Sony Invests In Sharp. Would you invest in your competitor?

I didn't know how closely tied competing companies were in the industry of electronics. From this article from Bloomberg is shows that Sharp, Sony and Samsung seem to be co-dependent on each other in terms of investment. Would you do the same and invest in direct competitors? This article might provide some insight into their business strategy in terms of securing supply.

Sony Corp., the world's second-largest maker of consumer electronics, will invest in Sharp Corp.'s newest liquid-crystal display factory to meet demand for brighter flat-panel televisions.

Sony agreed to buy 34 percent of a venture that will operate the factory Sharp is building in Sakai City, Osaka, the companies said today, without providing an investment amount. Sharp, Japan's largest LCD maker, will own the remaining 66 percent.

The venture reduces Sony's reliance on main supplier Samsung Electronics Co. as LCD TV sales are forecast to rise 29 percent this year, outpacing demand for plasma sets. UBS AG and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. predict a shortage of LCDs will persist in 2008.

``The stake will give Sony some clout in determining production schedules and secure a stable supply of panels,'' Osamu Hirose, an analyst with Tokai Tokyo Research Center, said by telephone from Tokyo. He recommends buying Sony shares ``on weakness.''

The Sakai plant, the most advanced in the industry, will produce screens measuring as much as 60 inches diagonally. The companies expect to set up the venture in April 2009, with the factory scheduled to begin operations that fiscal year.

The plant will have a monthly production capacity of 72,000 glass substrates, from which panels are cut, Sony and Sharp said. Initial production is set at 36,000 per month.

Factory Investment

Sony agreed to invest more than 100 billion yen ($926 million) in the Sharp plant, the Nikkei newspaper reported today, without saying where it got the information. In July last year, Sharp said it would invest 380 billion yen to build the factory.

Sony rose 1.2 percent to close at 5,200 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, while Sharp was unchanged at 2,100 yen. Samsung declined 1.7 percent to 571,000 won on the Korea Exchange.

Samsung and Sony in 2004 set up S-LCD Corp., a panel-making venture that has invested about 3.9 trillion won ($4.1 billion) in two factories to make screens measuring 40 inches to 52 inches.

The Japanese company overtook Samsung as the world's largest LCD TV maker by revenue during the fourth quarter, researcher DisplaySearch estimated this month. Sony plans to sell 10 million units of its Bravia LCD TVs in the year ending March 31, up from 6.3 million a year earlier.

``In the long term, Sony's agreement with Sharp will have an impact on Samsung as it may need to find another secure customer,'' Woo Jun Sik, an analyst at Tong Yang Investment Bank, said by phone from Seoul. ``With Japanese panel makers becoming aggressive in the LCD market, competition in the industry may intensify.''

Smaller Portion

Sony probably got 58 percent of its LCD TV panels from Samsung in the three months ended Sept. 30, down from 91 percent a year earlier, Woo said.

Japanese companies are entering partnerships to secure supplies as LCD televisions gain popularity over plasma sets. Global LCD TV shipments are estimated to rise 29 percent to 101 million sets this year, almost seven times the number for those with plasma screens, said James Kim, an analyst at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. President Fumio Otsubo said in January that it faces ``difficulties'' in securing LCDs as televisions using these panels outsell plasma TVs, its main business.

The maker of Panasonic-brand electronics is spending 300 billion yen to build an LCD factory in Hyogo prefecture, western Japan, that will be owned by a venture between Matsushita and Hitachi Ltd.

Sharp said in December it gained Toshiba Corp. as a customer. Sharp's share of sales to other companies from LCD panels, including those to be made at the Sakai plant, will probably exceed 30 percent in the fiscal year starting April 1, from 20 percent at present, President Mikio Katayama said in January.

(image from Krunker.com)

Microsoft's New Business Strategy - Share The Technology

Seeking to satisfy European antitrust officials, Microsoft said on Thursday that it would open up and share many more of its technical secrets with the rest of the software industry and competitors according to this NYTimes.com article

It is now the era of convergence. If Microsoft does not open up, then it is set to fail. I think this is the reason for this sudden generosity. The world's standards have now evolved and Microsoft has been forced to evolve with it.

Microsoft executives, in a conference call, the article mentions that they have characterized the announcement as a “strategic shift” in the company’s business practices and its handling of technical information. They also portrayed the moves as only partly a nod to the continuing challenge Microsoft faces from Europe’s antitrust regulators.

The broader goal, they said, is to bring Microsoft’s flagship personal computer products — the Windows operating system and Office productivity programs — further into the Internet era of computing. Increasingly, people want a seamless flow of documents, data and programming code among desktop PCs and the Internet, especially as they make the shift from using software on a PC to using services on the Web.

“These steps are being taken on our own,” said Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive. The move, he said, was a recognition of Microsoft’s “unique legal situation,” but it was also the company’s effort to adapt to “the opportunities and risks of a more connected, more services-oriented world.”

Microsoft’s first step will be to put on its Web site 30,000 pages of technical documentation detailing how its Windows desktop and Microsoft server programs communicate and share information. Until now, that information was treated as a trade secret and was available only under a special license.

Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s chief software architect, said that by sharing more information, Microsoft would make it easier for others to write Internet programs that tap into personal information on a PC.

That, Mr. Ozzie added, should bring new sets of Web services that, for example, might match a person’s calendar information with a doctor’s schedule. Then smart software could make an appointment. At home, he noted, someone’s digital collection of music, movies and family photos would be more easily shuffled to different devices and screens.

“The Internet opens up a world of potential innovation,” Mr. Ozzie said. “And I think we’ve just scratched the surface.”

Microsoft announced other plans to open up its technology, like allowing developers to add more non-Microsoft document formats to its Office word processing and spreadsheet programs. Microsoft also made commitments to increase its support for industry standards and work with open-source software developers.

European regulators and others have long accused Microsoft of using its dominance in PC operating systems and software to lock out competitors. Last October, after a nine-year confrontation and a ruling against the company by Europe’s second-highest court, Microsoft agreed to share information with rivals on terms it had long resisted. Then, after fresh complaints from Microsoft’s competitors, the European antitrust regulators last month announced that they were opening new investigations of the company.

The new inquiry focuses partly on whether Microsoft has withheld essential information from competitors that want to make products that work smoothly with its Office programs. The Office products were not part of the previous European action against Microsoft.

After the Microsoft announcement on Thursday, the European Commission issued a skeptical statement. The commission said it “would welcome any move towards genuine interoperability,” or allowing software programs from different companies to work smoothly together. But the commission noted that “today’s announcement follows at least four similar statements by Microsoft in the past on the importance of interoperability.”

Asked about the commission’s statement, Bradford L. Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, said that the company’s moves were “qualitatively and quantitatively different from anything we’ve done in the past.”

“People will test us not just by our words but by our actions,” Mr. Smith added.

The industry is taking a wait-and-see stance on Microsoft’s plan. Linux, an open-source competitor to Windows, stands to benefit from Microsoft’s more open posture. Regulators and competition are “forcing Microsoft to change the way it does business,” said James Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation, a nonprofit consortium.

The change comes as Microsoft is trying to buy Yahoo, a huge deal that, if it proceeds, will be closely scrutinized by antitrust officials worldwide. The European regulators typically take a harder line than their American counterparts in challenging takeovers.

“To get the deal approved, Microsoft has to convince the European regulators that it has changed its spots on interoperability, no longer acting like a proprietary monopoly,” said Ken Wasch, president of the Software and Information Industry Association, a trade group that includes Microsoft competitors like I.B.M., Oracle, Sun Microsystems and Red Hat.

Microsoft is also trying to win approval from an international standards body for its new document format, Office Open XML. Microsoft contends its format is “open,” meaning files in the format can be created and read by anyone.

A different format standard for Internet-based computing, the OpenDocument Format, is supported by I.B.M., Google, Oracle and other Microsoft rivals. They assert that the proposed Microsoft standard is complex and layered with the company’s own features, making it effectively a corporate standard instead of a truly open one.

Last September, Microsoft failed to win enough support for its standard from the International Organization for Standardization. But the standards body will review that decision in proceedings that begin next week.

(image from istartedsomething.com)

Is Starbucks Losing Its Touch? Corporate Job Cut Part Of Business Strategy

In an attempt to gain footing during difficult times, Starbucks is tightening its belt. CNNmoney.com reports corporate level job cuts throughout Starbucks Corp., specifically mentioning last Thursday the cutting of 220 corporate-level jobs, another step in its restructuring plan to improve U.S. operations.

About 75 of those jobs are at its Seattle headquarters; the rest are in other Starbucks offices across the United States. The jobs involve finance, marketing and communications functions, according to spokesman Brandon Borrman. No retail- store level workers are being let go.

In addition, Starbucks (SBUX) won't fill 380 job positions it had budgeted. On that basis, the coffee-shop chain said that it's trimming its workforce by 600 jobs. It currently employs 170,000.

"We realize that we are operating in an intensely challenging environment, one in which our customers and partners (employees) have extremely high expectations of Starbucks," Chief Executive Howard Schultz told employees in a memo. "We have to step up to the challenge of being strategic as well as nimble as our business evolves."

Schultz retook the helm in early January to rejuvenate the Starbucks U.S. business, which has showed signs of fatigue after years of rapid growth and softer consumer spending of late.

The company is curbing U.S. store-growth plans, closing 100 underperforming stores and testing $1 coffee at some of its Seattle stores. It plans to discontinue financial forecasts and stop serving warm-egg breakfast sandwiches because it interferes with the aroma of coffee.

The company, Schultz said Thursday, also will increase its U.S. field operations to four offices from two, effective Feb. 25. It is part of his broader plan to better connect with consumers.

Starbucks shares, down 45% the past year, closed at $17.83, down 43 cents.

(image from wwff.wordpress.com)

Top 10 Project Management Tips by Smartdraw.com

Here's an article I got from SmartDraw.com. It essentially revolves around project management. It includes categories like planning and research, documentation, training as well as implementation. I think they know their stuff. It shows with SmartDraw's helpful list, created by project management specialists, is designed to help business professionals get their projects off to a quick and successful start.

1. Planning List. When beginning a new project, make a list of all departments within your organization and what you may need from them. This will give you a step-by-step checklist of how to begin nailing down the specifics of your project plan.
2. Know Your Enemies. Prepare a list of the possible risks to the successful completion of the project plan. Have a meeting and get input from others on what potential risks might be. Risks are the enemy, so know them and keep them close.
3. Documentation. Document all aspects of a requested change to a project plan (no matter how small), including who is requesting the change and where it falls as a priority. If it changes other priorities, write a detailed explanation of the change itself, and note who is authorizing the change. This not only gives you a clear picture of what you will need to do next, it serves as personal protection in the case of any miscommunication among others in the organization.
4. Priorities Change. This is a fact and a course of life. Yes, it makes project planning more difficult, but an effective project manager will let changes roll off their back and re-prioritize.
5. In the Loop. Project managers need to make themselves known to all of the departments involved in their project. If a department loses an employee, this may affect the project timeline, so it's important to be in the loop for any changes. Request that you be added to relevant departmental e-mail groups—the sooner you get information, the sooner you can revise your plan.
6. Urgency & Momentum. Convey a sense of urgency during the course of a project in order to keep the momentum going. Once you let your guard down, those around you who you need to help you meet your milestones, may start to feel relaxed too. As the PM, communicating an impending deadline in a productive manner is your key to keeping staff motivated.
7. Give Away the Keys. Delegate, delegate, delegate. Giving ownership to others on the team keeps them close and involved in the project, and they realize that the success or failure of the project is tied directly to them.
8. Training. Keep in mind any training that may be necessary for people on your team. This training time will need to be included in any timetable you create, as training can happen before and during a project life cycle.
9. Revisions. Your project plan will most likely go through many revisions. When communicating with others, make sure you are all referring to and working from the most current revision.
10. Audience. When communicating your project progress, keep in mind which audience you are addressing. Your supervisor may have different priorities than the client, so try and stay specific. Spending too much time talking about an area not directly related to your audience may give the impression that their aspect of the project is not being given the proper attention.

Toyota's Business Strategy Increases Profits by 9%

Toyota shows other businesses how to increase profits with their new business strategy of diversification, experimenting with emerging markets and exploring multiple revenue streams.

According to an NYTimes.com business article, Toyota is slowly gaining ground in their efforts to overtake General Motorls as the leading global automaaker by sales. “Operating income has become more equally balanced among the regions, with significant higher contributions from growing markets, specifically emerging and resource-rich countries,” Takeshi Suzuki, a board member, said in a statement.

That is a winning strategy for the company, analysts said.

“It’s a good thing for Toyota to diversify its revenue sources away from North America into the emerging markets,” said Hirofumi Yokoi, senior manager for Japan and South Korea forecasts at CSM Worldwide, a provider of automotive market forecasting services. “Mixed revenue sources will help the company hedge against risks in specific markets.”

While sales declined in North America, they increased in Asia, especially in Indonesia and Thailand, and in other regions including South and Central America, Africa and Oceania.

In the nine months through December, less than half of Toyota sales came from its showrooms in North America.

(image frm boston.com)

Sales to North America slid to 44 percent from 57 percent a year earlier, while Asian sales rose to 25 percent from 15 percent.

Toyota, which is widely expected to overtake G.M. in annual sales in 2008, has also expanded its global production footprint. Late last year, the company opened a plant in St. Petersburg, Russia, with a capacity to produce 50,000 cars a year.

The Russian factory is scheduled to begin operating next year and initially produce about 20,000 cars a year, Toyota said.

25 Fastest-Growing Tech Companies In America

Here are America's 25 Fastest-Growing Tech Companies according to Forbes.com:

The criteria of this list is primarily profitability, particularly over the past year, consensus earnings forecasts of at least 10% annualized earnings growth over the next three to five years as well as at least $25 million in sales over the past four quarters. That's not bad provided how the economy was behaving over the last year.

Rank	Company	Business	Price ($)	EPS Growth (%)1	5-Yr Sales Growth (%)2	Latest 12-Mo Sales ($Mil)
1	Google	online search engine, web portal	638.25	30	155	14,973
2	Salesforce.com	sales mgmt software	54.47	40	85	676
3	Ceradyne	aerospace, defense ceramics	46.26	10	75	744
4	Euronet Worldwide	banking software	27.33	20	69	821
5	FalconStor Software	archive, backup software	8.79	28	58	73
6	Cognizant Technology Solutions	consulting	27.11	32	53	1,960
7	Celgene	biotechnology	54.27	35	53	1,266
8	LifeCell	biotechnology	43.30	30	3,4	1773,4
9	Martek Biosciences	nutritional supplements	33.55	18	42	307
10	j2 Global Communications	internet telecom svcs	20.40	17	42	204
11	Red Hat	Linux software	19.65	22	41	493
12	Digital River	e-commerce services	33.24	23	41	335
13	Genentech	biotechnology	71.50	26	414	11,7254
14	DRS Technologies	aerospace, defense	52.88	12	39	2,999
15	L-3 Communications Holdings	communications equipment	105.58	17	38	13,540
16	Vocus	public relations mgmt software	29.04	30	37	54
17	CommVault Systems	archive, backup software	19.01	25	37	172
18	FARO Technologies	measuring equipment	22.21	18	35	176
19	Comtech Telecommunications	telecommunications equipment	47.35	13	31	464
20	Network Appliance	data storage hardware, software	22.88	18	30	3,012
21	NII Holdings	Latin America wireless telecom svcs	49.26	36	30	3,023
22	Diodes	semiconductors	24.33	19	28	388
23	Dolby Laboratories	audio technology	51.31	20	23	482
24	Gen-Probe	DNA diagnostic technology	62.70	21	23	395
25	Adobe Systems	imaging software	38.05	15	23	3,158

Prices as of January 11. EPS = Earnings Per Share
¹ Annualized, projected over next three to five years.
² Annualized.
³ Excludes Sales form research grants.
⁴ Unaudited.
Sources: Audit Integrity; Forbes; FT Interactive Data, Reuters Fundamentals, Thomson IBES and Worldscope via FactSet Research Systems; Standard & Poor's; Value Line