The Weekly News Update is a weekly roundup of business news from around the Asia-Pacific region, covering Fusion Consulting's core industry practices: chemicals, consumer & retail, financial services, industrial & logistics, information & communication technology, life science and media & leisure. If you have colleagues or friends who may be interested in subscribing, please forward this email to them and copy
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Dear ?NAME?,


 
 China's water and wastewater treatment sector
 
 Huge demand exists in China for clean water with ample opportunities for
 investors, water companies or water technology suppliers in the municipal and
 industrial water supply and wastewater treatment market. Market-oriented
 regulatory changes have lowered pricing risk, and opened up the sector.  
 Find out what the needs, solutions and opportunities are.


In the news this week  l 7-Mar-08
Asian players withdraw from fiercely competitive Chinese handset market 


Worldwide sales of mobile phones to end users surpassed 1.15 billion units in 2007, up 16% from 2006. Sales growth are expected to slow to 10% in 2008 as mature markets (e.g. Japan) become more saturated. Global phone makers are now turning to emerging markets, especially China and India, which are expected to provide much of the growth. This could spell trouble for some Asian mobile handset makers as their market share and visibility is low compared to major players such as Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung Electronics, with global market share of 37.8%, 14.3%, and 13.4% respectively, in 2007.

China is the global hub for mobile phone manufacturing, accounting for half of all units shipped worldwide. Chinese telecoms equipment maker ZTE joined the ranks of the world's 10 largest mobile phone makers in 2007. Taiwan's HTC plans to invest US$15.5 million in a factory in China to cater to a market where mobile phone sales soared 23% to 200 million units in 2007. But in a competitive market dominated by global suppliers who enjoy economies of scale, Asian mobile phone players (e.g. China's Ningbo Bird and Japan's Kyocera) have little choice but to withdraw from the Chinese handset market.

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Chemical
Asia - BASF mulls more manufacturing, R&D investments
India - Excise pain for petrochemical companies
Japan - Mitsubishi Chem, Teijin plan carbon fibre auto parts

Consumer & retail
India - Reliance Retail in joint venture for optical business
India - Dabur, HUL to stir up milk beverage market
Indonesia - Friesland investment targets Asian functional drive



 
Financial services
India - StanChart buys Indian stakes
Japan - Sumitomo Mitsui to create top Japan credit card firm
Taiwan - Insurers can raise overseas investment ceiling to 45%


Industrial & logistics
China - Shipbuilding tonnage up 30% in 2007
Korea - Kumho seals purchase of Korea Express
Singapore - NorSun to set up solar wafer factory


Information & communication technology  
China - Cellphone maker Ningbo Bird to offload joint venture stake
Japan - Mitsubishi Electric to exit cell phone market
Philippines - Telecom industry to grow at modest pace


Life science
Asia - Bayer Schering Pharma plans major Asia-Pacific expansion
India - India mulls potentially landmark ruling on generic drugs
Japan - Pharma giants leave Japan for China and Korea


Media & leisure
China - Gaming firms diversity in China
China - Tongfang invests in SMG's two IPTV subsidiaries
Singapore - Dedicated Indian and kids TV channels


Previous issues

India to exploit nutraceuticals [29-Feb-08]
India sets sight on becoming a global MRO hub [22-Feb-08]
High stakes in Australian credit card game [15-Feb-08]
Handset players struggle in China despite booming market [6-Feb-08]
Malaysia losing out in the FDI race? [1-Feb-08]
The push towards convergence gains momentum in Korea [25-Jan-08]


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Best regards,

The Market Monitoring Team
Fusion Consulting
http://www.fusionc.com/marketupdate.htm

This Weekly News Update is a free newsletter, providing a round-up of the week's Asia-Pacific news from our core industry practices. If you have colleagues or friends who may be interested in subscribing, please forward this email to them and copy knowledge@fusionc.com .

Fusion Consulting is a business intelligence consultancy providing clear strategic advice on Asia-Pacific markets. With offices in Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong and over 400 industry consultants in 16 countries, we conduct custom research and consulting to help companies understand their markets, compete more effectively and grow into new areas of opportunity. Email
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