Author Archives: Ian Chen

EU imposes massive fine on TV, monitor producers

For years, some top managers at electronics multinationals would hold secretive meetings in Europe and Asia to fix the global market on the most expensive part of television and computer monitors.

Then, said the European Union’s antitrust chief, it was off to the golf course, where the executives would complete the “green(s) meetings” at which they set up a massive scam that affected millions of consumers.

On Wednesday, EU antitrust Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said he got back at them, slapping the biggest ever cartel fine — over €1.47 billion ($1.96 billion) — on seven companies for allegedly rigging the international market of television and computer monitor tubes.

The EU’s Commission ruled that, for a decade ending in 2006, the companies — including Philips, LG Electronics and Panasonic — artificially set prices, shared markets and restricted their output.

Almunia said the companies’ actions “feature all the worst kinds of anticompetitive behavior that are strictly forbidden to companies doing business in Europe.”

Tubes were the essential part of television screens and computer monitors before they were replaced by LCD and plasma flatscreens. The cathode ray tubes accounted for up to 70 percent of the cost of a screen, the Commission said.

Almunia added that the tubes’ cost gave “an indication of the serious harm” the companies had caused. “There are victims: millions and millions of citizens.”

Philips and LG Electronics, which acted jointly and separately, were fined a combined €999 million ($1.3 billion) with Panasonic punished with a €157 million ($205 million) fine, adding to more if combined fines and affiliates were included.

Despite its cooperation with the Commission probe, Philips said in a statement it planned to appeal the fine since it considered it “disproportionate and unjust.”

“We regret that we are linked to this kind of behavior,” said Philips CEO Frans van Houten, as the company spoke of “alleged infringements of competition rules.”

LG Electronics said it is currently reviewing the European Commission’s decision with the intention to appeal the decision.

The South Korean TV maker argued that it should not be held liable for the conduct of LG Philips Display, a joint venture between LG and Royal Philips Electronics NV.

LG also disagreed with the way the Commission calculated the amount of fine.

“It appears that the European Commission has calculated the fine imposed on LG Electronics partly on the basis of TV sets and PC monitors sold by LG Electronics in Europe rather than just cathode ray tubes,” LG said in a statement.

Other companies fined were Samsung SDI, Technicolor, MTPD and Toshiba. Chunghwa of Taiwan escaped fines as it was the first to reveal the cartel to the EU.

“It is the biggest fine for a cartel, ever,” Almunia said. The fine exceeded the previous record of the 2008 fine of €1.38 billion ($1.8 billion) in a car glass cartel.

Almunia said the tubes cartel operated worldwide and that the companies involved fully realized they acted illegally.

After top management set the strategy at Green(s) meetings, lower-level company officials discussed the practical applications of the price-fixing scheme during so-called “Glass meetings,” referring to the core material of the tubes.

“The participants during this period seemed very happy about the outcome,” Almunia said, citing one document that read: “Because of the success of the ‘glass meeting’ everybody has been enjoying business this year.” Not the consumer, he said.

The cartel started when the tube market was still booming but lasted even when sales dropped with the advent of flatscreens. The cartel made sure the companies kept making profits even as demand for tube screens waned.

Almunia said the companies sought to keep prices as high as possible before new technologies came to the market. One document seized by the Commission gave the conspiring companies clear instructions: “Producers need to avoid price competition through controlling their production capacity.”

A separate document had a warning: “Everybody is requested to keep it as secret as it would be serious damage if it is open to customers or European Commission.” Another said: “Please dispose the following document after reading it.”

“Instead of competing with each other to innovate and provide the best product at the best price, they chose to conspire to artificially maintain returns in a declining technology market,” Almunia said. “This is why we fight cartels.”

He said the television and computer cartels were among the most sophisticated the EU had ever dealt with. He said they not only fixed prices, but also shared markets, coordinated capacity, output and customer allocation. In the computer monitor cartel, they even audited compliance.

The Commission started its probe with an antitrust raid on the companies in November 2007. Almunia said U.S. authorities were currently investigating the case as well.

 

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/12/06/eu-imposes-massive-fine-tv-monitor-producers.html

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Apple to produce line of Macs in the US next year

In this Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2011, file photo, Apple CEO Tim Cook speaks in front of a projection of the Macbook Air and Mac Desktop during announcement at Apple headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. Apple CEO Tim Cook said Thursday the company will produce one of its existing lines of Mac computers in the United States next year. Like most consumer electronics companies, Apple forges agreements with contract manufacturers to assemble its products overseas. (AP/Paul Sakuma)

Apple CEO Tim Cook says the company will move production of one of its existing lines of Mac computers from China to the United States next year.

Industry watchers said the announcement is both a cunning public-relations move and a harbinger of more manufacturing jobs moving back to the U.S. as wages rise in China.

Cook made the comments in part of an interview taped for NBC’s “Rock Center,” but aired Thursday morning on “Today” and posted on the network’s website.

In a separate interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, he said that the company will spend $100 million in 2013 to move production of the line to the U.S. from China.

“This doesn’t mean that Apple will do it ourselves, but we’ll be working with people and we’ll be investing our money,” Cook told Bloomberg.

That suggests the company could be helping one of its Taiwanese manufacturing partners, which run factories in China, to set up production lines in the U.S. devoted to Apple products. Research firm IHS iSuppli noted that both Foxconn Technology Group, which assembles iPhones, and Quanta Computer Inc., which does the same for MacBooks, already have small operations in the U.S.

Apple representatives had no comment Thursday beyond Cook’s remarks.

Like most consumer electronics companies, Apple forges agreements with contract manufacturers to assemble its products overseas. However, the assembly accounts for a fraction of the cost of making a PC or smartphone. Most of the cost lies in buying chips, and many of those are made in the U.S., Cook noted in his interview with NBC.

The company and Foxconn have faced significant criticism this year over working conditions at the Chinese facilities where Apple products are assembled. The attention prompted Foxconn to raise salaries.

Cook didn’t say which line of computers would be produced in the U.S. or where in the country they would be made. But he told Bloomberg that the production would include more than just final assembly. That suggests that machining of cases and printing of circuit boards could take place in the U.S.

The simplest Macs to assemble are the Mac Pro and Mac Mini desktop computers. Since they lack the built-in screens of the MacBooks and iMacs, they would likely be easier to separate from the Asian display supply chain.

Analyst Jeffrey Wu at IHS iSuppli said it’s not uncommon for PC makers to build their bulkier products close to their customers to cut down on delivery times and shipping costs.

Regardless, the U.S. manufacturing line is expected to represent just a tiny piece of Apple’s overall production, with sales of iPhones and iPads now dwarfing those of its computers.

Apple is latching on to a trend that could see many jobs move back to the U.S., said Hal Sirkin, a partner with The Boston Consulting Group. He noted that Lenovo Group, the Chinese company that’s neck-and-neck with Hewlett-Packard Co. for the title of world’s largest PC maker, announced in October that it will start making PCs and tablets in the U.S.

Chinese wages are raising 15 to 20 percent per year, Sirkin said. U.S. wages are rising much more slowly, and the country is a cheap place to hire compared to other developed countries like Germany, France and Japan, he said.

“Across a lot of industries, companies are rethinking their strategy of where the manufacturing takes place,” Sirkin said.

Carl Howe, an analyst with Yankee Group, likened Apple’s move to Henry Ford’s famous 1914 decision to double his workers’ pay, helping to build a middle class that could afford to buy cars. But Cook’s goal is probably more limited: to buy goodwill from U.S. consumers, Howe said.

“Say it’s State of the Union 2014. President Obama wants to talk about manufacturing. Who is he going to point to in the audience? Tim Cook, the guy who brought manufacturing back from China. And that scene is going replay over and over,” Howe said. “And yeah, it may be only (public relations), but it’s a lot of high-value PR.”

Cook said in his interview with NBC that companies like Apple chose to produce their products in places like China, not because of the lower costs associated with it, but because the manufacturing skills required just aren’t present in the U.S. anymore.

He added that the consumer electronics world has never really had a big production presence in the U.S. As a result, it’s really more about starting production in the U.S. than bringing it back, he said.

But for nearly three decades Apple made its computers in the U.S. It started outsourcing production in the mid-90s, first by selling some plants to contract manufacturers, then by hiring manufacturers overseas. It assembled iMacs in Elk Grove, California, until 2004.

Some Macs already say they’re “Assembled in USA.” That’s because Apple has for years performed final assembly of some units in the U.S. Those machines are usually the product of special orders placed at its online store. The last step of production may consist of mounting hard drives, memory chips and graphics cards into computer cases that are manufactured elsewhere. With Cook’s announcement Thursday, the company is set to go much further in the amount of work done in the U.S.

The news comes a day after Apple posted its worst stock drop in four years, erasing $35 million in market capitalization. Apple’s stock rose $8.45, or 1.6 percent, to close at $547.24 Thursday.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/12/07/apple-produce-line-macs-us-next-year.html

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Apple’s softer side emerges under CEO Cook

“Those jobs aren’t coming back.”

That’s what Steve Jobs reportedly told President Obama when asked at a dinner in early 2011 whether Apple would consider moving some of its manufacturing from China to the United States.

Jobs’ successor, CEO Tim Cook, might have another response for Obama: Yes, we can.

Though the metal edges of its PCs and mobile devices are as sharp and severe as ever, Apple is emerging under Cook’s leadership as a kinder corporate citizen. Cook’s announcement this week that the company is moving the production of one of its Mac computer lines to the US is just the latest step in a softening of the company’s image following the October 2011 death of CEO and co-founder Jobs.

“Cook is a gentler being in terms of how he projects himself,” says Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. That’s partly of necessity, she says – people wouldn’t tolerate Jobs’ arrogance in a new CEO – but it’s also a reflection of Cook’s personality.

Cook didn’t say which computers would be made in the US, or where the company might locate facilities. But bringing assembly-line jobs back to the US lights a symbolic beacon of hope for working-class Americans who worry that the global economy has no use for them.

Cook’s reforms have been both internal and outward-facing. Earlier this year, he visited the Chinese factories where Apple products are assembled, amid an Apple-financed audit of working conditions. Shortly after, Foxconn promised to limit working hours and raise wages.

US workers are getting a better deal too. The Wall Street Journal reported in early November that the company will let some employees take up to two weeks of paid leave to work on pet projects that might benefit the company. The program is similar to a famous perk available to Google employees, who get to devote 20 percent of their time to entrepreneurial “hobbies.”

In addition, the company now matches employee donations up to $10,000 a year. Tim Cook himself made $100 million in charitable donations early in the year, another contrast to Jobs, who had little interest in philanthropy.

Under Cook, Apple has also become more investor-friendly. Jobs, perhaps scarred by Apple’s lean years in the 1990s, was opposed to Apple parting with its cash reserves. That lead to the company accumulating a rainy-day fund of nearly $100 billion in cash by the end of his tenure – a hoard that investors would have liked for themselves.

This year, Apple has begun sharing its wealth with investors for the first time in two decades, by paying dividends of nearly $10 billion a year.

Cook’s diplomacy has extended into enemy territory. Jobs was furious that phones running Google Inc.’s Android software mimicked Apple’s iPhone so closely and vowed to wage “thermonuclear war” against the company through patent infringement lawsuits. The worldwide onslaught of litigation is still ongoing, but in early November, Apple agreed to a ceasefire on one front: It settled all its patent suits against Google partner HTC Corp., a struggling Taiwanese maker of smartphones.

The terms were not disclosed, but company watchers believe HTC will be paying Apple royalties on the phones it makes, and some saw it as a sign that Apple was taking a more rational stance and starting to put Jobs’ take-no-prisoners fury behind it.

Carl Howe, an analyst with Yankee Group, says the image of a “softer” Apple that’s emerged this year doesn’t mean Cook is a softie.

“Make no mistake: he’s not necessarily a kind, gentle guy if he needs to get something done. He’s a very hard-nosed, demanding boss,” Howe says. “And he’s very much of the Steve Jobs model, where if you’re the janitor you get to make excuses. If you’re the vice president, you don’t.”

Cook, in fact, engineered a major shakeup in Apple’s top ranks this fall. Scott Forstall, the long-serving head of iPhone software development, stepped down and his responsibilities were divided among other executives. Company watchers attributed his departure to difficulties collaborating with other departments and to the scathing reviews that greeted Apple’s Maps application, which replaced Google Maps.

Another senior vice president left at the same time: John Browett, who headed Apple’s stores. Browett had tried to make his mark by cutting employee hours, leaving fewer people to help customers. Browett was overridden. He lasted just six months on the job.

“Being gentle and being a pushover are two different things,” says Milanesi.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/12/07/apples-softer-side-emerges-under-ceo-cook.html

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Community radio in Pontianak perseveres

Hearing voices: A man in Ketapang, West Kalimantan, listens to the radio in a small hut in the forest. His transistor radio can pick up stations broadcasting from Malaysian Borneo.

The 3-square-meter room with plywood walls is not equipped with any soundproofing.

A fan, a desktop computer and a mixer of an unknown brand are the only valuable things owned by Radio Suara Melawi (RSM) 107.7 FM, which is located on the second floor of a private junior high school.

The community radio station is in Melawi’s regency capital of Nanga Pinoh, 300 kilometers from West Kalimantan’s provincial capital of Pontianak.

A sticker posted on the difficult-to-open glass door reads “Don’t make noise, on air”.

Radio station manager Bastian, 30, was there wearing only shorts one recent afternoon.

He was a preparing a talk show with a local agency head to discuss public services, without a script, story board or run-down on the broadcast table.

“We don’t care about the limitations. The most important thing is to air although we are only equipped with determination and volunteers. We have survived for seven years now,” RSM director Gabriel Salim told The Jakarta Post.

RSM was at one point in a sound financial condition thanks to earnings from social service advertisements and congratulatory messages flowing into its coffers. A number of micro-finance institutions such as credit unions have routinely benefitted from the station’s broadcast services for public announcement campaigns.
Local: An employee of Radio Suara Melawi (RSM) prepares for a talk show on Nov. 25 in Nanga Pinoh in Melawi, West Kalimantan.Local: An employee of Radio Suara Melawi (RSM) prepares for a talk show on Nov. 25 in Nanga Pinoh in Melawi, West Kalimantan.
“Ever since the arrival of private radio stations, assisted by the local administration, our finances have been affected, but we continue to relay news from news agencies and we fill our slots with entertainment programs,” said Gabriel.

“I often play songs to fill in the vacant slots until the device stops by itself due to power blackouts,” said Bastian.

“During difficult times, we could only earn a few hundred thousand rupiah, while during Idul Fitri, our earnings would reach up to Rp 3 million [US$312] from greetings from various agencies and individuals.”

Another story comes from Jelai Hulu district in remote Ketapang regency, where the name of a community figure in Tanjung village, Manjing Tarah, has become the name of a community radio station. The programs are in a local dialect and the station has been able to survive for more than 10 years.

“Most of our listeners are farmers. They own cell phones that can tune in to radio programs while they are in the fields,” said Mulyadi, 37, who has been a volunteer announcer for nine years.

Manjing Tarah only airs in the daytime, operating with its own power generator. Power from state power company PLN is only available at night and the station does not operate at night because it cannot compete with television.

Previously, when cell phones had yet to reach rural areas and texting was not yet popular, the radio station sold postcards at Rp 5,000 each through which listeners could request songs and greetings.

The broadcasts consist of discussions of customs and culture, and folklore and songs in the local dialect. The radio station is located in Tanjung village, which has less than 1,000 residents.

The transmission can reach to Tumbang Titi and Marau districts, which are between 20 and 45 kilometers apart. Besides social service ads, to survive Mulyadi sells transistor radios at a profit margin of Rp 100,000 (US$10.40) each.

A young doctor in Ketapang regency, Frans Reagan, has dedicated part of his time to leading Radio Gema Solidaritas (GS). He said the station produced 30 percent of its own content.
Not too loud: A discussion with a local government official is broadcast on Radio Suara Melawi. The station runs on very little money.Not too loud: A discussion with a local government official is broadcast on Radio Suara Melawi. The station runs on very little money.
Radio GS, supported by the Pancur Solidaritas Credit Union, earns income from ads placed by PLN and private institutions. Reagan plans to provide training to all his crew, such as program planning and news coverage.

“This is an interesting challenge, finding free time, because our entire crew has other primary work,” said Reagan.

Community radio has become an alternative means of communication in the area and is socially oriented. West Kalimantan Independent Broadcasting Commission (KPID) data shows that as of September of this year, there are 40 community radio stations operating in the province.

Of the number, only seven hold principle licenses or temporary licenses and none are equipped with permanent broadcasting permits.

“We urge the government to revise the regulation. The licensing procedures for community radio, which is socially oriented, cannot be compared with that of for-profit private radio stations,” said West Kalimantan KPID head Faisal Riza.

The establishment of community radio stations is regulated by a 2002 law on broadcasting and a 2005 government regulation, which stipulates that they must obtain a recommendation from the Communications and Information Ministry.

Riza said he was positive that community radio could have a bright future. They could earn money by accessing social and public service programs from state or private institutions, he said.

In comparison, West Kalimantan is home to 50 private radio stations mainly concentrated in urban areas. There are 17 radio stations in Pontianak and 10 in Singkawang. Not all of the spots in the 14 regencies and mayoralties in West Kalimantan have been filled, such as Kayong Utara regency, which has a quota of 15 frequency channels, but none have yet to be utilized.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/12/10/community-radio-pontianak-perseveres.html

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Your letters: Telkom liable to customers

In response to the letter from Mr. Richard published in The Jakarta Post on Nov. 30 entitled “Telkom Speedy or Telkom Slowly”, on behalf of the management of Telkom West Java, we would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused.

Because Mr. Richard did not mention a corresponding service number for his complaint or provide a contact number, we were not able to settle Mr. Richards’s issues regarding his service. However, please allow us to explain the cause of slow Internet access connection and the settlement process of Speedy fault handling.

Generally, Internet access connection speed is affected by several things such as:

1. The Internet package subscribed, Speedy consists of five multispeed packages.

2. Type of Internet connection used (Dial up, ADSL, GPRS, Wireless, etc)

3. Computers used (better specifications will result in better
Internet access connection).

4. The systems used (computer operating systems, computer security systems, etc.)

5. Browser applications used (IE, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, etc.)

Currently, the Speedy Internet package offered by Telkom consists of five multispeed packages, namely:

1. Speedy 384 kilo byte per second (kbps) (Socialia) package, this package is suitable for individuals who want browsing and chatting activity unlimited, but less suitable for download activity.

2. Speedy 512 kbps (Load) package, this package is suitable for individuals who want faster browsing, chatting and for unlimited download.

3. Speedy 1 mbps (Familia) package, this package is suitable for professionals or users and can be shared up to about 10 users.

4. Speedy 2 mbps package, suitable for business and office segments and can be shared up to about 20 users.

5. Speedy 3 mbps package, suitable for business and office segments and can be shared up to about 30 users.

As a form of responsibility to customers, Telkom implements the Service Level Guarantee (SLG) to each customer according to its segment. Since 2006, Speedy’s SLG applied for residential customer in terms of fault settlement is maximum 3×24 hours, with 2 percent compensation of the monthly subscription fee for each day of delay.

For further questions, enquiries or complaints about Telkom products, customers can contact 147, visit the nearest Plasa Telkom, or visit the official Telkom website telkom.co.id.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/12/11/your-letters-telkom-liable-customers.html

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Yahoo revamps email in bid to catch up with Gmail

In this undated image made available by Yahoo the company's recently retooled free email service is shown on a web device and tablet. Aside from the new look aimed at regaining some of the ground Yahoo lost to Google's popular alternative, Yahoo introduced on Tuesday email apps for the iPhone, iPad and mobile devices running on the new Windows 8 operating system. (AP/Yahoo)

Yahoo is spiffing up and expanding its email service in an attempt to regain some of the ground lost to a Google alternative that lured away millions of users.

The changes unveiled Tuesday are meant to make Yahoo’s email faster and easier to use on the Web. To cater to the growing audience checking their email on smartphones and tablet computers, Yahoo also introduced mobile apps for the iPhone, iPad and devices powered by Microsoft Corp.’s recently released Windows 8 system.

The company, which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., also updated its email app designed for Google Inc.’s Android operating system.

The email overhaul is part of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer’s crusade to give people more reasons to visit the company’s online services and stick around longer. In doing so, Mayer hopes to sell more advertising and accelerate Yahoo’s revenue growth after years of financial malaise. The stagnation has kept the company’s stock price below $20 for more than four years. Yahoo shares were hovering near $30 before the company squandered an opportunity to sell itself to Microsoft for $33 per share in May 2008.

Yahoo’s stock rose 9 cents to close at $19.52 on Tuesday. The stock has surged 25 percent since Yahoo hired Mayer from Google nearly five months ago.

During her 13 years as a top Google executive, Mayer played a key role in building the company’s Gmail. The service was a novelty when it began in 2004 and with Mayer’s help it transformed into a trend-setting service that surpassed the early leads of rival offerings from Yahoo and Microsoft.

Through October, Gmail had more than 295 million active users to eclipse Microsoft’s Hotmail at nearly 284 million users and Yahoo email at 282 million, according to the most recent data from the research firm comScore. At the same time last year, Hotmail led the pack with 335 million users, followed by Yahoo at 303 million and Gmail at more than 245 million.

With more people gravitating to Gmail, Microsoft also recently redesigned Hotmail and rebranded the service as Outlook.com – a reference to the communications channel built into the software maker’s widely used Office suite of programs.

In a sign Google isn’t taking its lead for granted, the company is the in process of phasing in changes to Gmail that will give it a slightly different look and add more features.

All the retooling underscores the ongoing importance of traditional email, even as people increasingly rely on text messages sent on phones and thoughts shared on Facebook and Twitter. Despite its shrinking market share, Yahoo says it still processes about 30 billion emails each day and estimates its users collectively check their inboxes about 190 million times per day.

Although none of the major email providers charge to set up an account on the Web, the services are valuable because they encourage repeat visits and require people to log in. Internet companies covet activities occurring under a logged-in identity because they can more easily track people’s preferences and tailor ads more likely to appeal to users’ tastes.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/12/12/yahoo-revamps-email-bid-catch-up-with-gmail.html

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Google Maps return to iPhone with new mobile app

Google Maps have found their way back to the iPhone.

The world’s most popular online mapping system returned late Wednesday with the release of the Google Maps’ iPhone app. The release comes nearly three months after Apple Inc. replaced Google Maps as the device’s built-in navigation system and inserted its own maps into the latest version of its mobile operating system.

Apple’s maps proved to be far inferior to Google’s. The product’s shoddiness prompted Apple CEO Tim Cook to issue a rare public apology and recommend that iPhone owners consider using Google maps through a mobile Web browser or seek other alternatives until his company could fix the problems. Cook also replaced the executive in charge of Apple’s mobile operating system after the company’s maps became a subject of widespread ridicule.

Among other things, Apple’s maps misplaced landmarks, overlooked towns and sometimes got people horribly lost. In a particularly egregious example flagged this week, Australian police derided Apple’s maps as “life-threatening” because the system was steering people looking for the city of Mildura into a sweltering, remote desert 44 miles from the desired destination.

Google Inc., in contrast, is hailing its new iPhone app as a major improvement from the one evicted by Apple.

“We started from scratch,” said Daniel Graf, mobile director of Google Maps. Google engineers started working on the new app before Apple’s Sept. 19 ouster, Graf said, though he declined to be more specific.

The additional tools in the free iPhone mapping app include turn-by-turn directions. Google’s previous refusal to include that popular feature on the iPhone app while making it available for smartphones running on its own Android software is believed to be one of the reasons Apple decided to develop its own technology. The friction that has developed between Google and Apple as they jostle for leadership in the increasingly important smartphone market also played a role in the mapping switch.

Google’s new iPhone mapping app also will offer its street-level photography of local neighborhoods for the first time on Apple’s mobile operating system, as well as three-dimensional views, public transit directions and listings for more than 80 million businesses. The iPhone app still lacks some of the mapping features available on Android-powered phones, such as directions in malls and other buildings.

There still isn’t a Google mapping app for Apple’s top-selling tablet computer, the iPad, but the company plans to make one eventually. Google, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., declined to say when it hopes to release an iPad mapping app. For now, iPad owners can use the maps in an iPhone mode. That won’t be the best experience, but it still may be better than Apple’s maps on the iPad.

Google’s free mapping solution is likely to become one of the hottest commodities in Apple’s app store, if for no other reason because of pent-up demand among iPhone owners fed up with Apple’s alternative. Some iPhone owners even refused to upgrade to Apple’s newest software, iOS 6, because they didn’t want to lose access to the old Google mapping application built into iOS 5 and earlier versions.

Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment about Google’s new apps late Wednesday, but it approved the technology before its release.

Graf said Google isn’t hoping to make Apple look bad with its new mapping app. “On maps, we have a friendly relationship,” he said.

 

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/12/13/google-maps-return-iphone-with-new-mobile-app.html

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Public projects, consumer buys to revamp suffering PC market

The adoption rates of the personal computer (PC) by consumers will reenergize the personal computer market as the year moves into 2013, after the market suffered a dip in the third quarter of 2012, analysts say.

Data compiled by International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that PC shipments — consisting of desktops and notebooks — reached 1.19 million in the third quarter of 2012, 8.3 percent down from the second quarter, and 4.5 percent lower than the same period last year.

Deddie Sionder, client device market analyst at IDC, said that PC shipments dropped during the third quarter as they “channel partners began to focus on clearing their current inventory”, which had burgeoned in the past quarters.

“Additionally, a less-than-robust economic quarter also discouraged channel partners from ordering fresh shipments,” he added.

Based on data from Bank Indonesia, GDP growth in the third quarter touched 6.2 percent, or a nudge lower than the 6.3 percent estimated annual growth. Meanwhile, foreign direct investment (FDI) was at US$5.8 billion.

The level of FDI has affected the PC market given that enterprises, through large scale PC purchases, contributed two-thirds, or $10 billion, to the $15 billion estimated information technology (IT) spending in Indonesia this year, Deddie noted.

“Consumer spending on IT equipment contributes the remaining one-third, or equal to $5 billion,” he added.

He further said that computer purchases by the government had been deferred after government projects, especially those related to the education department, had suffered delays, stopping PC inventories from moving out.

However, Sudev Bangah, head of IDC Indonesia operations, said that the PC market would pick up as consumers adopt technology further.

“Consumer models are also expected to ramp up, as the ripple effect from the slight uptick in sales for September is expected to continue through the end of year holiday period,” he said.

Microsoft Corporation launched their latest operating system, Windows 8, in October. Around 10 PC brands, including Lenovo and Acer, have released new notebooks
running on Windows 8.

PC penetration in Indonesia, which has a population of approximately 240 million people, is still at a low 20 percent. Comparatively, roughly 200 million people have mobile phones, which have acted as the main access point to the Internet.

Bangah further added that on top of purchases by the consumer segment, plans by 35 percent of the enterprises surveyed to increase PC purchases in the near future would revamp the PC market.

“As the commercial segment begins to enjoy the benefits of ICT enabling and transforming their business, the drive for inter-connectivity and an evolving workforce will continue to drive the uptake of PCs within the commercial segment,” he said.

He further added that the trend of “bring your own devices [BYOD]”, or the trend among workers to use their personal devices at work, was the evolution the workforce was experiencing.

Furthermore, the fulfillment of delayed public sector projects would drive inventory movement in the fourth quarter, he said.

Meanwhile, PC vendor Acer has maintained its lead in the Indonesia market with a market share of 27.9 percent. Asus sits in second place with a market share of 15 percent while Lenovo grabs third place with a market share of 8.5 percent.

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/12/15/public-projects-consumer-buys-revamp-suffering-pc-market.html

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Chantal blocks porn from her kids’ gadgets

Presenter Chantal Della Concetta says she has banned her two children’s gadgets from accessing porn sites.

The 32-year-old said she wanted to protect Nathaniel Trevor Lazuardi and Mazel Peach Lazuardi from bad influences on the Internet.

“We don’t want them to be technologically illiterate. So we have introduced technology to them as early as possible. The important thing is that we know what filters to use to ban access to forbidden sites,” she said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

The television personality said she downloaded the filters herself and she also decided what computer games her children are allowed to play.

 

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/12/15/chantal-blocks-porn-her-kids-gadgets.html

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Minister swallows own words on Foxconn investment

The anticipated investment and business expansion into Indonesia this year of electronic manufacturer giant Foxconn, the clients of which include major computer firms Apple Inc., Dell Inc. and Microsoft Corporation, has been delayed, according to a senior government official.

Industry Minister MS Hidayat told reporters in Jakarta on Monday there were several requests from the Taiwanese firm relating to tax incentives and other regulations that the government was considering.

Hidayat, however, declined to elaborate further on the specific requests from the firm, saying both the government and Foxconn had agreed not to reveal any details before the ongoing discussions had been finalized.

“The situation means the plans may have to be postponed for a couple of months, perhaps around three to six months from this December,” he said.

Foxconn, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Ltd., planned to establish a manufacturing base in the Modern Cikande Industrial Estate in Serang, Banten in December this year in an investment speculated to be worth up to US$10 billion.

Hon Hai previously said it was looking to pour in as much as US$1 billion to create a factory in Indonesia but Indonesian government officials claimed that the total investment could reach $8 billion to $10 billion over the next five years to set up manufacturing centers in the country.

The government previously said that Foxconn might begin construction of its facilities in December as it aimed to produce and sell its products by the middle of next year.

On Monday, Hidayat said the initial investment from Foxconn may reach around $2 billion to $3 billion, in which the government expected the manufacturing base to start construction in the second half of 2013.

In addition, according to the minister, Foxconn had also yet to appoint any local partners as there were “several terms and conditions from the firm to appoint a partner”.

As previously reported, Foxconn’s possible partners include PT Hartono Istana Teknologi, a major manufacturer of consumer electronic products under the Polytron brand; state-owned cellular network developer PT Industri Telekomunimasi Indonesia (INTI); and Indonesia’s largest telecommunication provider PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia
(Telkom).

INTI’s president director Tikno Sutisna said that one possible route of cooperation between the firms with Foxconn would be to jointly produce high-technology electronic hardware locally, such as Apple’s tablet computer, the iPad.

However, on Monday, Hidayat said the government might search for new candidates to become Foxconn’s local partners.

Hidayat declined speculation that Foxconn had reconsidered its business expansion to Indonesia amid increasing labor protests.

Foxconn is notorious for poor relations with its workers, with media reports of many of the firm’s workers in China having killed themselves or died in reported sweatshop and perilous working conditions that include lengthy work hours and low pay.

Foxconn officials have yet to respond to The Jakarta Post’s emails querying the minister’s latest statement.

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