Google Chromebook prices to fall

Google Inc said the price of some Chromebook laptops will drop by as much as 30 per cent, to $299, part of a push to get users to choose its software over products made by such rivals as Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp. The price cut affects machines made by Samsung Electronics Co, which formerly cost about $429, and Acer Inc, which cost about $349, Mountain View, California-based Google said in an e- mailed statement. Both devices feature Wi-Fi wireless access and are available through Amazon.com Inc and Best Buy Co, the company said on a blog. Google devised Chrome to be a faster, more internet-focused operating system to challenge Microsoft's Windows and Apple's Mac software. Google announced Chrome OS in 2009, and manufacturers began offering the devices in June. "We've also been working closely with our partners to continually improve the overall Chromebook experience while making them even more affordable," Venkat Rapaka, a senior product manager, said in the blog posting. Microsoft's Windows is the most widely used computer operating system, while Google is the most popular Web search engine.

Zynga's CastleVille Storms Facebook With 5 Million Users Less Than a Week

Zynga‘s latest addition to the “-Ville” franchise, CastleVille, has had a solid opening. In just under a week, the game has garnered 5 million daily active users — meaning it’s growing faster than any other Zynga game did at this stage. Castleville crossed the 5 million active user threshold Sunday night, just six days after its release. By hitting that milestone, CastleVille‘s growth has outshined other recent introductions from the company, including FrontierVille, which got 2.6 million DAUs in its first six days and CityVille, which received 3.2 million. The 5 million figure isn’t the only stat to come out of CastleVille so far. Others include: 135,176,035 quests completed 4,594,750 expansions into the Gloom 23,845,983 beasties banished from the kingdom 182,360 Bubbly Grogs crafted 8,262,768 baby cows raised CastleVille still has its work cut out for it, though. CityVille, which launched last November, hit 100 million users within 40 days. CityVille is still the most popular game on Facebook with 51 million daily

Infosys hints at revenue slowdown

Infosys has raised a warning sign about the deteriorating economic environment which has the potential to adversely affect revenue growth in the coming months. V Balakrishnan, the Bangalorebased company's chief financial officer, said the company will not miss its revenue growth forecast for the October-December quarter or the financial year ending in March. But he said India's second-largest software exporter, which has earned a reputation as a company that exceeds its guidance regularly, cannot confirm that sales growth will be at the upper end of the forecast. "The world is in a terrible mess and things are deteriorating. We will be somewhere in the range. We don't know whether it will be at the lower end or the upper end," Balakrishnan told ET on Monday. Earlier in the day, Dow Jones newswire quoted Balakrishnan as saying Infosys may miss the upper end of its sales growth forecast of 3-5% for the December quarter and 17.1-19.1% for the financial year, or $7.08-7.2 billion. Infosys is regarded as a bellwether for the software industry and any comment by the company is closely watched for signals about what it portends for the rest. Infosys' language on its prospects has been cautious from the beginning of the financial year

Yamaha to ramp up production capacity by four lakh units

NEW DELHI: Two-wheeler maker India Yamaha Motor today said it will expand its production capacity by 4 lakh units next year with an investment of about Rs 50 crore. "We are targeting to increase our production and sales as we are witnessing very good demand for our products. We target to increase the capacity to 10 lakh units per annum from 6 lakh units at present," India Yamaha Motor National Business Head Roy Kurian told PTI. The company will enhance the capacity of its Surajpur plant in Uttar Pradesh, he added. Asked about the investment for this, Kurian said: "It will take about USD 10 million. We will only set up a separate line at the plant." India Yamaha Motor has another plant in Faridabad, where it manufacturers engines. "We are targeting to sell 10 lakh vehicles in the domestic market by 2014. This year we are expecting to sell 3.3 lakh units in the domestic market," Kurian said. He said the company is aiming to sell 4.5 lakh units in 2012 and 7 lakh units in 2013. "On the export front, we are hoping to sell 1.7 lakh units in this year. It will grow in the next few years," Kurian said, adding the company is expecting to sell a total of 10 lakh two-wheelers in 2013. Last year the company had sold a total of 3.8 lakh units, which included exports. When asked about dealer network, he said the company currently has a total sales point of about 1,200 outlets. "We are increasing our reach gradually. Next year, we will be adding 400-500 sales points," he said. The company is aiming to have 2,000-2,500 sales points across the country by 2014, he added. India Yamaha Motor had reported 26.82 per cent increase in its total sales in October 2011 at 47,240 units. During the month, the company's domestic sales stood at 38,229 units, up 20.25 per cent. Exports rose by 65.04 per cent to 9,011 units in last month.

MRF turnover crosses Rs 10,000 cr; eyes acquisitions abroad

CHENNAI: MRF today said its turnover for the first time has crossed Rs 10,000 crore in one year, becoming the first Indian tyre maker to achieve this mark, and announced plans to acquire plantations or companies abroad to neutralise the impact of high import duty on rubber. "MRF is the first Indian tyre company to have crossed the turnover of Rs 10,000 crore in one year. It registered growth in excess of 30 per cent over the previous year," MRF Chairman K M Mammen told reporters here. "In 2007, we reported Rs 5,000 crore. Rs 10,000 crore is something we are proud of, because we are the first Indian (tyre) company to achieve this," Mammen said. Talking about future plans, he said MRF was seriously thinking of going out of the country or acquire companies. "We are reviewing a lot of these wonderful ideas," he said. He also expressed hope that the company would double the revenues in future. Stating that the high import duty was having an impact on its bottom line, he said they were looking to acquire plantations in any region or acquire companies. When asked whether the company has zeroed in on any company or any plantations, he only said, "We are looking at the whole world." MRF exports tyres to 65 nations. It has seven facilities in the country. To another question whether putting up a factory outside India would be a feasible option for the company, Mammen said it was not a right option. "But taking over (of overseas companies) is fine. We are looking at all over the world. I would say, there are lot of opportunities in Europe, South east Asia, China," he said.

Govt probing complaints about ISO certified tyres

NEW DELHI: Consumer Affairs Minister K V Thomas today said his ministry is investigating the complaints of poor quality ISO certified tyres. "Some tyre companies, who have ISO certification, are not adhering to the quality standards. We have received complaints about poor quality tyres. We are seriously looking into them," Thomas said on the sidelines of an event here. The minister, however, did not reveal the name of the tyre companies which have violated the quality standards. Domestic manufacturers produce tyres for passenger, commercial as well as special defence vehicles. India's tyre industry, which comprises of around 39 companies, had manufactured 14.88 lakh tonnes of tyres last fiscal, according to the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers' Association ( ATMA). Saying that products and services embossed with ISO certification give confidence to consumers, Thomas urged manufacturers and exporters to comply fully with the prescribed standards. Speaking on the eve of World Standards Day, he said national standards play a vital role in the present era of World Trade Organisation (WTO). India, which is a signatory to the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, should harmonise Indian standards, wherever feasible, with global standards, he said. "This (international standards) gives manufacturers confidence to reach out to the global markets with the knowledge that their products will compete globally and users can be confident and assured of the uniformity in the quality," Thomas noted. Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the national standards body, has so far formulated over 18,600 Indian standards in accordance with the needs and priorities of the country. The BIS will continue its efforts in this direction so as to face the challenges of global competition in today's market scenario, he added.

Sahaganj plant: Dunlop says unions not keen on bipartite talks

KOLKATA: Ailing tyre-maker Dunlop India today said it was unable to reopen the Sahaganj plant as unions are against bipartite talks, while the West Bengal government asserted the company should reopen the unit first. "Dunlop is unable to implement the reopening proposed by us on October 21. Workers' unions are not willing to hold any meeting with us as they are insisting on a tripartite meeting. We have not received any government nod for it," group Chairman Pawan Ruia told PTI. "As such the fate of reopening of the Sahagunj factory now rests with the government," he said. Dunlop, which had announced suspension of work on October 8, had offered to lift the work suspension order in three divisions at its Sahagunj plant in a phased manner, subject to restoration of power. Ruia said trade unions should have approached the management for a discussion rather than wait for a direction from the government. "If the discussions failed to find a common ground of understanding, then the government could have intervened," he said. Ruia argued that the government had to play a proactive role in revitalising the plant as the management had spent over Rs 300 crore to clear old debts when the company was taken over from Manu Chabbria in 2005. The chairman accepted that the company was yet to clear certain dues of employees. CITU's Dunlop unit president Santoshree Chatterjee said last week the union had received two letters from the management asking for a meeting. As the government had already intervened, it should now be discussed at a tripartite meeting, he added Meanwhile, Labour Minister Purnendu Bose told reporters that "Dunlop has written a letter to the state government alleging that unions are averse to sit with the management for bipartite talks." The minister said that the government had asked the Dunlop authorities to reopen the factory and that there was need for a tripartite agreement. Reiterating government's demand for lifting suspension of work at the factory first, Bose said "various government authorities have Rs 30 crore arrears pending from Dunlop for providing electricity and municipal services and the government would like to know what it is going to do about it". The unions claimed that 328 employees who had retired after 2005 have also not received provident fund and gratuity payments, as also statutory dues of 319 employees who took early retirement. The company currently employs 870 permanent workers. According to the proposal from the Dunlop managment, the industrial products division will first be reopened, then the OTR tyre divsion (large tyres) and lastly the tyre divsion after installation of a 50 MW captive power plant.

Govt plans outright sale of TCIL; to appoint i-bankers by Dec

NEW DELHI: The Disinvestment Department is planning an outright sale of ailing Tyre Corporation of India (TCIL) and will appoint merchant bankers by mid-December. "The Department of Disinvestment (DoD) plans to engage an advisor to advise and manage TCIL's outright sale process successfully," a senior government official told PTI. The department aims to finalise appointment of merchant bankers by mid-December, the official added. West Bengal-based TCIL, engaged in manufacturing and marketing of automotive tyres, is wholly-owned by the government. Since 2002, the company which is awaiting revival from the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction ( BIFR) has been doing 100 per cent jobbing work for other tyre manufacturers like Ceat, Birla Tyres due to shortage of working capital. "The Advisor will be required to undertake tasks related to all aspects of the outright sale of TCIL like advising the government on the timing and the modalities of the outright sale process among others," he added. The Department of Heavy Industry in July 2011 had prepared a proposal for a complete sell-out of TCIL, as it has been reporting losses for the last several years. As at the end of March, 2011, the paid-up equity capital of TCIL stood at Rs 29.63 crore. The government holds 100 per cent stake in the company. In 2007, Parliament had cleared the strategic sale of TCIL. The company had turned sick in 1992 and was then referred to the Board for Industrial and Financial Restructuring (BIFR).

Car prices of Toyota, GM, Honda, Maruti & Audi set to go up on falling rupee

NEW DELHI: Car prices are set go up due to depreciation of rupee as higher input costs are forcing companies to look for an upward revision , despite the slowdown in the market. Companies like Toyota, General Motors, Honda, Maruti and Audi have said with falling rupee, they have to pay more for parts and components that are imported. "The rupee depreciation is adding to the cost and we will be going in for a revision from January next year," Toyota Kirloskar Deputy MD (sales & marketing) Sandeep Singh said. Toyota had last raised prices by 1%-1 .5% in October this year. "The hike could be of a similar range or even more." Toyota's vehicles like Innova and Fortuner have 50% imported parts and the falling rupee has made their costs higher. General Motors also spoke of a similar cost pressure and said it may have to go for a revision soon. "This is definitely putting a lot of pressure and is negatively impacting us. Obviously, we are looking at passing the extra cost to the market and now this may happen earlier than the previously-planned revision in January," General Motors India V-P P Balendran said. Apart from certain parts, GM India imports engines for models like Spark, U-VA , Aveo and Optra and costs of all these has been impacted. Luxury carmaker Audi said it may have to look at the prices to factor in rising costs. "With the continuous devaluation of the rupee vs the euro and the dollar, we cannot rule out the necessity of realigning our pricing," Audi India MD Michael Perschke said. Rupee has slipped further against dollar on Tuesday to touch 52.32. Maruti - that had raised prices of its diesel cars last week - also complained of the adverse impact from a weaker rupee, though adding that it had no plans to go for a price hike again. "The rupee depreciation is adversely impacting us and this is the worst movement of the currency against the US dollar . It has lost 15% in the last two months," Maruti Suzuki CFO Ajay Seth said. Maruti has both direct and indirect exposure to foreign currencies, while importing components and it imports Rs 8,000 crore worth of parts annually, Seth said. "At the same time, we also export cars and that is benefiting us at present. Considering both, we are impacted as a net importer. The situation is affecting our margins."

Maruti Manesar plant strike: Youth at component units lose jobs

BINOLA/MANESAR (GURGAON): The youth of the tiny Binola industrial belt close to Manesar - the epicentre of the ongoing stir by Maruti workers - are facing the worst. Villagers in the area claimed that 30%-35% of the ITI-trained workforce have been sacked from small plants involved in manufacturing of ancillary auto-parts because of the reduction in Maruti's production between 25% and 50% since June this year. However, these figures were not confirmed by Maruti Suzuki. Villagers, who survive on tenants, are not getting their rents. The Binola industrial belt has close to 60 small-and medium-scale industries. The situation has become so bad that the sacked ITI-trained workers have started working at construction sites to sustain their living. Arvind, who was employed with a small auto-ancillary firm in Binola said he has been sitting jobless for four months. "About 300 colleagues in my company have been asked to leave in the past three to four months. We can't even pay the rent." Now, he has got some whitewash work for some of the houses in the locality, thanks to Diwali. Even his house owner Rishi Prakash, is in a fix as his five tenants have been sacked. He can neither throw them out nor can meet his own need because of low income from rent. All this seems to be going against the striking Maruti workers. "Our young fellows have been left jobless by the handful of workers at the Maruti plant who have vested interest in stopping the production. The company should see that none of them are taken back to work and instead the company should hire fresh people," said Samay Singh, sarpanch of Binola village. This village has about 1,000 families and over 2,000 tenants. Their main source of income is rent. Villagers said in most of the cases their tenants have not been paying rent for the past few months. It's no different in the case of Manesar, which has over 5,000 tenants and a population of over 30,000 excluding tenants. "We have no land left for farming. Some villagers are engaged in small-time business like tiny grocery shops, while most have made one-room accommodations for rental purpose. Our prime source of income is severely affected," village sarpanch Dharambir said.