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 knowledge@fusionc.com.

Dear ?NAME?,    2008 Asia-Pacific pay-TV operators survey, 4th edition   Programmers, find out what the major cable, satellite and IPTV platforms in Asia  and Australia think about your channels and support, their programming plans and  their hopes and fears for the future of the industry. This survey targets  programming managers at 50 major carriers in 16 countries across the region,  focusing on the largest players in each country. In cooperation with ContentAsia.  Request more information.    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 6-Feb-08 Handset players struggle in China despite booming market

Motorola has signalled that it may get out of its struggling cell-phone business in the US. Motorola's plans to spin-off or sell its handset unit coincided with news that Lenovo is selling its failing mobile-handset division, which sells predominantly in China. Japan's Kyocera is also withdrawing from the Chinese cellphone market. Both Lenovo and Kyocera have admitted failure in their Chinese mobile handset businesses, painting a bleak picture for makers selling to China. China's domestic mobile handset shipments are estimated to have reached 187 million units in 2007, up 22% from 153 million in 2006. iSuppli forecasts that China’s domestic handset shipments will continue their upward trek to 206 million in 2008. But with the sprawling illegitimate handset market accounting for about 30% of mobile handset shipments in China in 2007 and increasingly thin margins, handset makers will find the road ahead a lot tougher. Click here to view this week's articles for all industries.    What you don't know can hurt you  Receive all the key news on your markets, industry and competitors each  week, with alerts for important breaking news, and avoid information  overload with human filtering. Find out more about our Market Monitoring   Service and web-based Intelligence Plaza system by emailing   marketing@fusionc.com.

Chemical China - SABIC, Sinopec to build ethylene plant India - Tata Chemicals to buy General Chemical of US Thailand - Dow JV plans Thai elastomers plant

Consumer & retail India - Birla Retail to open more hypermarkets Korea - Store sales up in 2007 Malaysia - Retail sales to grow 6.7% in first half

Financial services Japan - HSBC launches wealth arm Korea - Internet banking surges 40% Taiwan - DBS takes over failed Taiwan Bowa Bank

Industrial & logistics India - Lufthansa in talks with Jet, QuikJet for cargo business Korea - Korea Express on top of domestic delivery market Japan - Auto output rose 1% in 2007

Information & communication technology   Asia - Motorola spinoff may help Asian handset firms expand in US China - Lenovo to offload handset unit Japan - Camera shipment top 100 million

Life science China - Venture capital eyes China's medical industry India - Drug makers worry over compulsory licensing Thailand - Novartis wins Thai battle, setback for Indian firms

Media & leisure Asia - Microsoft/Yahoo! ad threat to Google in Asia China - China steps up internet control with video rules Singapore - Major MICE players set up base in Singapore

Previous issues

Malaysia losing out in the FDI race? [1-Feb-08] The push towards convergence gains momentum in Korea [25-Jan-08] Japanese transport companies expand in China [18-Jan-08] China shows strong potential for pharma outsourcing [11-Jan-08] Epoxy producers in Japan strengthen setup to meet surging demand [14-Dec-07] Foreign firms buy into Taiwan's banking sector [7-Dec-07]

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Best regards, The Market Monitoring Team Fusion Consulting