BRIEFING - ASIA INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - JAN 20, 2011.

An executive briefing on information technology for Jan 20, 2011, prepared by Asia Pulse (http://www.asiapulse.com), the real-time, Asia-based wire with exclusive news, commercial intelligence and business opportunities.

E-COMMERCE FASTEST-GROWING INTERNET ACTIVITY IN CHINA: CNNIC

BEIJING - E-commerce has become the fastest-growing Internet activity in China after the number of online shoppers increased by almost 50 per cent to 160 million last year, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) said.

The number of China's netizens hit 457 million, continuing to be the largest globally, according to a bi-annual report released by the organization, which has been tracking the development of the Internet in China since 1997.

S.KOREA SEEKS TO BOOST EXPORTS VIA ONLINE MARKET

SEOUL - South Korea will work to strengthen its online market in other nations as it is fast becoming a large and cost-efficient market for its exporters, a local trade organization said Wednesday.

In 2010, South Korean companies sold over US$102 million worth of goods to foreign buyers via Internet sites, up 123 per cent from a year earlier, according to the Korea International Trade Association (KITA).

SEOUL EYES SILICON VALLEY TO BOOST SOFTWARE EXPORTS

SEOUL - South Korea is seeking to increase its market share in the very home of the world's top technology and software companies, Silicon Valley, setting up a sales and logistics support center for South Korean companies there, a state-run trade agency said Wednesday.

The software support center opened Tuesday (California time) as the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, better known as KOTRA, declared 2011 as the "first year of advance to the U.S. market" by South Korea's software companies.

INDIA'S TATA CONSULTANCY TO HIRE 37,000 IT PROFESSIONALS NEXT FY

MUMBAI - Indian IT major Tata Consultancy Services (BSE:532540) said it plans to hire 37,000 professionals for its domestic and overseas markets through campus placements in the next fiscal year.

"We plan to hire 37,000 professionals through campus recruitments in FY 12. We have so far visited 171 institutions pan-India," TCS Head (Global Human Resources) Ajoyendra Mukherjee told reporters here.

INDIAN IT FIRM MASTEK REPORTS US$6.11MLN DEC QTR LOSS

MUMBAI - Indian IT company Mastek (BSE:623704) has reported a loss of Rs 27.66 crore (US$6.11 million) for the quarter ended December 31 following a dip in revenues from overseas clients.

The Ahmedabad-headquartered company had posted a profit of Rs 23.5 crore in the October-December period last year.

INDIA'S YBRANT DIGITAL RECEIVES US$48MLN VIA INVESTOR FUNDING

NEW DELHI - Indian digital marketing firm Ybrant Digital today said it has received US$48 million through a fresh round of funding from investors, including Oak Investment and ICICI Bank (BSE:532174) Bank (BSE:532174).

Ybrant Digital, which has received the capital as combination of debt and equity, will use the funds to develop new technology, expand internationally and explore acquisitions opportunities.

INDIA'S NIIT TECHNOLOGIES POSTS 35.3% RISE IN DEC QTR NET PROFIT

NEW DELHI - Indian IT company NIIT Technologies (BSE:532541) reported a net profit increase of 35.3 per cent at Rs 47.8 crore (US$10.56 million) for the quarter ended December 31 by "all-round growth across BFSI and travel verticals".

BFSI segment contributed to 41 per cent, while Travel and Transport contributed 32 per cent to the revenue.

INDIA'S TULIP TELECOM BUYS BENGALURU DATA CENTRE FACILITY

NEW DELHI - Indian enterprise communication service provider Tulip Telecom (BSE:532691) today said its subsidiary has bought the Data Center facility in Bengaluru from SADA IT Parks Pvt Ltd (SADA) for Rs 230 crore (US$50.8 million) and would further invest Rs 670 crore to upgrade it.

Tulip Telecom's arm Tulip Data Center Services Private Limited (Tulip Data Center) has bought 100 per cent shares of SADA, which owns the Data Center facility in Bengaluru, for Rs 230 crore.

S.KOREA'S KT CORP FORECASTING 2011 REVENUES AT US$18.43BLN

SEOUL - South Korea's telecom titan KT Corp. (KSE:030200) said Thursday that it aims to post 20.5 trillion won (US$18.43 billion) in revenues this year, slightly higher than a year ago, by boosting its mobile business and continuing to tap into new business areas at home and abroad.

KT, the country's top fixed-line phone operator and second-biggest wireless carrier, targets 30 trillion won in revenues in 2015, the company said in a statement.

TOSHIBA ADDS ROLLS-ROYCE, OTHERS TO U.K. NUCLEAR CONSORTIUM

TOKYO - Toshiba Corp. (TSE:6502) said Wednesday that it has agreed to work with Rolls-Royce Plc and two other U.K. heavy machinery makers to win a nuclear power contract there.

The Toshiba group already has a U.K. nuclear power consortium, consisting of U.S. subsidiary Westinghouse Electric Co., major U.S. engineering firm Shaw Group Inc. and U.K. engineering firm Laing O'Rourke Plc.

ASUSTEK IN TAIWAN TO SELL FIRST TABLET IN TAIWAN THROUGH TELCOS

TAIPEI - Asustek Computer Inc. (TAIEX:2357), the world's fifth-largest PC vendor, said Wednesday it will begin selling its first tablet computer on the local market in April through telecom operators and retail channels.

The 10.1-inch Eee Pad Transformer, which comes with Google's Android operating system and a detachable QWERTY keyboard, will be the first model in Asustek's EeePad family to be sold in Taiwan, said the company's Senior Product Manager Jose Liao.

TAIWAN'S ASUSTEK EXPECTS LITTLE GROWTH IN NETBOOK BIZ IN 2011

TAIPEI - Taiwan netbook PC pioneer Asustek Computer Inc. (TAIEX:2357) said Wednesday its netbook business will see zero or slight growth in 2011 because of a worldwide slowdown of the netbook market.

The company expects to ship 6 million -7 million units of its Eee PC netbooks globally this year, taking a 20 percent market share and showing little or no growth from the 6 million units recorded in 2010, said Asustek's general sales manager Kevin Lin.

TAIWAN'S SYNNEX TO SELL MICROSOFT'S HANDHELD OPERATING SYSTEM

TAIPEI - Synnex Technology International Corp. (TAIEX:2347), one of Taiwan's leading information technology (IT) product distributors, said Wednesday that it has signed an agreement with Microsoft to serve as a local agent for the U.S. tech giant's Windows Embedded Handheld operating system.

Synnex said after signing the agreement that the deal makes it the first distribution partner of Microsoft in Taiwan for this particular operating system, which is used in devices such as cell phones.

SOFTWARE APPS KEY TO MOBILE MARKET GROWTH: TAIWAN'S TRI

TAIPEI - Mobile devices may have been widely showcased at annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this year, but content services and software applications are becoming the main generators of growth for hardware makers, Taiwan's Topology Research Institute (TRI) said on Wednesday.

TRI vice president Simon Yang said this year's CES in Las Vegas, which highlighted tablet computers, smart television, motion-control technology, integrated CPUs, and online application stores, saw a new trend in consumer devices compared with past shows.

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