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Technology Stocks : Sony Corp - Sony -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Don Dorsey who wrote (67)	4/9/1999 12:03:00 PM
From: Don Dorsey	Respond to of 497

Japanese stock market shows signs of recovery Gains in Japan's Nikkei average offer hope that the nation's economic troubles may be close to an end. By Todd Zaun Associated Press TOKYO -- While the economy remains in tatters and companies have announced extensive cutbacks, Japan's stock market has, somehow, become one of the world's strongest. Thanks in part to a buying binge by foreign investors, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average has surged almost 22 percent so far this year. Its finish Thursday at 16,846.69 marked a fourth straight day of gains and left the key indicator up more than 3,000 points this year and at its the highest close since March 26, 1998, when it finished at 16,980.62. Although unemployment has climbed to a postwar high and consumers remain stubbornly tight-fisted, the bullish investors say there are reasons to believe the worst of Japan's struggle with recession may be over. Recent government efforts to mend banks, they say, could finally make the long-ailing institutions strong again, and a series of steps by firms to overhaul their operations could put them on the road to higher profits. Sound to good to be true? Some cautious investors think it might be. Andrew Callender, a fund manager for Invesco Asset Management in Tokyo, argues that the gap between expectations and reality has grown too wide. And he's waiting for more proof that companies are serious about cost-cutting before committing more money to Japan. "Being skeptical about the Japanese stock market and economy over the last five to eight years has proven to be the correct thing to do," he said. "We just need further evidence restructuring is going to continue." Caution, however, is not the byword in the market these days. Although stocks have been rising for most of the year, the rally really picked up steam from March 5, a day after Japanese banks formally applied for government funds as part of program to clean up bad debts. Japan's banks have been hobbled by $596 billion in bad loans, and investors had been worried that the problem would hamper any efforts to pull the economy out of its tailspin. But the move to use taxpayer money to address the problem convinced a lot of investors that banks could soon recover. "Since March 5, market sentiment has changed dramatically," said Kiyoshi Kimura, a stock strategist in Tokyo for Societe Generale Securities. He predicted the new optimism would fuel the first stage of "a very long-term bull trend" for the Japanese market. Japanese stock funds gained an average of 15 percent in the first quarter of this year, far better than any of the other seven categories of international mutual funds tracked by the Morningstar research service. Buying from foreign investors driven the robust growth. Foreigners bought more Japanese stocks than they sold for five straight months through February and reports for March are expected to show an additional $8 billion in purchases, according to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Japan's biggest business daily. Flush with profits from the long run-up on Wall Street, many U.S. investors have begun looking for other places to park some money, analysts said. Many are betting that the long economic slump has given companies the push they needed to implement sweeping reforms and restore profitability. Electronics giant NEC Corp. recently announced it would cut 15,000 jobs over the next three years to lower costs. Sony Corp. and Toshiba Corp. have announced similar cutbacks.

To: Don Dorsey who wrote (67)	4/9/1999 12:07:00 PM
From: Don Dorsey	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 497

Sony and Discreet Collaborate to Bring HDCAM-Based Software to Market Business/Technology Editors PARK RIDGE, N.J./MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 9, 1999--Sony and Discreet, a division of Autodesk, are collaborating to deliver a tightly integrated and high-performance HDTV production solution by combining Discreet's award winning resolution and format-independent editing and effects systems with Sony's range of high definition equipment, including the HDCAM(R) family of HDTV products and the recently announced 24P HDTV mastering systems. "Post facilities and broadcasters are expected to benefit from the combined Discreet and Sony solution as it will enable them to penetrate the HDTV market at a lower cost of entry," said Michael Vitelli, executive vice president of Sony Electronics' Broadcast and Professional Company. "This high-performance solution leverages the existing 270Mbps SDI infrastructure, enabling full HDTV production without requiring the use of additional HDTV I/O hardware components." More specifically, the Sony and Discreet technical collaboration will result in an HDCAM software codec, enabling input/output, storage and manipulation of compressed HDCAM format HDTV images over conventional SDI interfaces. "Forging this relationship with Sony enables us to bring to market a practical and cost-effective technology solution designed to facilitate the transition of post facilities and broadcasters to high definition," said Eric Herr, acting vice president of Discreet and president and COO of Autodesk. "The joint collaboration will present customers doing high definition work today with additional HDTV solutions, thus accelerating access to complete end-to-end HD production technology while lowering the barriers to HD entry." According to Vitelli, the Sony HDCAM format is becoming popular with the production community due to its cost-efficiency, high-picture quality and portability, as well as its ability to facilitate prime-time programs shot in film to be posted in the digital 1920 x 1080 HDTV format. Discreet has demonstrated its leadership in high definition production solutions with its fire(a) online editing and Academy Award-winning inferno(a) and flame(a) effects systems, which are currently the open-platform, standard and high definition solutions of choice in the post production and broadcast communities. They support the full range of DTV formats, including HD, and ITU Rec.601 mastering formats and therefore represent a secure and proven investment for facilities working in multiple resolutions and formats. Previously, Sony announced its newly proposed 24P high definition format. The companies believe that this format is ideal for mastering, as it can be easily standards converted to any ATSC DTV delivery format. The companies intend to provide a technology demonstration of their combined solution at the National Association of Broadcaster's show in April 1999, with customer deliveries anticipated during the second half of calendar 1999. The demonstration will be shown in the Sony Demonstration Center, Las Vegas Convention Center meeting rooms N101-N120 and Discreet Logic, Sands Convention Center booth number S4009.