research and try to talk to the people openly about the current economic problem.
It is the day of Apple iPad tablet PC and many people are now searching about its price across the world. Well, in most countries of Asia, it is late night and tomorrow, we will get a clearer picture about the reaction of Asian people. I think that it will attract many consumers in Japan and Korea and in the Middle East. China can be a good market too. Well, to go back to the question that I posed in the title of this entry, I think that the price of iPad is a bit expensive for most countries in this continent.
I have already written in another blog that it will not be popular in India as it is too expensive for Indian market. However, I think that China can be a better place as people of China has better per capita income compared to India.
Well, what I understand now is that Apple is mainly focusing on US market and that is understandable. However, it is time that Apple also takes Asian market more seriously.
What if you can not get the required fuel for your vehicle after 10 years or say 20 years? That is the fear roaming around in the global auto industry and among the car enthusiasts. This fear was well reflected in the recent Detroit Auto Show 2010 where automakers brought their environment-friendly hybrid concept cars which would come into the market in the coming years.
Toyota presented its plug-in hybrids and battery electrics models which are expected to be hit the market in 2012. The Japanese auto makers also came up with hydrogen fuel cell vehicle model which is expected to come to the market in 2015. There are reports out in the media that oil demand could surpass supply in the next 20 years and that will be time people would have no other option expect hybrid cars.
Honda Insight gave a good challenge to Toyota’s dominance with Prius in the hybrid car market. Honda is now ready to roll out its 2010 CR-Z Sport Hybrid Coupe car which could make the competition more intense. The new Honda hybrid car focuses on both style and economy.
The good news is that some other big players like Volkswagen and Hyundai are also going to put their mark in electric car market in the near future. Car analysts think that in the next decade hybrid or electric car market would grow significantly and grab a big chunk of the whole auto industry.
China did not actually achieved double digit growth in 2009 but 8.7% is even more valuable than double digit GDP growth in the year of great recession. In fact, in the fourth quarter of 2009, the GDP growth was 10.7% compared to the same time one year ago. This is good news for not only Chinese economy but also for the whole world. It shows that the stimulus package that the government of China allocated brought some good result.
The high GDP growth means perhaps something extra for the country because there is a strong possibility that China has now the second largest economy in the world. Japanese figures will be announced after a few days and then the official confirmation will happen.
What is the magic solution that China could find in the time of economic recession? What Chinese decision makers did was to shift the focus to domestic consumption. Because of the recession, export suffered but because of domestic consumption the products were sold in home.
For the time being, things look very good. It will be good if China really becomes a consumer based country like USA. However, 2010 will bring new challenge for Chinese economy because the high growth has to b sustained.
Chinese economy suffered from global recession but now things are looking better. However, many people have turned to real estate. For many years, the GDP grew at a very high rate compared to the rest of the world. Many people came to the cities from rural areas and found work in factories and naturally when you have some more income then the first thing you look for is a land, house or apartment. Thus, even in the time of recession, the real estate market kept on growing and this continuous growth is turning into the main headache for the economy of the country.
The main problem is perhaps that except the buyers, all the other groups want to keep the growth in the real estate sector intact. Many housing projects are now going on and the developers of the projects don’t want to decrease the price. So, a crash is likely to happen sooner or later. It seems that there is no way out. The government is trying to control the situation but it is a very difficult thing. It is worth mentioning that nearly three decades ago similar thing happened in Japan and the Japanese real estate sector suffered a crushing blow and as a result, the economic growth of the country collapsed and did not recover fully until now.
Laptop Fair 2010 started in Dhaka today. My assistant Abdul Aziz Liton visited the fair and collected all the ads of all the participating companies. So, we are hopeful that within a few days, we will be to provide a lot of information about laptops found in Dhaka markets. Just 2-3 years ago, laptop was considered to be a luxury item to most people. First of all, the price was very expensive and there was almost nothing to do even if you got one.
After all, these days, a laptop without Internet connection is almost useless. Things changed in 2008 and 2009 because mobile phone companies like Grameenphone and Citycell came up with wireless connections at affordable prices. Mr. Liton talked to some visitors and they all said that they came here to buy laptops. So, there is a good possibility that many products will be sold in this fair.
I got the press release from the organizers (Maker Communication) and I am giving it here:
ZoomLaptop Fair 2010 begins in the city
With the theme `Light up the technological light’ the three day long Zoom Laptop Fair 2010 has started today at the BangabandhuInternationalConferenceCenter, organized by Maker Communication. After achieving great success in the previous year’s Fair, Citycell has again become title sponsor for this year’s fair. Acer, Asus, HP and Lenovo are the four co-sponsors, Bdjobs.com is the online partner, radio ABC is the radio partner and bdnews24.com is the news partner of this event.
Advocate Md. Qamrul Islam M.P., Hon’ble Minister of State, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs was the Chief Guest at the inauguration program. Mr. Michael Seymour, Chief Executive Officer of Citycell joined the program as Special guest. Architect Yeafesh Osman Hon’ble State Minister, Ministry of Science and Information & Communication Technology, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, Mr. Mostafa Jobbar, President, Bangladesh Computer Samity were also present as Special Guests.
Visitors will avail special offers of Zoomat Citycell’s pavilion at the fair. These include attractive start-up prices for Zoomconnections bundled with devices, together with exclusive monthly data plans and voice tariff for these packages. Specific Zoomenabled handsets, USB Modems, Zoom Ultar bundles will be available at unbeatable discounted prices. Visitors will also be able to enjoy free internet browsing using Zoomat the Pavilion.
World renowned brands like HP, Compaq, Dell, Fujitsu, Hasee, Gigabyte, Asus Lenovo, Toshiba, Acer, Great Wall, BenQ, Apple are participation in the fair and bringing brand new laptops with very attractive prices on the occasion of the fair, The fair will be open for visitors everyday from 10:00am to 8:00 pm. There will be 15 pavilions and 5 stalls in the fair. The entry fee will be Tk.20. The organizer of this fair informed that 10% money of the ticket sale will be given to winter affected people and 15% will be used for education of the disadvantaged people of the country.
Participating organizations and Maker Communication will also jointly arrange raffle draw quiz program etc.
So, if you live in Dhaka and you are in anyway interested about this gadget then why not visit the fair tomorrow or next day.
The best thing I liked about Laptop Fair 2010 is that a number netbook models were in display from the major major manufactures. Thus, there were a number of netbooks under 30,000 Taka.
Michael Ruslim was 56 years old and he died in a hospital in Singapore. He was the President of PT Astra International which is one of the largest companies in Indonesia. Details are still not clear.
"For a company with a caliber such as Astra, there won’t be too much impact. The company has a good system, and the system is working. Within a day, probably everything will be settled.”
Agus Pramono, an Analyst gave this reaction in telephone. So, I guess that the company meet shortly and find a replacement for Michael Ruslim.
One of the problems for newsmen is perhaps that there is not enough English websites from Indonesia. Now, I was trying to search about Michael Ruslim in Google News and could not find anything significant about him in English language.
At last, I found a website called Indonesia Today and they had some more information about him:
We reported two days ago that Michael was evacuated from Jakarta to Singapore due to dengue fever.
Some of his friends said it was just too late to evacuate Michael. Dengue fever could be very dangerous if the detection was too late. Dengue started with a very high fever for 2-3 days and the fever rapidly dropped on the third day.
It is really tragic death. His family members and friends are perhaps very sad now that he had to die fro Dengue fever.
In many ways, China is a country with paradox. It is desperately seeking to attract foreign investors while on the other hand, the Chinese government often find itself at odds against foreign companies. The conflict with Google is perhaps the best example. Then the problem of the movie ‘Avatar’. No, Avatar did not anything that offended Chinese officials or Communist Party leaders. I guess that some of them eve enjoyed watching it as it is reported that the movie grossed $76 million in ticket sales in China. The movie has become very popular in Chinese theaters and you can watch there both in 3D screens and traditional screens.
The movie is being taken off from regular (non-3D) theaters because the government has ordered that a made in China movie on the life of Confucius will be shown instead of Avatar. There is nothing shocking about this government order either because China has restrictions on foreign films.
The only problem is that many Chinese people will not be able to enjoy Avatar in cinema halls now. It shows that Hollywood movies are making inroads in the heart of Chinese people and Chinese movies are finding it difficult to compete. There is no politics involved in it. Perhaps, Chinese government should allocate more funds and freedoms to Chinese movie makers so that they can make popular movies.
I am giving you trailers of Avatar and Confucius movies below from YouTube:
No news is good news for Japan Airlines at the moment. Well, the company got saved by government fund and for the time being, it is getting a second. However, for this second chance, its workers will have to pay a heavy price. Nearly one third of the workers will lose jobs and this has come perhaps at the worst possible time to them. Japanese economy is suffering badly at this moment. Finding new jobs will become a very big challenge for the workers who will be axed. 31 routes and 53 planes will also have to go from the airlines. So, it is going to downsize its operation.
Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan is providing the fund and the plan for the survival and turnaround of Japan Airlines. According to the plan, if things go as they are planned then Japan Airlines might see some profit in the fiscal year ending March 2012. Well, I surely like to see that this plan works. Otherwise, things will get even worse for the company after two years.
Many workers will perhaps wonder why their jobs would be axed despite pouring down billions of Yens from the taxpayers’ money.
In 2009, we have seen US automakers suffer due to the economic recession in the country. In fact, General Motors became bankrupt and financial support from American government saved it from becoming a thing of the past. Billions of dollars from Troubled Asset Relief Program saved the company last year and still, most of the shares are owned by the United States Treasury. Now, Japanese economy is suffering and it is now news flash that Japan Airlines has filed for bankruptcy. Consumer confidence in Japan is very low at the moment and there is really no good news for the economy of the country. There is little hope for Japanese economy to revive in 2010.
Will Toyota and Honda suffer the same way like GM or Chrysler suffered in USA in 2009? I don’t think so. The main reason that I feel that Toyota and Honda will not suffer even if Japanese economy suffers its worst condition in 2009 is the fact that two companies could diversify themselves globally in a good way.
Of course, Japan is an important market for them. However we have to remember that Japanese is a smaller market compared to that of USA. Secondly, Toyota is in good position in the America market.
Now, majority of people on earth (excluding children) perhaps have a mobile phone set. However, there is still room for growth in Asia and that is why, I am not surprised to see the target of selling 500 million mobile phone sets in 2010 in the whole world. There is still a lot of room for growth in Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia and Pakistan. All of these countries are in Asia. I think that Nokia is the market leader in these countries. The company has market share of nearly 40% worldwide.
Rick Simonson of Nokia recently stated this goal. He said, "There is definitely not enough room for more than 4-5 operating systems. Scale is critical. For instance, Palm's OS is very good, but with less than 1 percent of the global volumes, it won't be too appealing to developers."
Recently, Rick Simonson gave an interview to Economic Times and there he said it. He is Nokia's mobile phone unit chief.
Nokia is falling behind smart phone segment but it is doing very well in the concept phone segment. I personally think that Nokia will be able to meet its target and sell nearly half million handsets this season.
Universal Studios is going to invest nearly 2.7 billion dollar to make a theme park in South Korea. This will be will be the third theme park of the company in Asia and the theme park that is going to be built in South Korea will be the largest this continent. The good thing is that Universal Studios have got some key partners to build the mega project. It will be built in HwaseongCity is near the capital of the country Seoul. The project was first announced in 2007 and since then Universal Studios has been working hard to get some partners for the project.
Now, the good news is that South Korea’s Lotte Group and POSCO have joined with the company with their support. The construction of the project will start in 2011 and it is expected to be finished by 2014.
In the theme park, there will be also WaterPark and golf course. So, it will be a good place for South Koreans go hand out and people from other countries will also visit here and enjoy the park and the rich people will surely like the golf course.
Singapore is a country that relies on trading for its economic prosperity. In fact, it has a port and in this port, the ships of other countries come and they bring the produce and the products are packaged or refined and again shipped to other countries. Thus it has become a trade hub of the entire region. So, the economy of Singapore is largely dependent on the economies of other countries in Asia. We have seen that the top Asian countries like China, India, South Korea and Japan have suffered from economic recession of 2008 and 2009. So, Singapore suffered a lot when it comes to overseas shipment.
Now, it seems that the worst is over as far as global economic recession is concerned and this condition is reflected also in Singapore’s exports statistics. For example in December 2009, exports figure of Singapore saw healthy growth in electronic shipment and non-oil exports.
So we can expect that 2010 will be a better year compared to 2009. However, we have to remember that the impact of recession is still going on in many countries of the world and as a result we may not see a sustained and healthy growth in the export figure of the country in the next few months.
Zoom Laptop Fair 2010 is going to start from January 20- that means on Wednesday. It is a 3 day fair and the venue is Bangabandhu International Conference Centre. Most of the major laptop makers in the world are going to display their products. Maker Communication is the organizer of this event and from the name of this event, you can also understand that mobile phone operator Citycell is the sponsor. Zoom is the name of the Internet product of Citycell. There will be 15 stalls and 5 pavilions at the fair. The visitors would have to pay 20 Taka for the entrance ticket. One good thing is that a part of the collections from tickets will be allocated for the poor people suffering severe cold wave and the organizers are also going to allocate some funds for a student of NorthSouthUniversity who is suffering from a deadly disease.
If you live in Dhaka and you are interested to buy a laptop now or in near future then you should really visit Zoom Laptop Fair 2010. I have been there for the last two years and I noticed that on both occasions there were many laptops and some companies gave attractive discounts. Even if you cannot afford to buy now still you should visit the event because this is the best opportunity for you to look at maximum number of models from all the companies.
This time, the organizers are hoping that nearly 5,000 laptops will be sold in 3 day-long fair. Acer, Asus, HP and Lenovo are acting as co-sponsors in Zoom Laptop Fair 2010.
Hyundai Motor Group could fight against economic recession of 2009 some better than some of the other major car manufacturers. The company is expecting a strong 2010 that will be filled with growth and strong performance. It wants to increase spending on Research and Development and equipments. It also wants to produce more cars. Most of all, in 2010, Hyundai will take the matter of environment friendly cars seriously.
"The group plans to continue investments in the development and popularisation of more fuel efficient and eco-friendly cars, for which demand is seen jumping once the economy recovers," the group said in a statement.
The plan came as the group, the world's No.4 car maker based on first-half 2009 sales, is targeting combined sales of 5.40 million vehicles in 2010, compared with 4.63 million last year. [ID:nTOE60201C]
One good thing that Hyundai has done in the recent years is that it has focused the Indian market very well and has seen some impressive success in this market.
It is almost 6 months that Tata Nano cars are running at various Indian cities. It has been more or less a success story for Tata Motors as many people bought this model. The success in India has perhaps encouraged the company to take the initiative to export it to other countries. Well, I don’t think that in the original goal, USA was in the list. However, now, Ratan Tata and his colleagues are eager to market it in America. If really they can do so in the next 2 years then it will become a small revolution for Indian auto industry.
Tata Nano: Cheapest Car in The World
Tata Nano is the cheapest car in the world and its price is around $2,500 dollar. The next cheapest is perhaps Maruti 800. Tata Nano was designed and developed in India and Tata Motors created a new trend in Asia in the small inexpensive car segment. Now, many companies in India and China are eager to produce small and inexpensive cars. I guess that in the next 5 years, we will see many such cars. However, until now, no company could produce a cheaper car than Nano. And the models that are in the pipeline or in the planning process won’t beat this price either- not for the time being at least.
Reception in India
The reception in Indian market has largely been positive. Most people like the car because it is not only cheap but also fuel efficient (26 kilometres per litre). This is an important factor in the Indian market. India imports most of its fuels and that is why fuel efficiency is always a factor. Moreover, Nano is targeted towards the middle class income group. So, they cannot afford to spend a lot of money after gasoline. However, Nano could not unsettle Maruti from the market leader in the Indian auto sector. Thus, it sold well but not enough to increase the market share of Tata Motors significantly.
US car market not ideal for cheap car
Yes, if you have any idea about US auto market then you must have known that it is not an ideal place for small and inexpensive cars. USA is the richest country on earth and people here can easily afford to buy expensive cars and even they care less about fuel efficiency than Indian consumers. So, it will be an interesting thing to see whether Nano can become successful in USA. I don’t think that it will be a success there and I am stating my reasons a little later in this entry.
Safety Standards
This is one area I think that Nano may struggle in US market. The safety standards are very high in America. Until now, we have not seen any major problem with safety standards of this car but we have to remember that it mainly has been running in Indian roads. Secondly, I am also interested to see whether Nano can pass the environment requirements in USA.
Price will be $8000?
It is sure that the price of Tata Nano in USA wont be $2,500. First of all, it is the US market and Tata Motors will have more production cost if they want to set up a manufacturing plant in America and produce it there. Even, suppose they want to ship it from India, still, they have to bear the shipping cost and have to spend a lot of money to promote the car among American consumers. Finally, I am sure that they will need to make some adjustments to meet the strict US rules on safety and environment. Thus, the price will go up and there are some reports that the price of this car in America will be around $8,000 which is more than 3 times of the price in India.
Why Nano won’t be a success in USA?
I have already stated that this car will not be a success in USA. I feel that first of all, Tata is not a familiar name among the people in America. Secondly, small and inexpensive cars do not have the same attraction to America consumers like their Indian counterparts. For US people, the cheapest car in the world does not sound anything special. Instead, they always look for quality and comfort. Thirdly, I don’t think that Tata can afford to carry out massive promotional campaigns to familiarize its car.
The world's cheapest car is being readied for sale in the US, but by the time India's Tata Nano is retrofitted to meet emissions and safety
standards, it won't be that cheap.
Tata Technologies Ltd., the global engineering arm of the Tata group conglomerate, brought the tiny car to Detroit as a publicity stunt for the engineering group.
Indian car companies need a vision to enter US market
Japanese car companies have been there in US market for many years. Korean car companies are successful too. Now Chinese car companies are entering this market. However, Indian auto companies are still not present here. I don’t see any vision among Indian auto companies in this regard. They should have a vision and some clear goals in this regard. After all, US market is the most attractive auto market.
So, all the best to Tata Nano in its journey to the US market.
Until today, most of us thought that human rights activists mainly suffered from hacking of their Gmail accounts. Now, it seems that the foreign journalists were also the target and they suffered too. This is now hot news and this accusation just came to the western media a few hours ago.
The hijacked Gmail accounts used by the journalists in Beijing had been set to forward all e-mails to a stranger's address, the Foreign Correspondents' Club of China said in an e-mail to members. The group did not name the news organizations hit by the attack or say when the hijacking occurred.
"We remind all members that journalists in China have been particular targets of hacker attacks in the last 2 years," the group's e-mail said.
There is yet any official reaction from Chinese government. I personally think that Chinese government should take this issue very seriously. After all, now a days, everything is Internet related. If the foreign suffer this kind of attack then today or tomorrow, foreign companies would suffer too and that would not be a good thing for a country like China.
The presidential election of 2010 in Sri Lanka is going to take place on January 26, 2010. There are nearly 22 candidates but the main content will be between the incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa who is supported by United People's Freedom Alliance. His main rival in the election is Sarath Fonseka who is supported by many of the opposition parties. Just a week is left before the election and there is a lot of hope that the election will be peaceful. A few months ago, the civil war ended in the country.
There have been some violent clashes between the supporters of these two candidates and some bloodshed also took place.
A supporter of opposition candidate Gen Sarath Fonseka was killed in a clash involving ruling party activists in the north-western town of Waryiapola.
Later, a ruling party supporter was killed in a nearby town when a ruling party campaign office was bombed.
The 26 January presidential election is taking place amid heightened tension.
The campaign has largely been peaceful so far with some isolated incidence of violence. In the last few elections, violence was a very natural matter. This time, hopefully, the people of Sri Lanka can witness a largely peaceful election.
No, I am not talking about the Google Nexus One phone that was launched a few days ago. I am talking about a mobile phone that runs on Android operating system or platform. You know that Google developed Android platform for mobile phones and also netbooks. Motorola has come up with an Android phone in the market of South Korea earlier today. The name of the phone is MOTOROI and it runs on Android. The consumers in Korea will be able to buy it from SK Telecom Co. SK Telecom Co is the largest wireless operator in the country and the price of this phone is around $800.
The phone is good for internet browsing, watching videos and playing games. It is also not bad for taking pictures and its display is 3.7 inch. As a result, this MOTOROI smart phone will be a competitor to Apple’s iPhone. In Korean market, the price of iPhone is the same $800.
Of course, South Korea has two of the leading mobile phone manufacturing companies in the world.
Samsung and LG are Korean companies and they have also smart phones that are very popular in this market. It should be noted here that the price of Samsung, LG and smart phones are a little bit lower than Apple’s iPhone.
Apple has started to take this market seriously because South Korea is one of the riches countries on earth and people here are very much interested about new gadgets.
The condition of Motorola is only going down day by day. Only three years ago, it was the second largest Mobile phone manufacturer in the world after Nokia but now it has gone to the fifth position. On the other hand, Korean companies Samsung and LG have emerged as second and third largest manufacturers and they are also planning to introduce a number of mobile phones that would run on Android platform.
When it comes to hybrid cars, Toyota is the market leader. No other company except Honda has been able to challenge them. Even Honda is some way behind than Toyota in this market segment. You know that a hybrid car is such a car that can run both on gas and electricity.
Toyota now has the plan to produce one millions hybrid cars annually from 2011. The company’s high officials feel that because of environmental concern, many people in future will want to buy this kind of car. At the same time, in countries like in USA, Obama administration has been giving a lot of emphasis on environment friendly and low emission car.
Honda Motors produces a rival hybrid, the Insight, whose popularity has so far trailed behind that of the Prius.
Toyota plans to add about 10 new hybrid models in the next few years to its existing lineup and to increase the number of sites where it can assemble hybrid models, the Nikkei said without citing sources.
Toyota's global production of hybrid cars is likely to have been 500,000 units in 2009, accounting for about 8 percent of its overall production, the paper said.
So, it seems that this idea of producing more hybrid cars will be a good thing for the company and bring more revenue.
I really cannot understand why American companies like GM and Ford are not that much interested in challenging Toyota in this market. After all as more people are now becoming conscious about environment, the future of this kind of car is only bright.
You know that Google and Chinese government are at odds with each other about the hacking of some Gmail accounts of human right activists. Now, Chinese state run media has publicly criticized Google for its commercial agenda. In the last few days, Chinese government did not say anything clearly but now it seems that they are now going to take a tough stance. You can find the open editorial in China daily.com in which they criticized the move of Google and has stated that it was done mainly to find an exis strategy after not getting huge success in the Chinese market. Google has strongly denied this accusation and stated that they had good revenue in China in the last quarter.
It also criticized the motto of Google "do no evil” and termed it as “hypocritical"
About the hacking, this open editorial said that hacking happens in different parts of the world and it was unfortunate to single out China about this problem.
Now, it seems that Chinese government will act some strongly with Google and other internet companies who are not willing to listen to the censorship regulations of the country. On the other hand, it can be a strategy for bargaining. It is really not clear that what Chinese government wants or Google wants.
Google is stating that it would not follow the censorship regulations and on the other hand, Chinese government is strict about censorship because China is a communist country. So, we are still not sure whether the two sides are willing to bargain and compromise or whether they will stand on their positions and Google will have to come out of China very soon.
This was my first blog and I started it on July 17 2005. Thus, many years have passed and I have grown into a full time blogger with some modest success. However, I cold never work seriously on this blog because I was busy with other blogs. I needed to ear money through blogging and this way, I really did not have enough time. Interesting thing is that right now, I have been suffering from bad health for the last 6 months and I need to get back to blogging. I have realized that I need to do something with strong passion. Thus, I felt that I should come back to my root again.
Asianbiz is the blog that I started my blogging journey. It was not a successful blog but I have a lot of emotional attachment with it. I failed for two reasons. At first, I did not have enough knowledge and information about blogging and earning money. Then, when I acquired the knowledge and information, I could not give time for this blog. However, good thing is that we continued the blog and this way, it did not die. So, this blog will be updated from now regularly and I will try my best to write quality content here from now.
Right now, it seems that the worst impact of global economic recession is over for Chinese economy and it can again come back to the path of recovery and regeneration. The Economist has a good analysis about it: China's economy Not just another fake. It compared with the current condition of China with that of Japan in 1980s. That time, Japanese economy fell into problem and then never really came back. According to this analysis of The Economist, Chinese economy is not in a bad condition and it will not get busted.
Robert Salomon at Seeking Alpha does not agree with this kind of analysis of The Economist and I would ask you to read his view on it: Is China a Bubble? Two Opposing Views.
Steve Girsky is the man who is under a lot of discussion right now because of his salary. He was a director at General Motors and now, he’s going to act as senior adviser to chairman and CEO Edward Whitacre.
Whitacre, who had no auto industry background before joining GM, has said he is relying heavily on Girsky's guidance as he pushes a new management team toward a goal of returning GM to profitability as soon as this year.
GM, which emerged from bankruptcy in July more than 60 percent held by the U.S. Treasury, said its board of directors approved the terms of Girsky's consulting agreement on Tuesday and he will be paid retroactive to Dec. 1.
He used to get 200,000 in his old position and now he is going go get another 900,000 per year. It is a lot of money but giving advice in companies like GM is not an easy matter either.
Now, Indians can get a test of American style biking. Harley-Davidson, one of the most popular and iconic bike producers of the U.S., showcased its bikes at the recently held 10th Indian Auto Expo, at the Pragati Maidan in New Delhi.
Harley-Davidson (www.harley-davidson.in.) is the number one producer of cruising and touring motorcycles in the world and one of the strongest bike brands. It produces heavy bikes and all the necessary motorcycle parts, accessories and general merchandise. The company currently sells motor bikes in more than seventy countries in the world but North America is still the company’s largest market. Now, the company is looking forward to sell its bikes in the Indian market.
Harley-Davidson at the Delhi Auto Expo 2010:
At the 10th Indian Auto Expo, Harley-Davidson showcased its custom painted Harley-Davidson Softail FLSTF FAT BOY. It will be the first motorcycle to go on sale in India in tri-color accent. Anoop Prakash, Managing Director, Harley-DavidsonIndia, said that for more than a century, Harley-Davidson had been inspiring motorists around the world to celebrate their passion for riding. As a leader in the leisure motorcycle segment worldwide, his company is naturally suited to lead and define leisure riding in India. Harley-Davidson came to India with a promise to bring riders the pure Harley-Davidson experience with bikes from every family. The Hindu Business Line reports:
The legendary motorcycle brand is set to enter India with its full range of five motorcycle families, the Sportster, the Dyna, the VRSC, the Softail and the top-of-the-range Touring series. Twelve models of Harley-Davidson would be launched in the country, The Managing Director of Harley-DavidsonIndia, Mr Anoop Prakash, says this is set to develop a whole new leisure riding segment in India.
Harley Davidson planning to do business in India:
After China, India is the second largest two-wheelers market in the world. More than 500-600 super bikes are sold every year in India. The super-bike segment in India is currently dominated by Japanese bike makers including Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha.
For a long time, Harley Davidson has been eyeing the Indian market. Since 2005, the company is in talks with the Indian government but the two sides failed to reach any agreement on the grounds of import duty and emission standards. Earlier, there was no specified emission standard for motorcycles over 500cc engine displacement which prohibited the import of Harley-Davidson and other manufacturers of similar bikes.
In May 2007, Mr. Timothy Hoelter, Vice-President, Government Affaires, Harley Davidson Inc, came to India for the third time. He told reporters that his company is very keen to enter the Indian market but the 60% import duty plus 30% local taxes almost doubled the prices of their bikes. He also said that he would continue his visit to India to talk with government officials and promised to harmonize his company’s products according to the Indian emission standards. Mr. Hoelter’s son-in-law is an Indian and he said that he had wanted to see Harley-Davidson bikes on the roads of New Delhi.
In 2007, Susan Schwab, U.S. Trade Representative, met with Kamal Nath, Minister for Commerce and Industry. Mr. Nath had agreed to give access to Harley-Davidson to the Indian market in exchange for the export of Indian mangoes to the U.S. India recently changed its pollutions regulations but tariff issue could not be solved. Harley-Davidson officials will continue their plea to the government to exempt their products from import duty.
In August 2009, Harley-Davidson finally announced its plan to enter the Indian market. The company established subsidiary at Gurgaon, near Delhi and started to look for dealers. Despite the high price tag of the motorcycles, Harley-Davidson believed that the local demand would help them to overcome this problem.
Harley-Davidson models for the Indian market:
At the initial stage, Harley-Davidson will bring five full ranges of motorcycles in India. They are:
Sportster
XL 883L SPORTSTER
XL 1200N NIGHTSTER
XL 883R ROADSTER
XR 1200X
Dyna
FXDB STREET BOB
FXDC SUPER GLIDE CUSTOM
VRSC
VRSCDX NIGHT ROD SPECIAL
Softail
FLSTF FAT BOY
LSTC HERITAGE SOFTAIL CLASSIC
Touring
FLHR ROAD KING
FLHX STREET GLIDE
FLHTCUSE ULTRA CLASSIC ELECTRA GLIDE (CVO)
Price range:
The base price of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle will start from Rs.6,95,000 up to Rs. 34,95,000. Anoop Prakash said that they have tried to give all the Indian bike enthusiasts an opportunity to join the Harley-Davidson family. Harley-Davidson will also provide genuine parts and accessories and a wide range of riding apparel and merchandise through their dealer network in India. The Harley-Davidson FXDC Super Glide Custom is priced at Rs.15,40,000. It will be customized according to buyer’s choice. The Electra Glide Touring model is the costliest of all with a price tag of Rs.34,95,000 each. Bookings for the motorcycle will start from April at local dealers situated in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chandigarh. The company is looking forward to increase its dealership numbers to twenty in the next five years.
Promotional events:
In order to familiarize Indian riders with Harley-Davidson motorcycles, the company organized ‘boot camps’ and ‘founders rides’ in Mumbai, New Delhi, and Bangalore, wheremore than three hundred riding enthusiasts got the opportunity to learn about the motorcycles and the model families and provide their ideas.
Harley-Davidson has further plans to arrange more such promotional events. The company considers anyone between 18 and 64 as its potential customer.
Establishing manufacturing plants in India:
For now, the Harley-Davidson motorcycles will be imported as completely-built-units with105% import duty. Anoop Prakash said that his company is interested to set up plants in India if it is viable.
MOU with ICIC Bank:
During the auto expo, Harley-Davidson also announced that it had signed a MOU with ICIC Bank to finance buyers to buy Harley-Davidson motorcycles. ICIC will offer loans for up to five years at an interest rate of 11% for buying Harley-Davidson bikes. The lowest calculated EMI (Equated Monthly Installment), for the Harley 2010 HD XL883 Low Sportster, is Rs. 12,485. It would further increase for other models.
In Google’s official blog, you can read this entry to know more about the issue: A new approach to China
According to it, Google in China has suffered various cyber attacks in the recent months. Not only Google but also, another 20 companies were victims of the attacks.
The main goal of these attacks was to hack the Gmail accounts of human right activists in the country. A number of Gmail accounts of human rights activists based in Europe, USA and China have been breached by ‘phishing scams or malwares’. So, Google has advised everyone to be careful about their email accounts. Google has also stated that it won’t from now censor results on Google.cn. So, most likely Chinese government will not agree to this matter and Google will come out of its operations in the country.
Google is a very big company in the US and this decision from the company would surely create a lot of media interest in USA and Europe. It will be interesting to look about the possible implications on foreign investment in China.
At this point of time, the situation in China is a dilemma both for Chinese government and foreign companies like Google. They both need each other. For foreign companies, China is a market of 1 billion people and this is a market they simply cannot ignore. If a large company does it then it will lose the market. In fact, Chinese market has double attraction for any large multinational company. On the one hand, China is itself a market of one billion people. Secondly, it has become the global manufacturing hub because of cheap but skilled workforce.
Chinese government has the same kind of dilemma. On the one hand, it wants to keep its grip on power and keep communist style of ruling intact. On the other hand, it needs foreign companies to invest to create jobs. Otherwise, social unrest will take place. Chinese economy is suffering from economic recession.
As for Google, Chinese government officials are perhaps not that much concerned because China has a search engine of its own. If Google was a car company or any kind of manufacturing company then Chinese government would have been concerned more.
A few hours ago, Haiti was hit by a very powerful earthquake. Many people have died in it and it is still unclear about the exact nature of destruction caused by it. It was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake and you can easily understand that many buildings got destroyed or damaged.
It was such a powerful earthquake that even the presidential palace got damaged. However, the president of the country and his wife are safe now. In a hotel collapse, nearly 200 people died.
Many people died, got injured and I think that many people are trapped under rubbles. Thus, it is a human tragedy. The first pictures of the earthquake’s destruction were posted in Internet- Twitter.
International community has already come forward and the country will help aid in the next few days. US President Obama has stated his condolence at the tragedy faced by Haiti and has expressed his desire to support the country in this difficult time. China is also sending some aid.
Many people of Haitian origin live in USA and their relatives are now worried. It is now almost 3 AM in the country and people are still working to clear the wreckage and they are searching for any survivors.
Haiti is one of the poorest countries on earth and people here are already suffering a lot. This earthquake just made their suffering worse and perhaps this is the time to stand beside the people of this country.
I am going to update this entry in the next few hours, with more news and information.
8:06 AM GMT (3:06 AM Haiti Time):
The only good news at this moment amidst all the bad news is that the main airport of Haiti is mostly unhurt and thus, other countries can bring support easily.
Because of economic recession, US car companies suffered a lot of loss. Even foreign companies like Toyota did not a have time. The financial year is going to end in March 2010 and there is strong possibility that Toyota might suffer loss in the current fiscal year. Now, the company is trying hard to cut cost and get some profit from the American market. However, several things are acting against it. The recession is almost over but jobs are not back and car sale has not gone back to pre-recession time. This is a very big factor that any car company has to deal these days. The demand is coming back but not very strongly.
The second problem is that the relationship if Yen-Dollar exchange rate. It has been continually working against this Japanese company. Finally, Toyota officials in the US are also at a loss to find out the areas that they can improve a lot. They feel that things are not that bad and there is no special area that needs a lot of improvement. Instead, they feel that they have to go for an overall improvement strategy.
