Munich, Sep 28, 2006 | BenQ announced today in Taipei that there will be no further payments to BenQ Mobile GmbH & Co OHG.. Both revenue and margin development will fall far short of expectations in the important Christmas quarter. Due to the discontinuation of further financial support from the parent company, BenQ, and the resulting lack of liquidity and implicated disruption to business, BenQ Mobile in Germany will file for insolvency at the local court in Munich within the next few days.
Full Article
A Siemens director once commented to one of his staff that he was slightly "disappointed" that he realised employees are not using Benq Siemens phone after an earlier observation while taking the lift.
Let me ask a few questions. How would Ronaldo fit into their marketing strategy ? And the advertisement was rather dark with the emphasis on slightly dimmed secondary colored bouncing lights. Worse is they multiple the dots. Where was there any emphasis on the cool, fun or classy intangible benefits of the marketed phone. No focus, no theme! I always held high regard for the marketing provess of the taiwanese, but this was a disaster! Looking at those buses transiting in the streets of Singapore, i see only a dark pock dotted bus. Ugly.
Sony and Ericsson showed how a similar merger would had worked.
Same as Creative did, mentioning Apple all the way throughout their campaign giving Apple free advertisement.I never once heard Steve Jobs mentioned Creative ever. Silence is golden and in this case .... smart.
I observed that Europeans are not stickies for phone design but more on the functionality of their phones. Asians on the other hand, wanted the best of both worlds. Functionality and good design.(Just a personal observation)
Samsung, Panasonic and Motorola(strong presence in Asia) introduced the slimmest phones to the world. Sony the walkman phone.The coolest phones models possibly in Japan marrying technology with style. I dont wish to mention some sliver brick phone model that has a harddisk in it. I understand that the design is big to accomodate the feature of a high capacity storage. Enough said, functionality over design features.
Customers are thinkers. Just what are they doing.
Cheers
Niversphere.
Benq Siemens bit the dust.
January Effect ?
"Stocks in general and small stocks in particular have historically generated abnormally high returns during the month of January.
According to Robert Haugen and Philippe Jorion, "The January effect is, perhaps the best-known example of anomalous behavior in security markets throughout the world."
The January Effect is particularly intriguing because it doesn't appear to be diminishing despite being well known and publicized for nearly two decades.
Theoretically an anomaly should disappear as traders attempt to take advantage of it in advance. Additionally, many have argued that some of the other anomalies occur primarily or entirely during the month of January (See Interrelationships).
The bottom line is that January has historically been the best month to be invested in stocks."
Quoting an article, I saw on my friend's blog.I am convinced that the january effect does not apply in local context based on past years experience. In fact, the volatility of September and August where projections of the next year are made is nearer to the truth for that matter.
Cheers
Niversphere.
Negatives on LongCheer
Negatives:
1) Does not possess its own brand.
2) Currently one of the highest ROE design house, expect more competition.
3) Management holds a lower value of its shares compared to shareholders.
4) Major customers are susceptible to change in consumer tastes, as evident in TechFaithWireless with NEC( as a result of insulting the Chinks).
5) Major customers are small in comparison but can be view both negative and positively.
6) Need to spend $ to purchase new technology know how.
7) Target customers at the lower end faces intensified competition from smaller companies.
8) Inability to break through to the US and European market.
9) Went to linux development without much success.
10) Rapid increase in staff
11) Shorter product cycle
12) Increase in Yuan value may adversely affect the bottomline of LongCheer.
...
Regards
Niversphere.
Longcheer And SavaJe Sign Strategic Agreement To Bring Java-Based Mobile Handsets To Chinese And European Markets
Leading Chinese Handset Designer Looks To Advance Java-Based Operating Platform To Introduce Richer User Experience and Expedite Product DevelopmentChelmsford, MA – September 25, 2006 – SavaJe Technologies, developers of the most open, Java® technology-based mobile operating platform, and Longcheer Technology Limited, a leading Chinese mobile handset designer, today announced a strategic agreement aimed at bringing Java-based devices to markets in China and Europe. Longcheer Technology, a wholly owned subsidiary of Longcheer Holdings Limited, intends to begin shipping devices based on the SavaJe Mobile Platform™ as early as Q4 2006 in China.
With more than 425 million mobile users, China is the world’s largest and fastest growing mobile market. The country will also soon license carriers for third-generation (3G) wireless, a move that industry analysts estimate will attract 130 million subscribers by 2010. The SavaJe Mobile Platform™ is ideal for 3G’s advanced services, providing users with easy-to-use and feature-rich capabilities, while radically simplifying and accelerating handset development for designers and manufactures.Longcheer is one of the top independent mobile handset design houses in China, shipping over 5.7 million units in its financial year ended 30 June 2006.
The company offers a complete suite of hardware, software and product design solutions to major Chinese telecommunications companies, which includes TCL, Konka, Gionee and ZTE. The SavaJe Mobile Platform enables operators and handset manufacturers to rapidly brand and customize mobile handsets that deliver high performance and advanced features, while shortening product time-to-market due to the cross-platform benefits of the Java environment.Under the agreement, Longcheer and SavaJe will collaborate in the development and commercial deployment of two devices, S101 and S201, each based on the SavaJe Mobile Platform. Highlights of Longcheer’s S101 – expected to ship to PRC and European markets in Q4 2006 – will include a new touch screen user experience design with Chinese handwriting recognition and character entry, as well as integration with music download service, beeweeb. The Longcheer S201 – expected to ship to Chinese and European markets in 2007 – will feature a new design and form factor, and extensive user experience customization to accommodate a variety of worldwide mobile operators.
SavaJe and Longcheer have also formalized a number of initiatives to support the development of the S101 and S201 devices, as well as their introduction to global markets. Included in these activities is the sharing of technology resources, joint sales and marketing programs, cooperative software research and development, and co-development of a SavaJe variant with a Linux kernel.“We see increasing global demand for our mobile devices, and in SavaJe, we’ve found a platform to facilitate the rapid development of an exciting, high quality product,” said Dr. Du Junhong, CEO of Longcheer. “The rich Java environment provides a unique user experience and the ability for operators to truly distinguish themselves, while decreased development time will allow us to continue bringing products to market faster and at a lower cost. Also, SavaJe’s global operator sales team holds strong partnerships with innovators such as Vodafone and others; these are relationships that we feel will expedite our handset deployment to markets in Europe, America and elsewhere.”“Longcheer has enjoyed tremendous success in the past few years, and by adopting SavaJe’s technology, they have again proven they understand the desires of consumers and how to best respond to market dynamics,” said Gregory Koss, CEO of SavaJe Technologies. “Their selection of the SavaJe Mobile Platform is further validation of the competitive advantage we are able to offer operators and handset manufacturers worldwide.”
About Longcheer Holdings LimitedBased in Shanghai and listed on the Singapore Exchange Mainboard, Longcheer Holdings Limited is amongst China's top five mobile phone design solutions providers. The company offers a complete suite of hardware, software and product design solutions to major Chinese telecommunications companies. With current staff strength of more than 700, of which more than 60 percent are engaged in research and development, Longcheer has proven abilities to deliver innovative and cost-effective design solutions to its clients. The company has been named the 14th fastest growing technology company in China by Deloitte in 2005.
About SavaJe TechnologiesSavaJe Technologies delivers the Mobile Java Experience™. The company’s SavaJe Mobile Platform™ radically simplifies and accelerates the development of highly customizable, richly branded and secure user interfaces across mobile feature phone handsets. This enables operators and manufacturers for the first time to fully exploit the branding, marketing and revenue potential of mobile phones. SavaJe is backed by leading venture capital firms, including Investcorp, VantagePoint Venture Partners, Ridgewood Capital, RRE Ventures and New Venture Partners, as well as the strategic investment arms of Vodafone, T-Mobile and Orange. SavaJe maintains global headquarters in Chelmsford, Mass. with offices in Palo Alto, CA, Cambridge, U.K, Beijing, China and Seoul, Korea.
Source: SavaJe Technologies
Singapore listed companies with interest in Thailand
| Company | Exposure in Thailand |
| SingTel | S$870m stake in AIS which contributes 7% of profit |
| DBS | Holds stakes of about 16% in TMB Bank and a 40% stake in Capital OK Company. TMB was last traded at THB3.24 and the stake is estimated to be worth about S$362m. |
| UOB | Wholly owns UOB Thai, which delivered net profits of S$42m in 1H06 versus S$882m for UOB (excluding exceptional gains). |
| Thai Beverage | Beer and beverage maker |
| City Developments | 1 project there |
| CapitaLand | 40% JV interest worth about S$300m |
| Keppel Land | 2 projects in Thailand of about 400 units |
| Total Access Comm | Mobile operator |
| Keppel Corp | Infrastructure interest |
| Ascott Group | Runs 5 serviced apartments in Thailand |
| UTAC | UTAC Thailand chip-testing facility |
| Magnecomp | Manufacturing facility |
| Micro-Mechanics | Manufacturing facility |
| Jackspeed | Exposure via a automotive unit in Thailand |
| Singapore Petrol Corp | Office/operations |
| Kim Eng Holdings | Stockbroking operation in Thailand |
| ECS Holdings | Distribution business |
| GP Batteries | Sales office |
| KS Energy | Sales office |
| Tat Hong | Crane rental business |
| Mediflex | Sources latex from Thailand |
The fifteen points to look for a Common Stock .
1. Does the company have products or services with sufficient market potential to make a possible sizable increase in sales for at least several years?
2. Does the management have a determination to continue to develop products or processes that will still further increase total sales potentials when the growth potentials of currently attractive product lines have largely been exploited?
3. How effective are the company’s research and development efforts in relation to its size?
4. Does the company have an above average sales organization?
5. Does the company have a worthwhile profit margin?
6. What is the company doing to maintain or improve profit margins?
7. Does the company have outstanding labor and personnel relations?
8. Does the company have outstanding executive relations?
9. Does the company have depth to its management?
10. How good are the company’s cost analysis and accounting controls?
11. Are there other aspects of the business, somewhat peculiar to the industry involved, which will give the investor clues as to how outstanding the company may be in relation to its competitors?
12. Does the company have a short range or long range outlook in regards to profits?
13. In the foreseeable future will the growth of the company require sufficient equity financing so that the larger number of shares then outstanding will largely cancel the existing stockholders’ benefit from this anticipated growth?
14. Does the management talk freely to investors about its affairs when things are going well but ‘clam up’ when troubles and disappointments occur?
15. Does the management have a management of unquestionable integrity?
Reply to Reader on LongCheer
Hi niversphere:
This is XXXXX25, anyway, in your own opinions, what else must I look at
into investing into a particular company?
Like what queen mention, Longcheers seems to be in a very competitive
industry. Have you any idea how are they going to increase revenue and
profit?
I would appreciate if you could give me some pointers where to look for
relevant information?
Thanks
Regards
XXXXX25
My Reply: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
My Investment Philosophy
All investors should have an investment philosophy and here are mine as follows :
1. A concentrated portfolio of no more than 5 holdings at anytime.
2. Business must be highly scalable. This simply means that the company must offer me good growth in its own core business.
3. Management must be ambitious and capable to lead the helm to bring the company to greater heights. Setting up a business and growing the company are completely different issues and challenges to me.
4. Set high barriers to entry. Having high barriers to entry to me is not that important as it's probably pertained to the industry that the company is in. Ability to set up high barriers to entry is of greater importance to me.
5. Company must have its own R&D team. Needless to say, when we buy into a company, we buy into its future and not its past. R&D is a must to stay ahead of competition.
6. Business should be concentrated on its core business. Speaks for itself .
7. Good mix of products with a ready new line of products coming up.
8. Potential to be a multi-bagger.
9. Company must have a positive cash flow and preferably free cash flow.
10. A market leader in its own industry.
11. Ethical investing. No live stocks, gambling or moral degrading companies
LongCheer operates in a competitive industry which is a characteristic of a growing industry. Basic micro economics determines that common profits to be earn in the long run as competitors come into play and the industry develops from its growth stage, developed stage to its matured stage.
As LongCheer does not have an active Investor Relations site. Finding relevant secondary information would be a little more difficult. Try finding them on www.baidu.com
Management has reiterated their ambition to expand to the US phone market. Currently only those listed in US like TechFaithWireless has a presence in the US market. Check www.engadget.com
Had you done the market share research (see my previous post with a link) on LongCheer. You would realized that the market share of LongCheers' customers are small. This works both ways, either you can see it as great potential for growth or otherwise.
Take TechFaithWireless for example, their japanese customer(3 letters) had embedded an "insult" message in its phone dictionary selling in the Chinese market. Naturally, as expected their market share decreased and TechFaithWireless' performance affected as well.
It goes to show the dependency relationship between design houses and its key customers.
Management has since lowered shareholders expectations since it last result release and is seen as a smart move. Common sense dictates that revenue growth cannot continue at 3 digit growth. I would expect YoY and QoQ decrease in percentage increase, margins lowered as more competitions sets in the lower tier, but not a decrease in revenue.
Cheers
Niversphere.
*XXXXX25: Edited
Investment success like the masters
George Soros and Warren Buffett are the world's most successful investors. Can ordinary investors learn anything from their investment habits? John McCrone finds out.
Two more different approaches to investing could hardly be imagined. One plays the markets, the other ignores them. One can be in and out of deals over a weekend, the other likes to buy and hold forever.
Yet the pair are the world's most successful investors. Some may have more wealth from starting businesses or inheriting riches, but none – till corporate raider Carl Icahn finally snuck into their ranks in 2004 – have earned more from wheeler-dealing in the markets.
Warren Buffett, a 76-year-old from Omaha in midwest America, has made more than US$44 billion (NZ$69 billion) with his Berkshire Hathaway Group through an uncanny knack for spotting bargain companies.
Mr Buffett has averaged 25 per cent a year growth since he first started managing funds in 1956, having just one losing year compared with the 13 years of negative returns in the United States stockmarkets.
George Soros, a Hungarian Jew born in the same year just 18 days apart from Mr Buffett, has amassed a more modest US$7 billion, having started rather later in his career as a speculator in the currency and futures markets with his Quantum Funds.
Mr Soros – the man who broke the Bank of England when he gambled on the devaluation of the pound in 1992 – has averaged a return of over 28 per cent a year and $1000 invested with him in 1969 would have been turned into $5 million today.
Can the ordinary investor learn anything from the stories of these two? Australian investment newsletter writer Mark Tier thinks so.
........................
For the full article
Cheers
Niversphere.
Steve Irwin
I will remember Steve Irwin. Steve Irwin affectionately known as the Crocodile Hunter was nothing of a hunter himself but a naturalist and an environmentalist. He gets across his preserving wildlife and embracing Nature through its own humourous ways. I remembered in one of his interviews with Animal Planet, he mentioned that it was probably his expressive facial features that captured the audience attention and he was proud and honoured to be doing the job he is doing now. He mentioned that if he were to be ever killed by a crocodile 'Crikey' would be undoing all the work he has done so far.
From the videos that he shot, I can sense the kind of passion and respect that he has for his job. Climbing sandy dunes and hills in the outback. I remembered there was a scene where he got his hand injured after falling from the hill and got stabbed by a thorn in his hand. He bravely plucked it out and was professional in carrying on with the show. That really was professionism and bravery.
His family oriented behaviour by getting his whole family involved. Being a busy man with a thick schedule to meet is not an easy task. I can see his affections for his wife, the trust and understanding between man and wife. He brought along his little girl on several episodes.
All the work he has done was for wildlife.
I am deeply saddened by his death. To end at such a relative young age of 44. A man carrying out noble deeds. Life is cruel and sometimes can be unfair. I hope his work would be carried on and his messages to the world about his work be remembered by all.
Steve Irwin, I will remember you always.
Regards
Niversphere.
YouCan Product Testing
Bought some YouCan products after some keen recommendation from readers of my blog. I adopted the scuttlebutt approach on both OSIM and Want Want before and now for YouCan.
This is the all that was displayed at my local supermart. Visually counting, there are only 4 types of YouCan products on display. A tad disappointing in my opinion. This is it!
Below is the box of ice cream that I bought. The management highlighted that they needed a change in packaging as wordings are largely in Chinese characters. So what is stopping them from taking action ? I wonder. 
If you done a comparison between the picture that was imprinted on the packaging and the one that was half eaten by me. You will notice the difference. Did you notice it before I told you ? 
p.s: The strawberry bits.
The ice-cream was well received by my female counterpart. In fact, before I had the chance to have a taste test on it. One of them was gone.
For those with a sweet tooth, this ice cream is a heaven blessing. It has a tinge of sourness when you eat some of its strawberry bits though.
Interested? Maybe its time to buy some for your partner.
Cheers
Niversphere.
The Art Of Compounding.
How about initial $5 BET with odd 1.6? You can be millionaire in 27 days. Never show hand bet in your life.
DAY - $ BET x ODD = $ WIN
1 - $ 5.00 x 1.6 = $ 8.00
2 - $ 8.00 x 1.6 = $ 12.80
3 - $ 10.40 x 1.6 = $ 16.64
4 - $ 16.64 x 1.6 = $ 26.62
5 - $ 26.62 x 1.6 = $ 42.60
6 - $ 42.60 x 1.6 = $ 68.16
7 - $ 68.16 x 1.6 = $ 109.05
8 - $ 109.05 x 1.6 = $ 174.48
9 - $ 174.48 x 1.6 = $ 279.17
10 - $ 279.17 x 1.6 = $ 446.68
11 - $ 446.68 x 1.6 = $ 714.68
12 - $ 714.68 x 1.6 = $ 1,143.49
13 - $ 1,143.49 x 1.6 = $ 1,829.59
14 - $ 1,829.59 x 1.6 = $ 2,927.34
15 - $ 2,927.34 x 1.6 = $ 4,683.74
16 - $ 4,683.74 x 1.6 = $ 7,493.99
17 - $ 7,493.99 x 1.6 = $ 11,990.38
18 - $ 11,990.38 x 1.6 = $ 19,184.61
19 - $ 19,184.61 x 1.6 = $ 30,695.38
20 - $ 30,695.38 x 1.6 = $ 49,112.61
21 - $ 49,112.61 x 1.6 = $ 78,580.18
22 - $ 78,580.18 x 1.6 = $ 125,728.29
23 - $ 125,728.29 x 1.6 = $ 201,165.26
24 - $ 201,165.26 x 1.6 = $ 321,864.41
25 - $ 321,864.41 x 1.6 = $ 514,983.06
26 - $ 514,983.06 x 1.6 = $ 823,972.89
27 - $ 823,972.89 x 1.6 = $ 1,318,356.62
Took this from an online source
Just for fun for the weekends.
Cheers
Niversphere.