Quickbites — Japan court bans fake Tamagotchi

Friday’s court order is temporary until it issues the final ruling. Tamagotchi features an electronic chick that lives for up to two weeks and beepswhen it needs attention. A chronic supply shortage of the 1,980 yen (about $16) device has fuelled the game’s popularity, boosting under-the-counter prices and causing a flood of imitations.

S Korea may take US to WTO

South Korea threatened to take the United States to the World Trade Organization (WTO) for its failure to revoke anti-dumping measures on South Korean-made 16-mega DRAM chips. The decision by the US Department of Commerce to "employ the arbitrary factor ofthe possibility of future dumping" was regrettable, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lee Kyu-Hyung said in a statement.

"We plan to file a case with the WTO," Lee said. He said South Korean chips had already met the requirements for the revocation of anti-dumping measures when, for the third consecutive year, US authorities declared LG and Hyundai’s dumping rate at less than 0.5 percent.LG and Hyundai are among the world’s leading makers of 16-mega DRAMS, and according to the US Department of Commerce the dumping rate for Hyundai was zero percent and for LG 0.01 percent between May of 1995 and July of 1996.

Philips closes Malaysia plant

Dutch electronics giant Philips announced plans to move its audio manufacturing plant in Malaysia’s northern Penang state to China in a bid to remain competitive.

The group would discontinue manufacturing activities of Philips Audio Electronics Sdn. Bhd. after 18 years by the first quarter of 1998, which is expected to affect some 1,500 employees, the company said in a statement. This was because of Malaysia was moving towards becoming a fully industrialised nation, and was fast replacing labour intensive operations with high-tech production centres.

Malaysia’s almost zero unemployment rate and the "clear tendency of the younger generation to apply for higher qualified jobs means that Philips Audio will no longer be competitive to continue operations in Malaysia and compete with operations in other labour-intensified countries," it said.

Philips said that the development was also part of a structural realignment of its global activities since last year. — Agencies