HSBC to launch retail branches in Japan next year
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British-based HSBC said Thursday it planned to make its long-awaited entry into Japan&#39;s retail banking sector early next year with a nationwide network of branches targeting wealthy individuals.
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HSBC Holdings said Friday it will acquire The Chinese Bank in Taiwan after winning a government auction here, substantially boosting its operations on the island.
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(InfoWorld) - Hewlett-Packard kicked off a push into Japan's consumer PC market on Tuesday after being absent from the space for about four years. "We believe the opportunity is right," said Takafumi Oka, president of Hewlett-Packard Japan at a Tokyo news conference. "This will be an important milestone in our history." On Tuesday the company launched three new desktops and a laptop. It began marketing laptop PCs to consumers about six months ago, but the launch represents the start of a more serious attack on the home turf of local market leaders like Fujitsu, NEC, Toshiba, and Sony. HP is focusing its efforts on a direct sales model through the Internet and telephone. Additionally it will open three mini-stores inside major electronics shops in Tokyo where prospective customers will be able to try out the PCs, talk with HP representatives and place orders. Two of the stores will open on Wednesday and the third on Friday. HP's machines will be offered built-to-order and produced at an existing HP factory in Tokyo. That makes Japan the first market outside of the U.S. to have a local assembly plant for custom-ordered PCs, said Junichi Yamashita, who heads HP Japan's mobile and consumer business. As a result consumers will be able to get their PCs five days after ordering, he said. HP Japan left the consumer market four years ago after it merged with Compaq and decided to concentrate on enterprise customers in Japan. "The difference this time is that we have a better understanding we hope of the kinds of products you have to deliver to the Japanese market," said Richard Walker, vice president and general manager of HP in an interview with IDG News Service. "Also we're talking a different route to market this time. Previously we tried retail and quite honestly got killed." The direct sales model should make things different this time around, he said. "As I heard the presentation I got the feeling that HP is now getting serious about Japan," said Shunsuke Yoshizawa, head of AMD's Japanese marketing unit, at the news conference. Yoshizawa said Japanese consumers tend to be "very picky" when it comes to buying a PC and putting their trust in a brand. The company wouldn't name a specific goal for its reentry into the consumer market but said it hopes to achieve a double-digit market share. Doing so would make it a major player in the Japan consumer market. In the third quarter of 2006, the latest period for which figures are available, only four PC makers enjoyed a double-digit share of the entire PC market, according to IDC. NEC led the market with a 20.8 percent share, second was Fujitsu at 18.6 percent, third was Dell with a 13.5 percent share and fourth was Toshiba at 10.3 percent.
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HSBC Holdings PLC is in seeking to gain controlling interest in Korea First Bank, according to a published report. Free! Sign up here to receive our Midday Market Report e-Newsletter!
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The footwear retailer looks to expand its business following a strong Q1.
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Internet and telecoms giant Softbank Corp  will spend about 40 billion yen ($350 million) to start operations next year at a new data centre in southwestern Japan, the Nikkei business daily said on Sunday.
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The selection yesterday of global banking powerhouse HSBC Plc as the preferred bidder to take over Korea First Bank, the smallest nationwide bank, heralds more intense competition in Asia&#39;s thirdbiggest retail banking market.
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HSBC  (0005.HK) is not  considering acquisitions in Japan and will instead focus on  growth by itself as it rolls out retail banking in the world&#39;s  second-largest economy, HSBC Chairman Stephen Green said on  Thursday.
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HSBC Holdings , Europe's biggest  bank, is acquiring The Chinese Bank Co. in Taiwan and will  provide it with additional capital of between $300 million and  $400 million, it said on Friday.
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TOKYO Daiei, Japan&#39;s third-largest retailer, will receive bank waivers, share writedowns and funds from sponsor companies totaling Â¥707 billion, or $6.9 billion, to restore the company&#39;s finances, Japan&#39;s bailout agency said Tuesday.
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HSBC Holdings , Europe&#39;s biggest  bank, said on Wednesday it will open an insurance business in  Taiwan as it aims to tap into the fourth-biggest insurance  market in Asia.
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Internet and telecoms giant Softbank Corp   will spend about 40 billion yen ($350 million) to  start operations next year at a new data centre in southwestern  Japan, the Nikkei business daily said on Sunday.
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British bank HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research) is interested in buying the $3 billion store and credit card operations of US retailer Federated Department Stores Inc.
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Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Japan&#39;s biggest bank by assets, plans to partner Citigroup Inc.&#39;s Japanese investment banking venture to grab equity underwriting business from Nomura Holdings Inc.
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HSBC Holdings, the European bank, said it would buy part of an office tower in Shanghai to house its China headquarters as it speeds up expansion in China. HSBC agreed to buy naming rights and occupy 20 floors of one of the twin towers of the Shanghai International Finance Center, to be completed by 2010, from Sun Hung Kai Properties, HSBC said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The tower, a few blocks from the bankâs current headquarters, would be renamed HSBC Building-Shanghai IFC. Stephen K. Green, the chairman of HSBC, disclosed the deal at a news conference in Shanghai, but he declined to say how much the bank had agreed to pay.
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French retail giant Carrefour SA is planning to sell its operations in Japan, the Wall Street Journal reports on its website.
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SEOUL: HSBC Holdings is expected to be named the preferred bidder to buy South Korea&#39;s eighth-largest lender Korea First Bank, a source at the Korean bank familiar with the deal said yesterday.