No Groupon Discount for Google

DECEMBER 1, 2010 By ROLFE WINKLER WALL STREET JOURNAL

For two years of work, $6 billion isn't a bad pay day. According to the All Things Digital blog, that is what Google may pay for Groupon, a couponing website launched in 2008. To justify the steep price may require a fundamental shift in how Google does business.

Groupon is on track to generate $600 million of revenue in 2010, estimates Barclays analyst Doug Anmuth, growing to perhaps $1.5 billion next year. Four times 2011 revenue doesn't seem an outlandish multiple to pay, considering its rapid growth and strategic value to Google. One qualification: It isn't clear how profitable Groupon is.

An Internet coupon business offering daily deals to users, Groupon provides a powerful marketing opportunity to small local businesses that have thus far been resistant to advertising online. Historically, these businesses have advertised in the yellow pages, on the radio, on TV and by direct mail. Even though consumers are increasingly on the Internet, small businesses still spend just 10% of advertising dollars online, according to Gordon Borrell of research firm Borrell Associates, well below the average that large advertisers spend online.

Google has tried to capture a bigger share of local advertising dollars, but its primary product—paid links next to search results—is ineffective for the vast majority of small businesses, says Mr. Borrell. Few sell products or services online, so paid search doesn't pay. Groupon has proved more effective, sending customers through the front door. Buying Groupon could thus give Google a more successful way to engage with local merchants.

Google would also get email addresses and other personal information from Groupon users, which would enable it to provide more targeted, more lucrative advertising to them. Not to mention that Google might market Groupon deals to folks carrying cellphones powered by its Android operating system.

Part of the rationale of the deal has to be using Google's immense scale to expand Groupon's business, but that is easier said than done. Groupon's business is driven by people, who talk to merchants directly to arrange deals. Google's business is all about technology, which provides merchants a self-service online advertising tool. Individual contacts have long been the dominant way local advertising is sold, a fact supported by Groupon's success. To build on it, Google will likely have to make significant investments in people.

Moreover, if an automated solution were easy, it would make little sense for Google to pay billions for Groupon when it could launch its own coupon product for a fraction of that.

With $33 billion of cash on its balance sheet, Google has plenty of dry powder to invest in growth. Tuesday's 4.5% drop in its stock on the deal rumors, however, suggests shareholders are skeptical that Groupon's feet on the street really are worth such lofty numbers.

勝華觸控大擴產，PK宸鴻

2010/12/02 07:37 時報資訊

【時報-台北電】勝華 （2384） 受惠於平板電腦將於明年大放異彩，勝華董事長黃顯雄昨（1）日指出，除了中國東莞廠玻璃電容觸控面板產能，將於明（2011）年第1季擴產完畢後，以10吋產能計算，至2011年6月還要再擴增220萬片，屆時單月總產能將達520萬片。

挑戰對手TPK宸鴻 （3673） 意味濃厚，力拼蘋果以外的平板電腦市場。

黃顯雄指出，預估12月產能達200萬片，明年1月將達目標300萬片成績，同時為了因應明年中尺寸的市場陸續放量，勝華預計將針對10吋產品持續擴產，計畫在台中廠增擴單月220萬片產能，中尺寸平板電腦將是推升勝華營收成長的主要動能。

TPK宸鴻2011年也大擴中尺寸玻璃電容產能，預計10吋單月產能將達300萬片；據了解，目前TPK宸鴻也積極擴產設備，每個月持續有機器設備陸續投產。

除了蘋果電腦iPad客戶外，目前勝華觸控面板已經陸續向各大NB品牌廠送樣，像是華碩、宏碁、戴爾等一線廠商；黃顯雄表示，非蘋果品牌的平板電腦市場，明年有相當大的成長空間。

同時，OLED（有機發光二極體顯示器）面板技術也是勝華未來發展方向，黃顯雄認為，2011年及2012年由觸控面板拉升公司的營運與獲利表現，2013-2014年則由OLED帶動營收躍升，勝華的優勢在於OLED面板上直接貼合觸控面板。

勝華在桃園幼獅擁有2條3代TFT-LCD產線，合計母玻璃月投片量為11萬片，勝華已將部分母玻璃用於觸控面板之生產，未來將不再擴建TFT-LCD面板產能，改由直接向華映 （2475） 及彩晶 （6116） 購買前段array玻璃。

勝華在OLED布局多方考量，除了本身TFT-LCD將供應OLED產能之外，為了因應未來成長，勝華也計畫與彩晶合作。

黃顯雄表示，考慮向彩晶租賃位在南科的6代線廠房並自行購買低溫多晶矽（LTPS）、OLED製程蒸鍍設備，總投資額約僅200億元，明顯低於彩晶5.3代線TFT-LCD廠高達1,200億元的投資。

勝華2011年第1季起將陸續投入OLED製程相關蒸鍍設備，公司預估OLED產品將於2011年年底試量產。(新聞來源：工商時報─記者謝艾莉／台中報導)

自製VCM量能開 大立光明年毛利率將升

2010.11.30 【經濟日報╱記者劉芳妙／台北報導】

大立光董事長陳世卿表示，音圈馬達（VCM）自製量能已經開出，預估最快明年底或後年中達到經濟規模，為大立光營運帶來明顯助益，屆時毛利率也將改善。

大立光今年業績不斷挑戰新高，但因鏡頭所須搭載的音圈馬達仍依賴外購，成為毛利率殺手，為克服障礙，大立光內部不斷朝自製VCM產能突破，希望帶動獲利突破瓶頸。

由於傳統手機鏡頭必須採用機械式音圈馬達搭配，才能夠達到自動對焦效果，虛擬軟體全幅對焦（EDOF）視為是鏡頭影像處理的另一新選擇。隨著EDOF技術升級，加上成本考量，未來EDOF是否取代VCM，不但是光學市場關注的焦點，也攸關光學廠成本結構變化。

他分析，在各種手機鏡頭影像解決方案中，EDOF具低成本優勢，低價化智慧型手機市場中，EDOF 取代音圈馬達成為首選，但高階機種手機仍以VCM為主流。

陳世卿說，EDOF在光學製造方面的難度仍高，涵蓋範圍也較深，以同樣30公分對焦距離來拍，VCM對焦的主題較清楚，景深也較淺，就影像品質來說，VCM無可挑惕。

未來EDOF是否可能成為主流，陳世卿表示，大立光最早切入EDOF，量也做最大，未來若EDOF躍為主流，大立光的技術競爭優勢仍掌握先機。

慧洋多元服務 拚世界級船商

2010.11.30 【經濟日報╱記者丁威／台北報導】

即將在台掛牌上市的慧洋海運，堪稱是海運資優生，董事長藍俊昇創立慧洋海運短短11年，已成為超過60艘散貨船的國際級航商，未來更積極擴充船隊，五年內船舶數達百艘，打造為世界級的「多元化」散貨船公司。

藍俊昇說，慧洋獲利基礎已打好，明後年會持續爆發。

「很多人在外面說我擴充太快，亂買一通，事實上他們不了解，我不是船太多，是船不夠！」藍俊昇說。

成立僅11年的慧洋海運，為何能在這麼短的時間內大規模擴充船隊，船隊數更站上台灣散貨船第一，憑的是什麼？答案很簡單，就是董事長藍俊昇在散貨船的經驗累積。

國際各大航商力捧

慧洋的成功，藍俊昇是關鍵核心人物，在散貨航運界擁有超過30年經驗的他，憑著對船舶的了解、品質的要求、全球散貨網絡分布以及對客戶的服務等，讓日本NYK、三井等超過800艘船的國際重量級航商，願意花錢向慧洋租船，一租長達15年，這一點在海運界罕見。

到今年底前，慧洋船隊規模將達68艘船，2013年增至89艘，五年內會達成100艘的目標。

藍俊昇說，慧洋的船舶分為五種類型，從輕便型、超級極限型、巴拿馬型等都有，傳統上散貨航商只經營一至兩種船舶，但慧洋策略不同，透過多種船型，可將大客戶緊緊抓牢，說穿了，就像在量販店買東西，「一站購足」。

藍俊昇說，經過金融海嘯，很多航商租船漸漸集中化，可能某個客戶他想要同時租輕便型、巴拿馬型，慧洋都可以提供，「船舶多元化」，對慧洋在邁向國際型航商有加乘效果，各種船型「相輔相成」。他說：「現在有很多船商要找我租船，我船根本不夠怎麼租！」

在台灣海運界船隊規模超過百艘的航商，只有貨櫃航商，散貨船商能超過50艘已是「天文數字」；藍俊昇帶領慧洋迎向百艘規模的衝勁，將帶給國內研究散裝航運的投資機構全新的思維。

堅持向日船廠訂造

藍俊昇對於海運，有種外界不懂的「堅持」，說穿了就是對船舶品質的堅持，慧洋超過95%的船是向日本船廠訂造，上半年因日圓大幅升值，慧洋獲利被侵蝕億元，但仍未打退藍俊昇的堅持。

藍俊昇說：「造船是工藝！我做的是全世界的生意，不是那種沿海跑一跑的船；我的船好，租金比市場行情貴一點，客戶還是願意上門。日本造船經驗技術超過100年，沒那麼容易被追過。」

藍俊昇指出，市場很多人笑慧洋到日本買船太貴，但其實這才是我和同業競爭勝出的關鍵，數字會說話，他分析說：「一艘7.9萬噸級的散貨船，大陸造只要3,400萬美元，我到日本大島船廠造7.7萬噸級散貨船，卻要花4,000萬美元，乍看之下我確實虧到。」

但他進一步精算：「我的船，一天燃油僅需32噸，大陸船需要40噸，跑一趟高雄到美國來回72天，我就省下576噸燃油，現在一噸燃油售價520美元，一年跑四趟來回，我就省下快新台幣3,600萬元，足以填補造船成本的損失還倒賺，這還不包括滑油、速度、航行天數所省下的成本。」

另外他說，日本船二手價在市場也比大陸船高，就像台灣二手車市一樣，日系的豐田車價格就是有撐；仔細精算，「你說買日本船哪裡貴？」藍俊昇說。

慧洋深信日本船省成本、效率高，因而在全球造船重心移往南韓、大陸靠攏之際，慧洋仍堅持向日本買船的原因。

而散貨小船市場的經營模式，更讓慧洋將「門檻」築高，外界要跨入，學習曲線可能就超過五年，而這五年，慧洋用持續擴充船隊，讓追兵疲於奔命。

提高門檻甩開追兵

藍俊昇認為，他進入的是利基型市場，而且從2008年至2013年，慧洋進行五年擴充計畫，已為未來慧洋獲利打下良好的基礎，明年將進入收成期，未來他要將慧洋將打造成為「全方位」多元散貨船公司，要讓慧洋的船持續航行到全世界。

【2010/11/30 經濟日報】@ http://udn.com/

Sony增購台灣面板

2010.11.29 【經濟日報╱編譯何信彰／綜合外電】

日本讀賣新聞報導，鑒於經營環境日益艱困，原本有意增持與夏普合資液晶面板廠股權的Sony公司已決定喊停，Sony高層表示將轉而擴大對台廠的採購。

經濟日報／提供

Sony與夏普在日本大阪合資設立的液晶面板廠，Sony原本有意在明年4月前把持股比率從7%大幅提高到34%，以加強介入管理。

不過，日圓可能持續升值，加上全球電視機的銷售遲緩，迫使Sony放棄這項計畫。

讀賣新聞報導，Sony高層27日說，將轉向價格比夏普低的台廠採購液晶面板，採購比率將從目前的30%拉高至50%。

一般預料，Sony的電視業務部門在截至2011年3月的會計年度將出現虧損，雖然Sony仍維持與夏普合資廠7%的持股，但會檢討面板採購計畫。

Sony原本預期平面電視市場會快速成長，為確保面板貨源穩定，而與夏普於2009年7月達成協定，選定夏普大阪廠作為合資廠房，同年10月投產。

這座合資廠是全球最大面板廠之一，占地127萬平方公尺，每年可產130萬片42吋面板，產能依持股比率供應雙方。

分析師指出，雖然新興市場對平面電視的需求仍在增加，但當地的削價競爭加劇，在這種情況下，Sony發現得把重心從與夏普的合資廠轉向採購台灣的低價面板。

分析師表示，Sony此次變心顯示液晶面板生產基地已加速從日本移向海外，也可能對夏普的經營策略產生重大影響。

分析師說，身為日本面板製造龍頭的夏普，顯然也陷入與海外製造商競爭的困境，特別是台灣廠商，進而加深市場對日本產業空洞化的擔憂。今年第三季，南韓和台灣製造商生產的面板囊括全球八成市場，夏普只占10%左右。

Singapore Pledges Property-Bubble Prevention

NOVEMBER 25, 2010, 6:01 P.M. ET By SAM HOLMES THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

SINGAPORE—The Singapore government plans to pump more land into the city-state's private residential property market in the first half of next year to help temper building price pressures.

The continuation of the land-supply program seen in the second half of this year comes amid signs the government remains concerned about the formation of a housing bubble despite three rounds of measures to curb speculative activity since September 2009. Singapore's home-property prices rose more than 14% in the third quarter of this year from the fourth quarter of last year, according to data from the Urban Redevelopment Authority.

The Singapore government's attempts to address property-price pressures follow recent measures by regulators in China and Hong Kong, as a number of Asian markets see a surge in home prices due in part to massive investment flows into the region.

The government in late August unveiled its third set of measures in a year to curb speculative activity in the housing market, which included increasing the size of the down payment required to secure a second home loan and extending the period an owner must hold a property to avoid paying a stamp duty when selling it. Thursday's move suggests Singapore may not be far from imposing its fourth round of policies to knock the heat out of the market.

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Bloomberg News

A condominium complex under construction in Singapore earlier this year

The URA said it will place 17 residential sites on its confirmed list and 13 sites on its reserve list in its land-sales program for the first half of next year. Reserve sites are tendered for sale only when a bidder makes an offer for the parcel that meets the government's sales criteria.

The authority said the program's confirmed list of sites could yield about 8,125 residential units, roughly in line with the record 8,135 units from the confirmed list in the second half of 2010.

However, the total potential number of units from both the confirmed and reserve residential list in the first half of 2011 is a record 14,300, up from 13,900 units in the second half.

"The government will continue to monitor the property market closely and is prepared to inject even more supply of private housing should demand continue to be strong," the government said in a statement Thursday.

The planned supply will also include five commercial sites, one "white" site and eight hotel sites. White sites allow developers to build properties for a range of uses.

The sales program comes shortly after the Monetary Authority of Singapore said in its annual Financial Stability Review Thursday that the government would take steps to temper exuberance in the property market and pre-empt speculative bubbles if needed.

"Current global conditions of flush liquidity and low interest rates may lead to upward pressures on domestic asset prices," the central bank said in its report.

The Singapore government's aggressive land-sales program "tells you the government expects no let-up in the residential sector," UBS analyst Michael Lim said.

"I think this is clearly a signal of the government's resolve to control price momentum in this sector."

Nomura analyst Sai Min Chow said new measures to cool sentiment could include tweaks to current policies, such as an increase in the down payment required for second mortgages or possibly introducing a holding-period tax, which would tax the gains made on the sale of properties within three years of purchase.

Mr. Sai said the government may look to introduce more cooling measures in its 2011 budget in February, which will follow the release of private property price data for the fourth quarter of 2010 in January.

—Gaurav Raghuvanshi contributed to this article.

Hong Kong Imposes More Property Curbs

NOVEMBER 19, 2010 By CHESTER YUNG THE ASIA WALL STREET JOURNAL

HONG KONG—Hong Kong's government on Friday took some of its toughest measures yet to cool the city's red-hot real-estate market by significantly raising transaction costs for speculators.

Financial Secretary John Tsang said the moves, which include additional stamp duties for properties sold within two years of purchase as well as lower mortgage ratios, underscore the government's commitment to ensuring stability in Hong Kong's property market as apartment prices continue to soar amid ample liquidity and rock-bottom interest rates.

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Resident buildings under construction are seen at Tseung Kwan O district in Hong Kong, Nov. 8, 2010.

Property prices are now near the peak they reached before the last property bubble in 1997, with average home prices up 15% between January and September, following a 30% jump in 2009. The government has over the past year introduced a number of cooling measures, such as increasing land supply and temporarily excluding the use of real-estate purchases in an investment immigration program, but has achieved mixed results.

"The unusual surge in flat prices has attracted speculators. This, coupled with quantitative easing measures, has distorted the market expectation regarding inflation and asset prices," said Mr. Tsang. "Unscrupulous speculators may take advantage of the heated market sentiments to lure people into buying beyond their means."

Mr. Tsang said increases in asset prices and overheated speculative activities bring a "heightened risk of property bubbles forming," justifying the need for additional measures to rein in the private housing market.

He added that he will launch more measures if necessary to cool the property market.

Among the measures announced Friday are additional stamp duties, or property transaction taxes, on properties sold within two years of their purchase.

If a property is re-sold within six months, the government will levy a charge of 15% of the transaction price that is jointly payable by both the buyer and seller. The government will impose a 10% charge for apartments sold between six and 12 months of their purchase, and a 5% charge for those sold between 12 months and 24 months of purchase.

The new duties, which take effect Saturday, are in addition to existing stamp duties of as much as 4.25% of property sales prices.

"This is the toughest move ever as compared with the previous measures that will likely curb speculation effectively in the short-to-medium term," said Kevin Lai, a senior economist at Daiwa Capital Markets.

To further contain speculation and lending in the property sector, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority on Friday told banks to lower the ceiling on mortgages for residential properties valued at 12 million Hong Kong dollars (US$1.55 million) and higher to 50% of the property's value from 60%, with immediate effect.

The mortgage ratio for residential properties valued between HK$8 million and HK$12 million will also be cut 10 percentage points to 60%, HKMA Chief Executive Norman Chan said. The ratio for properties valued below HK$8 million will remain unchanged at 70%.

Nomura analyst Paul Louie said the government's measures were "very significant" and "much harsher and more punitive than the market had expected."

He said the tougher rules could result in a 40% drop in transaction volumes of private secondary apartments and, with many speculators out of the picture, stabilize prices in the near term.

Donna Kwok, greater China economist at HSBC, said Hong Kong authorities are limited to administrative measures to counter the inflationary risk prompted by the latest round of quantitative monetary policy easing proposed by the U.S. Federal Reserve this month. "The [government] can't erect capital controls without jeopardizing the stability of its financial sector, which is pinned upon the free movement of capital and drives one quarter of its economy," she said.

"This is the most creative and carefully crafted move from the HK authorities since 2009 for tinkering with demand-side factors in the property market, because the scope of motive has been widened," Ms. Kwok added. "As a result, this latest set of measures will likely have the biggest and most lasting impact that we've seen yet for cooling Hong Kong property prices."

The latest property-cooling measures come after the International Monetary Fund on Thursday urged the Hong Kong government to take further action on the real-estate market if asset-price inflation continues. The IMF said it sees increasing risk of a property bubble in Hong Kong due to continued liquidity inflows and low interest rates coupled with tight housing supply.

However, James Cheung, a director at Centaline Surveyors, said that while the increased stamp duty will likely have an immediate effect on speculation, the longer-term impact on prices is less clear given the market practice of passing taxes on to the buyer.

"If demand remains strong, owners who have held their properties for over two years may have room to increase the price, as there will be higher demand for their property, which is not subject to the high taxes," Mr. Cheung said.

—Kate O'Keeffe, Fiona Law and Shai Oster contributed to this article.