Baidu snaps up Chinese app store July 16, 2013 Baidu, the Chinese language internet search provider, said yesterday it has signed a $1.9bn deal to buy app store 91 Wireless, including taking a 57.4 per cent stake from NetDragon Websoft for $1.09bn. The acquisition is part of a push by Baidu to up its presence in the mobile market, provide users access to the [...]
Miner Rio Tinto puts brakes on sliding FTSE 100 July 16, 2013 MINING heavyweight Rio Tinto helped limit a slide in Britain’s blue-chip FTSE 100 index yesterday with a production update that assuaged some concern about Chinese demand. Rio said it would boost iron-ore output by at least 10 per cent and banked on selling more to China – providing a fillip after data on Monday showed [...]
Our current membership of the EU is stifling British dreams of free trade June 29, 2013 CHAMPIONING transatlantic free trade at last week’s G8 summit, David Cameron saw off a rearguard action from European governments desperate to cocoon Mediterranean farmers and French film-makers from competition. Tory veteran Ken Clarke claims British dreams of free trade can only be realised through the EU. In reality, the EU’s ebbing value as a free [...]
Reality is intruding on the extreme claims of climate change alarmists May 1, 2013 A COMMON feature of debates about global warming is that extreme claims often go unchallenged. At best, criticism is impolitic. Worse, critics are portrayed as tools of malign fossil fuel interests. Being impervious to push-back leads to what I describe in my recent book as climate change derangement syndrome, when normally sane people say dumb [...]
Geely reveals plans to increase sales of its iconic London taxis February 26, 2013 GEELY, the Chinese company that rode to the rescue of black cab maker Manganese Bronze last month, has unveiled ambitious plans for the company, including £100m of investment and 100 new UK jobs. The Chinese firm snapped up Coventry-based Manganese, which collapsed into administration in October after a production defect hit cashflows, last month for [...]
Genus posts drop in profit February 25, 2013 GENETICS company Genus yesterday posted a fall in pre-tax profit, as it expanded its footprint into the Chinese pig market. Pre-tax profit fell to £23.1m over the six months to December, down one per cent from the same period in 2011, as it was hit by higher feed costs and increased spending on research and [...]
Huawei reveals world’s fastest mobile phone February 24, 2013 SAMSUNG and Huawei yesterday became the first in a slew of electronics companies to showcase their latest technology at this year’s international mobile trade show. Mobile World Congress – the industry’s week-long jamboree that officially kicks off this morning – will see some of the biggest players in the market promoting new wares, as well [...]
New competition from the East February 24, 2013 HAZARD a guess which company is now the world’s third-biggest seller of smartphones, behind the obvious frontrunners Apple and Samsung. You might think of Nokia, BlackBerry or Motorola. But none of these three even appears in the world’s top five smartphone sellers, according to research from Gartner. It is Huawei, a Chinese company best known [...]
London Report: Low commodity prices drag on mining shares February 18, 2013 BRITAIN’S top share index fell yesterday, with the mining sector hit by low commodity prices and a resurgence in industrial unrest. However, the index remained above the key support level of 6,300, keeping it around five-year highs. The mining sector was the main drag on the FTSE 100, losing 0.9 per cent after copper fell [...]
Uncertainty threatens China growth February 18, 2013 CHINA is back at work after a week-long vacation for the Lunar New Year. Around the holiday, many Chinese, eager to learn more about the year ahead, visit a feng shui master to see if the new year will bring good fortune. Veteran Beijing-based soothsayer Chen Shuaifu, who regularly advises Chinese companies, predicted the Year [...]