Stories by Terho Uimonen

Strong Q4 Gives Boost to Ericsson's 1999 Results

L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co. today said that its 1999 earnings results were boosted by healthy growth in the fourth fiscal quarter, which it said was the company's best ever with strong growth in mobile phone sales.

Taiwan's TSMC Posts 229 Percent Q4 Profit Jump

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (TSMC), the world's largest dedicated contract semiconductor manufacturer, today reported a massive 229 percent jump in net income for its fourth quarter compared to the same period a year ago.

GTS to Expand European Fiber Network

Broadband network services provider Global TeleSystems Group Inc. (GTS) plans to further expand the capacity of its trans-European fiber-optic network, the company announced today.

Study: 14M Europeans to Buy Stock Online by 2004

Europeans are on their way to embrace Internet-based stock trading, with German and Nordic consumers leading the way, Forrester Research BV said today, announcing the results from a new study.

Time Warner, EMI to Merge Music Units

Continuing its mega-merger mania, Time Warner Inc. and EMI Group PLC today announced an agreement to combine their music businesses into a joint venture called Warner EMI Music. The planned merger, which would create the industry's largest music company, comes three weeks after Time Warner famously agreed to merge with Internet service provider America Online Inc. (AOL).

Secure Mobile Stock Trading Debuts in Finland

Sonera SmartTrust Ltd. and eQ Securities Ltd. today announced the launch in Finland of a secure stock trading service for mobile phone users based on PKI (public key infrastructure), digital signatures and strong encryption.

Corel Posts Surprise Profit for Q4

Software vendor Corel yesterday released an unexpectedly upbeat earnings report, posting net income of 7 cents per share for its fourth fiscal 1999 quarter, after issuing a loss warning only last month.
Corel said that it was able to recognize certain tax gains valued at $US14.5 million, which helped it to report net income of $4.6 million, or 7 cents per diluted share, for the quarter ended Nov. 30, as compared to net income of $6.8 million, or 11 cents per share, for the corresponding period one year earlier. However, revenue for the quarter dropped to $60.9 million from $67.2 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 1998.

MS, VerticalNet Ink B2B E-Commerce Alliance

Microsoft Corp. and VerticalNet Inc. late yesterday announced a joint effort aimed at delivering business-to-business (B2B) electronic commerce services to small and medium-sized companies in vertical markets.

Ericsson dumps energy to focus on Net

L.M. Ericsson Telephone yesterday announced an agreement to sell its Energy Systems business unit to US-based Emerson Electric for around $US725 million in cash.

Film Studios Bring Claim Against DVD Hackers

Eight major motion picture companies late last week filed injunction complaints in U.S. District Court against three alleged hackers to prevent them from publishing an unauthorized DVD (digital versatile disk) de-encryption program on their Web sites.

ScanSoft to Acquire Caere for US$140 Million

ScanSoft Inc. yesterday announced a definitive agreement to acquire Caere Corp. in a deal valued at over US$140 million. By joining forces, the two companies aim to create what they billed as a world-class digital imaging software company.

Philips Semiconductors Forms VPN Unit

Philips Semiconductors, a division of Philips Electronics NV, today announced the formation of a new networking unit focused on the VPN (virtual private network) market.

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