China to offer tax breaks to solar power manufacturers

SHANGHAI, Sept 29 | Sun Sep 29, 2013 12:29pm EDT

SHANGHAI, Sept 29 (Reuters) - China's Ministry of Finance announced it will offer tax breaks to manufacturers of solar power products on Sunday, as China moves to support an industry still struggling to deal with massive overcapacity and weak demand.

The ministry said in a short statement on its website that producers of solar power products will receive immediate refunds of 50 percent of value-added taxes.

The National Development and Reform Commission provided subsidies for solar power stations in late August.

"China's bloated photovoltaic industry still faces a grim outlook as many companies are deeply mired in debts," said a report on the official Xinhua news service discussing the announcement.

It cited data from the China Renewable Energy Society saying that the country's top 10 solar panel makers are up to 100 billion yuan ($16.34 billion) in debt, with a debt to asset ratio above 70 percent on average.

Beijing has said it wants to consolidate the industry, but the sector continues to enjoy protection at the central and local level; the latter is particularly strong because solar power companies are frequently major employers.

China's LDK Solar Co Ltd partly defaulted on a bond payment in April, then failed to meet another payment on time in August.

China's Suntech Power Holdings Co Ltd said Chief Executive David King had resigned from the company in mid September, weeks after three directors left amid the solar panel maker's efforts to restructure its debt.

Suntech's Chinese lenders dragged its unit Wuxi Suntech into insolvency proceedings after it defaulted on $541 million in bonds after the business was hit by a glut in solar panels.

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Sun - Cat Power

by dingodoggie5 Amazing. Complex. Brilliant. The production is superb and her voice still resonates deep within. I have been waiting for this album for a good while and the experience of listening to it for the first time was worth the wait. This album is not a departure or something new. It is an evolution. I will be listening to this album on repeat for a long, long time.

by MateoOfSanDiego Sun is the most consistently impressive Cat Power album to date. Those who own and have often played any of Marshall's previous albums know that, while there are often a handful of great songs contained, there are almost just as many misses... I'm looking at you Myra Lee and What Would the Community Think. Even her critically acclaimed The Greatest had its share of uninspired doozies, although its stronger tracks ultimately overshadowed and outshone the lesser examples. It's companion album, the similar-sounding Jukebox, frightened some diehard fans into believing Cat Power's sound had regressed into nostalgia, and at the time was an ominous cloud looming over the release of Sun, pun intended. What a delightful turn of events, then, to find that this album manages to, um, "eclipse" even her best efforts (probably You Are Free, arguably Moon Pix) in terms of consistent output of one great track after another. Yes, it does sound different than her other, "grittier" records, but if you like them so much go and listen to them... we have to move on, people. Sun ensures Marshall's overall scope, stylistically offering more to choose from than with earlier efforts. Longtime Cat Power enthusiasts will love "Always On My Own" and "Human Being" as more refined examples of her eldest LPs; while progressive 'Powers will jump for joy on thumping, potentially dancey cuts like "3, 6, 9", "Cherokee" and "Silent Machine." Possibly the most emotionally effective marriage of Marshall's past and present, however, doesn't come until late in the album, a tactic she (wisely) has previously employed with tracks like "Colors & the Kids" and "Maybe Not" (Moon Pix, You Are Free, respectively) of which Sun's "Nothin But Time" tearfully earns its rightful place alongside. Still, it'd be nice to hear a version without Iggy Pop's iconically distracting vocals... Sorry. Lyrically there's a more political edge to some of the songs, particularly the single "Ruin" and "Peace & Love", the latter of which could serve as an Occupy Wall Street mantra, while the former highlights economic disparities gathered from Marshall's own observations abroad. Then there's some relationship stuff, which is apparently about her break-up with Giovanni Ribisi, but it's actually not offensive insofar as its not noticeably specific to him. There is a weird, almost Ayn Rand-ian moment in the chorus of "Real Life" - something about "Nothing's wrong / with helping the strong" - but this is followed immediately after by the humanitarianism of "Human Being" and the album's more politically progressive themes overall, so... whatever. Like other great artists before her, there are some concepts covered in Sun that Marshall has previously touched upon, but as with the album's sound itself, these ideas are more realized and tangible here than ever before. Only one track, the most recent of Marshall's "I love new York" jingles, "Manhattan", feels somewhat out of place, if not just a little trite in an album that covers weightier ground. Maybe it's levity, but it feels more like a bonus track than the actual two "bonus tracks" offered in iTunes' "Bonus Track Version" - both of which are pretty great and worth the fraction of cost. Truly the only concern among longtime Cat Power fans must be that, at one's artistic peak, it's all down hill from here... But, then again, after her other great records, Sun was never supposed to be this good.

by freelancegargoyle I was hoping she'd keep to that raw kind of simple sound for this album, but she didn't. There's a lot of noise and not much clarity. Some of the tracks are actually alright but in general Sun lacks rhythmic depth in comparison to her previous albums.

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Micromax and Karbonn power Indian smartphone market growth

India smartphone shipments hit a record high at 5.4 million unit shipments for Q4 2012, according to IDC Asia-Pacific Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker data.

The overall mobile phone market in India has reached approximately 218 million units in Calendar Year (CY) 2012, a 16 percent year-on-year growth from the previous year, according to the data released Wednesday. The growth was mostly driven by the burgeoning smartphone market in India which grew from close to 11 million units in CY 2011 to 16.3 million units in CY 2012, a considerable growth of about 48 percent.

Breaking the 5 million mark has largely been powered by the sub-INR 10,000 (US$200) price points and upgraded specifications like 4-inch plus screen sizes. "Local vendors ramped up shipments and aggressively launched new models to meet the growing consumer demand in the low-end smartphone market segment," said Manasi Yadav, senior market analyst in the client devices team at IDC India.

“Local vendors have remained dominant in sub-US$100 price band while they pose serious competition to the global vendors in the US$100-US$200 price band. These two segments emerged as the most vibrant and the fastest growing smartphone price band segments in the Indian market," added Manasi.

While Samsung remained the leader and pace-setter for the market, inspiring both international and domestic vendors to launch their own quadcore and 5-inch plus screensize models, Micromax gained through its aggressive ramp-up and an enhanced product portfolio. Sony and Nokia garnered a significant shipment share owing to its mid-tier range of smartphones doing quite well in the market.

Karbonn, the dark horse amongst local vendors, made it to the top 5 for the first time, thanks to the new range of attractively priced smartphones that were launched in last quarter.

In terms of revenue, while Samsung stayed the leader, Apple took the second spot after seeing a sudden surge due to the channel restructuring and the launch of iPhone 5 in 2012 Q4. With the newly appointed National distributors - Redington and Ingram Micro, Apple reached out to a consumer base bigger than ever before.

The mobile phone market in India is expected to continue its growth into 2013, driven by the stupendous growth of close to 70 percent in the smartphone market. While Android continued its dominance in 2012, increased pick up of other operating systems--such as iOS and Windows Phone 8 and the recent release of BlackBerry 10--is expected to spice things moving forward.

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