Jiji Press Daily Japan Business News Briefs (March 2)

SHARP EYES HIMEJI AS SITE OF NEW LCD TV PLANT–Sharp Corp. is considering selecting Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, as the site of its new plant for liquid crystal display television sets, informed sources said.

Sharp is expected to spend about 200 billion yen on the new plant, which will represent the company’s biggest investment in an LCD plant. It plans to start up its new LCD TV plant around 2009 in a bid to expand production and enhance the cost competitiveness of its LCD TVs.

SCE, IMMERSION SETTLE PATENT DISPUTE–Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. said it has reached an out-of-court settlement with a U.S. firm that claimed that the controllers for the Japanese company’s PlayStation video game consoles infringe on its patented technology.

Under the agreement, SCE will pay an undisclosed sum, estimated to total some 10 billion yen, to Immersion Corp. and conclude a license contract with the U.S. firm that will give SCE “certain new rights with respect to Immersion’s patent portfolio.”

LENOVO TO RECALL 205,000 BATTERY PACKS MADE BY SANYO–The Lenovo group of China said that it will recall about 205,000 laptop computer lithium-ion battery packs made by Japan’s Sanyo Electric Co. because they pose a fire hazard.

Sanyo is a major manufacturer of lithium-ion batteries. If other personal computer makers follow suit, the recall may give a serious adverse impact on the company that is struggling to turn itself around.

JAPAN’S JAN. LEADING DI SEEN REMAINING BELOW 50 PCT–Japan’s diffusion index of leading economic indicators certainly stayed below the boom-bust dividing line of 50 pct for the third straight month in January, it was learned.

The subpar performance of the leading DI, a yardstick for the economy’s performance in the coming months, can be taken as a sign of an imminent economic deceleration. Ahead of the Cabinet Office’s announcement of January DIs on Wednesday, the leading DI was calculated at 35 pct based on data available so far.

JAPAN JAN. CORE CPI UNCHANGED AFTER 7-MONTH RISE–Japan’s core consumer price index for January was unchanged from a year before, snapping a seven-month rising streak due to waning upward pressure from energy prices, the Internal Affairs Ministry said.

Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Hiroko Ota told a news conference that there is no change in price trends, but some analysts predict a downturn in consumer prices in the months to come.END

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