SingTel Chairman Mr Chumpol NaLamlieng to Resign (Singapore)
Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) has announced that Mr Chumpol
NaLamlieng will resign as Chairman and Director of the company, and will be
succeeded by Mr Simon Israel at the end of July.
Mr NaLamlieng was appointed a non-executive and independent Director in 2002 and has been Chairman of the Board since 2003. He was President
of Siam Cement for 13 years before stepping down in 2005 and his career there spanned more than 30 years.
According to Mr Kai Nargolwala, Lead Independent Director, the Group has indeed been fortunate to have benefited from Khun Chumpol’s vast experience and understanding of the business environment in Asia. His acumen and insights have been instrumental in guiding the SingTel Group through its journey of transformation and helping to reinforce its position as Asia’s leading communications group, particularly through periods of severe economic downturn as in the recent past.
Mr Israel, a non-executive and non-independent Director of SingTel since 2003, has been appointed by the Board to take over as Chairman. He will retire as Executive Director, President and Board Member of Temasek Holdings, effective 1 July 2011. Other changes to the Board In addition, Mr Graham John Bradley AM and Mr Nicky Tan will be stepping down as non-executive and independent Directors after the AGM. Mr Bradley has been a
Director since 2004 and Mr Tan, since 2002.
Spice i2i postpones Affinity Group acqusition (Singapore)
Spice i2i has seen its acquisition of Affinity Group in Indonesia delayed.
According to the company, the US$175 million acquisition of the Indonesian handset distributor has been delayed until 16 May due to differences in valuing the firm’s assets.
Spice i2i says it found that Affinity Group overstated its net assets in December by around USD 10 million and stated that it is seeking clarification from the company.
Samsung shares set to drop as Apple adds to challenges (Korea)
BGC Partners Inc has stated that Samsung Electronics Co. shares are poised to drop amid increased competition and the possible loss of orders from iPad-maker Apple Inc., recommending a so-called short sale of the stock.
As per BGC’s Singapore-based sales manager Jamie Coutts, investors should bet on a tumble for the world’s largest maker of memory chips and flat-screen panels to the bottom of the three-month trading range of US$786.25 to US$878.75.
He added that going full blown on this call now. When you get a trading range like that over a certain period of time, usually the market tends to start to preempt the price action around the resistance and support levels. BGC is a securities dealer headed by Howard Lutnick.
Shares in South Korea’s biggest company have slid 3.6 percent this year. The Suwon, South Korea-based manufacturer of Galaxy smartphones reported a 30 percent drop in first-quarter profit as competition drove down prices.
With both firms suing each other for patent infringements in smart devices, it is not surprising that Apple is looking to dump Samsung for all its major component needs, Coutts’s colleague Amir Anvarzadeh wrote in a separate e-mail to clients.
Short selling is the sale of borrowed stock in the hope of buying it back at a lower price.
SK Telecom, KT suspend online iPad 2 sale (Korea)
SK Telecom and KT have suspended online sale of Apple’s iPad 2 tablet due to tight supplies less than a week after they launched the sale.
According to SK Telecom, the iPad 2 inventory has been depleted and the company apologises for failing to provide enough supplies due to the product’s global supply shortages. The companies declined to reveal sales.
Apple launched iPad in Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and eight additional countries last week after it went on sale in the US market in March.
Spice to invest $225.61 in mobile internet space (India)
Spice Mobility is planning to invest US$225.61 million this year to switch to being a technology company focused on the Mobile Internet space.
The company also unveiled the roadmap to complete the first phase of the switch by September this year. The switch will use Spice groups businesses across sectors and geographies to catapult the neglected i2i (Ivory coast to Indonesia) economies in to emerging digital economies with Mobile Internet.
The roadmap for the switch to being the Mobile Internet company includes having a global supply chain for R&D and market intelligence to be headquartered in Singapore. Spice is creating seven cluster distribution model in Indian mobile retail.
Spice will set aside around US$27.07 million worth of shares for employees in the employees welfare trust pursuant to the approved Scheme of Amalgamation. In addition, Spice will set-up global knowledge centre at Noida in National Capital Region.
TCL Q1 revenues grow by 44% (China)
TCL Communication has reported that its Q1 revenue grew by 44% to US$272.96 million from US$189.27 million in the same period a year ago.
Sales of handsets and accessories grew 51% to 8.7 million units in Q1. Due to ODM business shipment, the average selling price fell to US$31.2 from US$32.6, while the average selling price of own-branded products remained stable at US$33.
Sales volume in overseas markets grew 56 percent to 8.3 million units. Shipments to EMEA grew 62% to 3.3 million units, while sales in the Americas grew 60% to 4.4 million units.
In the APAC region, the sales volume reached 0.6 million, representing a 5 percent year-on-year growth following its expansion into markets such as Bangladesh and presence in existing markets such as the Philippines, Vietnam, Singapore and India.
In the PRC market, sales volume decreased 8% to 411,000 from 449,000. EBITDA grew 120 percent to US$24.20 million from US$10.94 million. Net profit increased 159 percent to US$23.17 million OR US$0.02 per share .
Apple offers iPad 2 in Japan
Apple is now offering the iPad 2 tablet PC in Japan. iPad 2 features a 9.7-inch LED-backlit LCD screen, dual-core A5 processor, two cameras, a front-facing VGA camera for FaceTime and Photo Booth, and a rear-facing camera that captures HD video, bringing the FaceTime feature to iPad users. iPad 2 delivers up to ten hours of battery life.
iPad 2 with Wi-Fi will be available in Hong Kong, India, Israel, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey and UAE on 29 April. The suggested retail price for the device is US$499 for the 16GB model, US$599 for the 32GB model and US$699 for the 64GB model.
iPad 2 with Wi-Fi + 3G will be available for a suggested retail price of US$629 for the 16GB model, US$729 for the 32GB model and US$829 for the 64GB model.
iMovie and GarageBand for iPad applications are available for USD 4.99 each from the App Store on iPad or itunes.com. The Smart Cover is available in a range of colours in polyurethane for US$39 or rich leather for US$69. iPad 2 will be available at Apple retail stores, select Apple authorized resellers, and online through the Apple Store. In addition, iPad 2 with Wi-Fi will be available in China beginning 6 May.
Apple confirms launch of White iPhone
Apple has confirmed that the white iPhone 4 will be available from 28 April.
White phones will be available from Apple’s online store, at Apple’s retail stores, AT&T and Verizon Wireless stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers.
The new colour will be available in Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Macau, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, UK and the US beginning 28 April and in many more countries around the world soon.
It will sell for a suggested retail price of US$199 for the 16GB model and US$299 for the 32GB model with a new two-year agreement.
XS2TheWorld opens office in London (UK)
XS2TheWorld, a mobile marketing agency has opened an office in London to capitalize on the UK’s mobile market.
The new office will join the company’s offices in Amsterdam, Singapore and Jakarta.
mBlox Closes New Fund Raising Round with Singapore’s EDBI (UK)
mBlox, a mobile transaction network has completed its latest round of fund raising. This round was supported by existing blue chip investors, including Norwest Venture Partners, Scale Ventures, Novus, Trident and Avanti and saw the first investment by Singapore’s global fund EDBI (EDB Investments).
The round, phased over three separate closes, has already enabled mBlox to undertake investment in the last quarter of 2010 and the remaining funds will be used for enhancing geographic coverage through acquisition and setting up new territories. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
