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Technology Stocks : C-Cube -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DiViT who wrote (39217)	3/10/1999 5:10:00 PM
From: John Rieman	Respond to of 50808

Gates visit causes Tech stock rally in Hong Kong and in Mainland China. Cyber-Port and Venus settop box deals. Venus is nonexclusive, more companies may participate................... scmp.com STEPHEN SEAWRIGHT, CATHY HOLCOMBE and LANA WONG Technology-related stocks sprang higher yesterday as news spread that Microsoft chairman Bill Gates was in the region to sign deals with a string of companies - not just Hongkong Telecom. After confirming an alliance with Hongkong Telecom on multimedia Internet applications yesterday, Mr Gates is expected to sign deals in Shenzhen today with five mainland firms on a project to promote Windows software in television set-top boxes. Legend Holdings, Stone Electronic group, the China Great Wall group, mainland electronic household appliance makers Haier Group and BBK, and Taiwan computer firm Acer will sign deals today. The news sent Hong Kong and mainland technology stocks higher yesterday, despite analysts' warnings that the sector had risen too fast and too far since last Wednesday's Budget announced the development of a hi-tech "Cyberport". Stone Electronic Technology jumped 11.86 per cent to close at 66 cents, a rise of 59.03 per cent since last Tuesday's close before the Budget. Legend Holdings rose 7.43 per cent yesterday to close at $3.25. "It won't take long for the dust to settle on these stocks," one analyst said. "In terms of money it will be quite a number of years away. "Investors should play cautious on these companies, bearing in mind that some companies are expected to announce lower profits for the [1998] financial year," she said. Hongkong Telecom fell 20 cents to $14.60, but is still 13.61 per cent up since the Microsoft deal emerged on Friday. Analysts were particularly cautious about the rise in price of Founder (Hong Kong), up 5.88 per cent to $1.08 yesterday despite expectations of a loss in upcoming earnings report. The stock has risen 30.12 per cent since the Budget, with the earlier rises attributed to the Cyberport announcement. "Founder is definitely sentiment market-driven. It is way overpriced and the results announcement will be poor and the outlook for the company is not that promising," ABN-Amro Asia technology analyst Lyon Lau Lee-on said. Analysts said it was too soon to judge the Microsoft alliances in the mainland, but so far the agreements appeared to lack any exclusivity. "Microsoft did not give any exclusive alliance or co-operation with the companies so it can still have more alliances with other companies," an analyst at an Asian brokerage said. Analysts said Microsoft stood to gain the most from the deal with greater access to end-users in the expanding mainland computer market. The project aims to use televisions to vastly expand the use of the Internet in the mainland. There are about 2.1 million Internet users in the mainland and more than 200 million televisions. A small set-top box installed with Windows CE [an operating system for hand-held computers] and application software would be developed to link up telephone lines and televisions. Mr Gates said his firm would participate in Hong Kong's Cyberport project. Analysts said systems integrators such as Automated Systems Holdings and Computer & Technologies Holdings had the most to benefit from the project as they would get business immediately as the project was developed during the next three years. Both firms' share prices are up more than 50 per cent in the past week. For other technology companies, the benefits were less apparent, an analyst at an Asian brokerage said. "The multinational companies will come here and take Hong Kong as a port to expand business and marketing services but will they bring in R&D? In all these discussions, I see no reference to R&D."