IN THE PAPERS
In The Papers 10 September
10-09-2010
by Sylvia Leatham
Publishers call for checks on RTE online | Apple relaxes app developer rules
The Irish Times reports that newspaper publishers have called on Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland to rein in RTE's commercial activities in digital media to prevent the market from being distorted. In a submission presented in early August, the National Newspapers of Ireland (NNI) highlights its concerns about the way RTE is able to use its EUR200 million annual licence fee income to leverage its online and mobile activities. The NNI says this puts other media at a significant competitive disadvantage. In response to the submission, RTE said its website activity had been "financed entirely using commercial funding sources without recourse to public subvention of any kind".
The paper also notes that Glen Dimplex chief executive Sean O'Driscoll says that Ireland has made a mistake in abandoning hands-on engineering and manufacturing for financial engineering and a focus on promoting 'smart economy' jobs. Speaking at an event in Dublin on Thursday, O'Driscoll said the countries leading the way out of recession, such as China and Germany, all have a strong manufacturing base. "We need to go back to making things again, to real engineering, not financial engineering," he said. "We need to export our products, not our jobs."
The same paper reports that PCH, an Irish company that supplies electronics and telecoms products to some of the world's best-known brands, had revenues of USD152.6 million in 2009, an increase of 34 percent on 2008. The company posted a profit of USD1.4 million before tax for the year, compared to a pretax loss of USD4.3 million in 2008. Trading has been extremely strong so far in 2010, according to MD Liam Casey, who said revenues for the full year are expected to reach USD380 million.
The paper also says that Carlow-based TSL Marketing is planning significant growth for the coming year on the back of strong tech markets in central Europe and the Far East. TSL opened offices in Budapest last May and Warsaw this week, bringing its worldwide presence to nine locations. Next year it plans to open new offices in Singapore and Beijing. TSL managing director Mike Kelly expects employee numbers to increase substantially. "By this time next year we expect to have just over 300 people. Most of the jobs will be based outside Ireland -- in central Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East," he said. The company will fund the expansion through its own revenues.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple has loosened its control over app development for its iPhone and iPad. The move gives software developers more freedom to decide how to build their applications. Apple will relax restrictions introduced in spring that had effectively blocked the use of programming technology from Adobe Systems and potentially impeded Google's AdMob ad network from serving ads to Apple apps. The concession comes after the US Federal Trade Commission launched an inquiry to determine whether Apple had violated antitrust laws with the spring policy, although it's not clear if Apple's move is in direct response to the FTC investigation. The revised policy still won't allow iPhone and iPad users to access Flash-based content on the web, however.
According to the Financial Times, mobile giant Nokia has removed Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo as chief executive and replaced him with Stephen Elop from Microsoft. Elop, head of Microsoft's business division, will take charge of the world's largest handset maker on 21 September, when Kallasvuo steps down after four years in charge. "The time is right to accelerate the company's renewal, to bring in new executive leadership with different skills and strengths in order to drive company success," said Jorma Ollila, Nokia chairman.
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