09/09/2014 Asia Business Report

business news live from Singapore. As we await fresh numbers on

household spending in Japan, a look at the prospects for the next

planned tax rise. Apple shares dip on the eve of its

big launch. Is it a sign of what is to come?

Thank you for joining us for this addition of Asia Business Report.

After posting its worst performance since the end of the financial

crisis, we are expecting fresh data on the state of the Japanese

economy. We will be getting a measure of consumer confidence. It

comes after news that the third`largest economy shrank at a

rate of 7.1% in the three months ending in June compared to the same

period in 2013. Japanese households have been cutting back spending

following a 3% increase in the sales tax in April. I asked if today's

numbers would be as bad as the GDP. We think it is quite possible that

is some negative sentiment. But as investors, this does not give us so

much cause for concern as an opportunity. The bank of Japan will

respond forcefully if consumer confidence goes down too much. But

in the meeting last week, the bank of Japan held back on monetary

policy and did not make any moves in terms of stimulating the economy.

When I we likely to see a boost in consumer confidence. You will see

them move if there is a panic. But when the bad GDP figure came out,

the stock market still went up. The fact that second`quarter numbers

were going to go down, everybody had accepted that. If we have a

third`quarter rebound as we expect, we will be back towards 2.5%, then

probably the bank will not take any action. With the current state of

consumer confidence, do you think that Shinzo Abe will push through

with the next planned tax hike next year? That is a bit more of a

challenge. We will have to see how the third and fourth quarter go. We

will have to see where he is politically to see if that becomes a

priority one of the things he puts aside in 2015.

After a decade of delay and disagreements, fresh hope in

Australia and China that a free`trade deal could be signed by

day's end. Trade has already doubled and a free`trade arrangement could

boost this even further. China's demand for iron and other

natural resources help the Australians avoid the worst of the

global recession. The trade between the nations is only growing. Today

China is Australia's largest trading partner. 2`way trade is worth more

than $140 billion. Australia is china's sixth`largest trading

partner, with almost a quarter of Australian exports going to China.

Future prosperity will depend in large part on the education and

tourism is. They hope to attract more of china's wealthy middle

classes. In Sydney, the Foreign Minister has held talks with his

counterpart, who says the bilateral relationship is mature and strong.

We are on track to sign a free trade agreement with China later this year

which will further strengthen this relationship. Over the past year,

Australia has sealed a free`trade agreements with Japan and South

Korea. Canberra's close ties with Tokyo have caused some annoyance in

China. Although not enough to derail a prosperous economic relationship.

TRANSLATION: China may not be Australia's closest friend at the

moment, but we can truly become your most sincere. Australia says it

often challenges China over human rights in Tibet. Canberra's military

alliance with the United States might be another source of tension.

But some diplomacy has allowed Australia to call the closer

economic ties with China while pursuing a closer security

relationship with Washington. Best of's market value has stopped

at $200 billion, making it one of the world's biggest companies. This

followed investor optimism about the future of mobile advertising. That

makes Facebook the 22nd largest company in the world, ahead of

Toyota. For Apple enthusiasts, the wait is

almost over. The new iPhone will no longer be shrouded in secrecy. Along

with all the hype, should we expect a bounce in Apple's share price?

Actually, no. It typically dips on the day it releases a new phone. A

market strategist said this is part of a trend. We always see a rally

ahead of the announcement and a buildup of expectations. I had we

are going to have new size, expectations, built up, and then

excuses. If the announcement does not meet expectations, we have got a

lot of problems. Rivals, the iPhone crowd leak, a price cut on the new

phone from $200 to 99. So competition is becoming more this.

You still have the competition from Samsung. It is seeing its revenues

falling due to competition from cheaper manufacturers. It is similar

to what we have seen before. We have got the Chinese telecoms cutting

back on marketing subsidies to the tune of $5 billion. That means bad

for handsets and more leveraged for new makers. The advantage of apple

is that it has its own operating system, as opposed to its

competitors to use android. What is the future of Apple? We will have to

see if Apple will come out with differentiating features. And also

whether we will see I payments. How that will play out. That should lock

in more users. Could this be the most expensive

video game ever created? Destiny is reported to have cost $500 million

to make and it is said to be the most significant release since the

next`generation consoles arrived late last year.

Destiny is a games at 700 years in the future. But it is the next ten

years that the producers will be most concerned about. Call of duty

and while the four craft are not selling as much as they used to. So

they are relying on Destiny to be a big hit. It has spent $500 million.

It is going to be a blockbuster. It is not a risk. We have marketed the

game and worked with retailers. We think we have done all of that.

Destiny is a massive new title for Activision. What is it going to be

like? It is a first person shooter. You will be involved in a lot of

firefights, on your own or with friends. They will be multiplayer

activities. You will also be exploring different planets and

fighting the enemy of us. At its essence, it is a game where you are

a Guardian protecting the last known city on earth. You have to go out

and explore planets and become legend. What happens is that the

service cannot cope for many games. How confident are you that this will

not happen to Destiny? It is critical. We are confident that once

the servers are turned on, because they already have been, it will be a

great game and experience. We had in excess of 4.6 million people on the

open beta. We wanted to make sure we could test the robustness of the

server. We are confident everything will be fine.

You can read more about Destiny by logging onto our website. Before we

go, a quick look at the markets. Asian stocks are lacklustre in early

trading. Japan continues to be on the rise as the yen continues to

weaken against the dollar. Thank you for investing your time with us.

Goodbye for now. Here are the headlines: Iraq's

parliament has endorsed a new, more representative government. The

United States has called it a crucial step towards defeating the

group known as Islamic