The below is a compilation of recent news covering the rise of patent applications from Asian countries; the role of foreign private investment in China's ICT industry and Chinese efforts to develop a home-grown AV-chip standard; Japanese domestic consumer electronics shipments, electronics industry production, and exports; Korean digital electronics trade figures and government efforts to promote RFID, display technologies, and other emerging technologies.

East Asia

Patents from Asian Countries on the Rise

Chinese corporations exhibited striking growth in applications during 2004, rising 38% to 1,782. A spokesperson from the organization posits that if this rate of growth continues, China will overtake Australia in 2005 to become the 12th largest country using the PCT. The spokesperson added that Asian players are becoming more aggressive with patent filing as they look gain a stronger competitive position in the global marketplace. Korea, thanks in large part to Samsung and LG, exhibited a 19.3% rise in patents during 2004, reaching 3,521, or nearly 3% of applications going through the system.

China

ICT Industry Driven by Private Sector

A report published by the IFC (International Finance Corporation), a unit of the World Bank, shows that private foreign investment is pushing much of the growth in China's ICT industry. In 2004, US$1.3 billion was funneled into 253 Chinese companies, many which are technology start-ups. The figure was a 28% rise from 2003, while the number of investment deals climbed 43%.

The IFC says that despite intellectual property concerns and occasional interference from government regulation, private investment continues to flow in due to a growing number of exit strategies and the boom in the nation's telecommunications industry.

Home Growth A-V Chip Development

In early March the Institute of Computing Technology of CAS (Chinese Academy of Sciences) announced that it has developed a chip based on the homegrown Audio and Video Coding Standard Work Group specifications. The chips are intended for eventual use in PCs, TVs, mobile phones, and other personal digital devices. Chinese companies such as SVA Group, Haier, TCL, and Lenovo are said to have shown an interest in participating in the development of such chips and the associated consumer electronics.

Japan

Domestic Consumer Electronics Shipments

JEITA (Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association) announced that domestic shipments of consumer electronics products totaled 139.1 billion yen (US$1.3 billion; US$1= 105.1 yen), growing 13% year-on-year for the 14th consecutive month of growth. Shipments of LCD TV's 10" and larger nearly doubled year-on-year, amounting to approximately 170,000 units in January. LCD TV's 30" and larger saw particularly sharp growth of 229.1%, as did LCD TVs equipped with digital satellite broadcasting tuners, which jumped 223.7%. PDP TV shipments climbed 25% to reach 14,000 units, while DVD recorders jumped 75% to 210,000 units.

Electronics Industry Production

Electronics Industry Exports

IT Services

According to METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry), Japanese IT services grew a slight 0.7% year-on-year in January 2005. Software revenue was primarily driven by the financial and electro-mechanical sectors, while procurement from the communications sector grew as well. Procurement from the manufacturing industry, however, declined.

System integrator revenue tumbled by 4.5%, while software development nudged down a slight 0.4%. Gaming software saw a sharp rise of 8.7%, while regular software declined, bringing about a total fall of 2.3% in software.

Gov't JV to Commercialize Robot Eye

A joint venture formed in part by AIST (National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology) is looking to commercialize "eye" technology originally developed for the humanoid robot HRP-2. The technology uses commodity PCs and CCD (Charged-Coupled Device), and will be marketed for 3-D measurement applications. Initially the systems will be used to spot defects on semiconductors and electronic components. The robot eye technology is said to also be applicable to automated control of vehicles as well as security and games.

Korea

Digital Electronics Trade

MOCIE (Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Energy) reports that digital electronics exports hit US$7.4 billion in February, declining by a slight 1.4% year-on-year due to the fewer working days caused by the Lunar New Year as well as the strong won. Yet average daily sales of digital electronics in February rose by 12.1% year-on-year to $370 million.

Wireless communications exports totaled just over US$2 billion, 5.2% growth year-on-year. Mobile phone accounted for US$1.44 billion, a 6.3% rise. Satellite broadcasting receiver exports fell 48.5% to US$54 million.

IT hardware exports tumbled 28.5% to US$1.1 billion. Notebook PCs recorded US$14 million, desktop PCs US$20 million, monitors US$380 million, and computer components, US$397 million, declines of 78.8%, 17.5%, 38.8%, and 29.9%.

Digital home device exports fell 17.5% to US$1.1 billion. Digital TVs fell 9.6% to US$102 million, mainly due to the heavy declines of projection TVs and CRT TVs, which dropped sharply by 60.1% and 42.7% respectively to US$19 million and US$5 million. PDP TVs and LCD TVs, however, generated gains of 70.1% and 0.5%, respectively, to US$51 million and US$28 million.

Semiconductor shipments rose 17.2% to US$2.3 billion due to a 202.2% increase in China-bound export value.

In January, exports of digital goods reached US$8.1 billion, a 13.2% gain year-on-year. Despite intensifying negative factors such as the weak dollar and high oil prices, this performance was a turnaround from December 2004 when exports totaled US$7.7 billion and grew 2.8% from November. The stronger January performance was attributed to the improved global brand recognition of Korean brands, as well as the popularity of side-by-side refrigerators, which enjoyed triple-digit sales growth in the US, Mexico, India, and Canada.

Of ICT-related products, PDP TVs and DVD players enjoyed double digit export growth of 55% and 36.7% respectively. Notebook PC, desktop PC, and projection TV exports fell by 63.5%, 38.9%, and 41.3%, respectively .

Exports of digital appliances to Brazil, Italy, China, and Finland increased by 46.3%, 42.7%, 42.4%, and 27.9%. Shipments to the Philippines, Malaysia, and Thailand decreased 25%, 23.5%, and 20.7%.

Imports of digital goods in January rose 14.2% year-on-year to US$4.3 billion. The gain has been attributed to rising imports of Korean goods produced from lower-cost production-bases abroad.

Imports of notebook PCs, desktop PCs, printers (31.8%), and computer components grew 110%, 27.3%, 31.8%, 28%. Imports of projection TVs, satellite broadcasting receivers, and CRT-TVs declined 80%, 66.7%, and 50%, respectively.

5 Major Areas Targeted for Commercialization

MOCIE is looking to support an alliance between small and medium enterprises and the major conglomerates to develop and commercialize five major product segments including LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), transparent CNT (Carbon Nanotube), embedded RF (Radio Frequency), near-field wireless communications modules, and OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode). 380 billion won (US$376.3 million) will be spent on technology development, 230 billion won (US$227.8 million) on commercialization, and 850 billion won (US$841.8 million) on mass production, with extra funding ranging between 190 billion (US$188.2 million) and 250 billion won (US$247.6 million) from the government to support the development of the alliance.

RFID Cluster

The government has announced a plan to build an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) industry cluster in Songdo, South Korea. According to the roadmap announced by the Ministry of Information and Communication in early March, the construction of research and development facilities, engineering centers, and manufacturing lines will be completed by 2007, with RFID tag production ramping up by 2007. The government plans to front 320 billion won (US$317.1 million; US$1 = 1,009 won), with the remainder of the 790 billion won (US$782.9 million) total coming from private domestic as well as foreign sources.