Solar Energy News  
INTERNET SPACE
China's Xi meets Zuckerberg, Cook in Beijing
by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Oct 31, 2017


Japan's Nikon closes Chinese compact camera factory
Tokyo (AFP) Oct 30, 2017 - Nikon said Monday it has ceased operations at a compact camera factory in China, underscoring how picture-taking smartphones have devastated the market for digital cameras.

Tokyo-based Nikon, which is going through a sweeping restructuring to repair its finances, said it ended operations of Nikon Imaging (China) in eastern Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, which employed nearly 2,300 people.

"In recent years...due to the rise of smartphones, the compact digital camera market has been shrinking rapidly, leading to a significant decrease in operating rate at NIC (Nikon Imaging China) and creating a difficult business environment," Nikon said in a statement.

"The company has decided to discontinue operations of NIC. Thereafter, we will begin conducting relevant dissolution and liquidation procedures," it added.

Nikon said it expected the factory closure to cost around 7.0 billion yen ($62 million), but added that China will remain one of its key markets.

A rapid shift to picture-taking smartphones has torn into a camera sector dominated by Japanese firms also including Canon, Olympus,and Sony -- much like digital cameras all but destroyed the market for photographic film years ago.

Smartphones have been replacing a wide range of products, from newspapers to personal computers, but digital cameras have been among the hardest-hit.

Japanese camera makers have been steadily scaling down production of compact models in recent years.

Some have used their optical know-how to move into other areas like medical equipment, while others have focused on the high-end camera market.

Apple's Tim Cook and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing, state media said Tuesday, as the Communist Party pushes for a larger role in private firms.

The meeting came days after Xi secured his position as China's most powerful leader since Mao and as Facebook seeks to gain entry to the massive market.

"As a beneficiary of and contributor to economic globalisation, China's development is the opportunity for the world," Xi told the annual gathering of advisers to Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Under Xi, the Communist Party has increasingly tightened its grip on state-owned companies and has asked foreign firms to include party cells in their offices.

The move has raised concerns that the party may try to create alternative power structures within companies and potentially exercise control over management decisions, as it has in the case of state-owned enterprises.

Of the more than one hundred thousand foreign-funded companies in China, 70 percent had set up party organisations by the end of 2016, according to Qi Yu, deputy head of the party's Organisation Department.

Foreign companies regularly complain about the lack of access to Chinese markets and Zuckerberg in particular has made a big show of courting the country's top leadership in hopes of convincing Beijing to relax its ban on Facebook.

The Silicon Valley entrepreneur has been photographed with a collection of Xi's writings and happily jogging across Tiananmen Square in choking pollution. He has also given a lecture in China in halting Chinese.

The company has recently begun staffing up on the mainland, but appears to have made little progress in convincing Beijing to change its mind, a prospect that seems even less likely as the country tightens social media controls.

Tsinghua University's business school has attracted a bevy of A-list advisers from the worlds of tech and finance, including Blackstone's Stephen Schwarzman, Goldman Sachs' Lloyd Blankfein, and Tesla's Elon Musk, as well as China's own leading entrepreneurs, such as Alibaba's Jack Ma.

Apple Q3 iPhone shipments surge 40 pct in China: survey
Shanghai (AFP) Oct 30, 2017 - Apple has ended an 18-month slump in iPhone sales in China with a 40 percent surge in shipments in the third quarter, according to a private survey released Monday.

About 11 million iPhones were sold in China from July to September compared to eight million in the same period last year, research firm Canalys said in a report.

Apple had negative year-on-year growth in China for the previous six quarters.

The uptick in deliveries came even though the country's overall market declined five percent in the same quarter.

"The high sell-in caters to the pent-up demand of iPhone upgraders in the absence of the iPhone X," said Canalys analyst Mo Jia, adding that price cuts on earlier models after the announcement of the iPhone 8 also helped.

But Apple's iPhone shipments still lag far behind domestic rivals, with the company ranked only fifth on the mainland behind Huawei, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi.

Third-quarter growth was only temporary, according to Mo, predicting that Apple was unlikely to sustain such momentum in Q4.

Apple will launch the iPhone X early next month. Excitement is already building in China, with investors snapping up pre-orders just minutes after they became available last week.

"The iPhone X will enjoy a healthy grey market status, but its popularity is unlikely to help Apple in the short term," sad Mo.

China was once Apple's biggest overseas market outside the Americas, but it was overtaken by the European market last year, according to the company's earnings report.

INTERNET SPACE
Amazon shares soar as earnings top expectations
San Francisco (AFP) Oct 27, 2017
Amazon shares soared Thursday after the Internet giant reported earnings that topped expectations, boosting revenue from its fresh acquisition of grocery chain Whole Foods and an expanded line-up of devices tapping into its digital assistant Alexa. Profit for the third quarter was $256 million, up slightly from $252 million a year ago while revenue jumped 34 percent to $43.7 billion. The ... read more

Related Links
Satellite-based Internet technologies


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

INTERNET SPACE
Expanding Brazilian sugarcane could dent global CO2 emissions

Stiff fibers spun from slime

Converting carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide using water, electricity

Separating methane and CO2 will become more efficient

INTERNET SPACE
Liquid metal brings soft robotics a step closer

Intel working with Facebook on chips for AI

Robot wars: US smashes Japan in giant days-long duel

Samsung's revamped Bixby takes on Amazon Alexa

INTERNET SPACE
New York sets high bar for wind energy

Construction to begin on $160 million Industry Leading Hybrid Renewable Energy Project

A kite that might fly

Scotland outreach to Canada yields wind energy investment

INTERNET SPACE
Opel drives Peugeot's sales, but China stalls

Energy firms back investment into diesel engine

Self-driving bus to shuttle Bavarian townsfolk

Paris city bikes go electric

INTERNET SPACE
Scientists solve a magnesium mystery in rechargeable battery performance

Ames UConn team discover superconductor with bounce

Plastic and metal-organic frameworks partner for sensing and storage

Scientists get first close-ups of finger-like growths that trigger battery fires

INTERNET SPACE
South Korea to push ahead with nuclear power plants

AREVA NP awarded contract for safety upgrades in seven reactors

AREVA NP installs a system allowing flexible electricity generation at Goesgen nuclear power plant

Dessel: a new step forward with the dismantling of the site

INTERNET SPACE
Japan faces challenges in cutting CO2, Moody's finds

IEA: An electrified world would cost $31B per year to achieve

'Fuel-secure' steps in Washington counterintuitive, green group says

SLAC-led project will use AI to prevent or minimize electric grid failures

INTERNET SPACE
Indigenous groups warn Paris accord imperiled by deforestation

Forest fires contributed to record global tree cover loss

Tropical tree roots represent an underappreciated carbon pool

Conservation cutbacks put Brazil's Amazon animals at risk









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.