Month: April 2013

China’s official factory PMI at 11-month high in March

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

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China’s factory production ran at its fastest in 11 months in March, according to the official manufacturing purchasing managers index published on Monday, though the rise to 50.9 missed market expectations of a bigger headline jump.

The PMI missed market expectations, based on a Reuters poll of analysts, for a solid uptick to 52.0 from February’s five-month low of 50.1, confounding the view of some analysts that the world’s second-biggest economy might be recovering faster than expected from a slowdown in 2012 that dragged growth to a 13-year low of 7.8 percent.

But a rise in the output index to a 10-month high of 52.7, an 11-month high of 52.3 for overall new orders and new export orders also at an 11-month peak 50.9, offered signs that China’s economic recovery is gaining traction.

“The improvement in the index, which changes the downward trend of the first two months of the year, indicates that the economic outlook in general is stabilizing,” Zhang Liqun, an analyst at the Development Research Center, state think-tank, said in a statement accompanying the index.

Manufacturers of cars, electronics, machinery and equipment saw business improve while ferrous metal smelters and petroleum processing and coking activity slowed, the PMI survey found.

February’s drop took the official PMI to within a whisker of the 50-point mark that separates accelerating from slowing growth in China’s giant factory sector.

Investors broadly believe that last month’s reading was mainly the product of a holiday-induced lull in activity and expected March to return to a rising trend. The Lunar New Year fell in February this year and in January last year.

Many Chinese factories closed for at least two weeks in February as millions of migrant workers in towns headed back to their rural homes to celebrate the holiday with their families.

A private sector survey of purchasing managers, sponsored by HSBC and published earlier in March, signaled that activity in China’s industrial sector quickened in March, pointing to solid first-quarter growth across the economy.

An update to that survey – which tracks mainly small and medium-sized firms in the private sector as opposed to the mainly large, state-backed companies in the official survey – is scheduled to be published at 0145 GMT on Monday.

Economists broadly expect the economy to enjoy a steady but gentle recovery in 2013, boosted mainly by internal growth engines such as infrastructure investment and household consumption, as Beijing pushes forward an urbanization program worth an estimated 400 trillion yuan (USD 6.4 trillion) that will help China rebalance its economic structure.

Chinese export data in January and February showed external demand is reviving, a trend widely expected to extend in coming months which could give the economy an extra lift.

But the strength and extent of the economic recovery hinges on when the central bank tightens its grip on monetary policy after easing liquidity and promoting credit expansion through much of 2012 to kick-start the recovery.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow

Goodbye Apple iPhone? Wearable tech is coming

KV Prasad Jun 13, 2022, 06:35 AM IST (Published)

Listen to the Article (6 Minutes)

Your smartphone may be on its way out as tech companies aim to put the power of a smartphone into wearable accessories.

Three of the biggest tech companies are gearing up for a head-to-head battle that will dictate how we wear — yes, wear — future technology.

Apple, Google and Samsung are all entering the wearable technology space. The companies are reportedly working on a smartwatch. Plus, Google is already pushing to bring its Internet-connected glasses, called Google Glass, to market.

“This is just the start of where wearable technology is going,” said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst for Gartner. “Eventually, smart fabrics, which will be the clothes you wear, will also come to market. But that’s years away.”

Wearable technology is poised to explode during the next few years, with 485 million wearable devices projected to ship by 2018, according to ABI Research.

Google augmented reality glasses, which are controlled through voice commands, are expected to become available to the mass market as soon as later this year, or during the beginning of 2014, analysts say.

Samsung Smartwatch

While Apple and Google have not officially said they’re working on a smartwatch, Samsung recently revealed that it has been working on a watch for awhile.

“We are working very hard to get ready for it. We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them,” Lee Young Hee, executive vice president of Samsung’s mobile business, said earlier this month, according to a Bloomberg report.

The executive did not, however, reveal any details about what kind of features the watch would have, or when it would go on sale. But ABI Research analyst Josh Flood said he could see Samsung launch a watch before the end of this year.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they can do something relatively quickly,” Flood said. “They could easily bring something to market in a short period of time.”

It’s unclear, however, if Samsung would rely on Google’s Android operating system, he said.

Apple Product Watch

An Apple smartwatch — dubbed the iWatch — could also be revealed sooner than some consumers anticipate. “For Apple, it might make sense to unveil a watch between now and October. A summer release might make sense,” Milanesi said.

An iWatch would likely include some of the same functions as a smartphone, as well as additional features — such as near field communication technology, which would enable payments, Milanesi said. She said the device will have a touchscreen, but it will likely be more voice activated.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster recently said in note to clients that Apple is likely to make a product announcement in June. However, this is likely to be the next generation iPhone. More innovative products — possibly an iWatch —won’t be unveiled until the end of the year, he said.

While smartwatches may make an appearance in a big way this year, it will likely be three to four years before the watches completely replace smartphoneS, said Flood of ABI Research. In the interim, the watches will function mostly as an accessory to a user’s smartphone, he said.

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KV Prasad Journo follow politics, process in Parliament and US Congress. Former Congressional APSA-Fulbright Fellow