:00:00. > :00:00.decades, according to an annual crime survey. Shoplifting and street
:00:00. > :00:16.theft are up. Time for the latest business news from Singapore.
:00:17. > :00:23.Changing fortunes - Samsung's mobile division posts a drop in quarterly
:00:24. > :00:32.earnings. Can Chinese PC maker expand its
:00:33. > :00:38.product line-up? Standing of IBM's server business.
:00:39. > :00:42.Welcome to Asia Business Report. We start with Samsung, which has
:00:43. > :00:46.reported a mixed bag of earnings. The company posted a 30% jump in its
:00:47. > :00:51.full-year profit, but the final quarter of last year, its operating
:00:52. > :01:00.profit in its mobile division, its main revenue generator, fell by 18%.
:01:01. > :01:07.That is because new mobiles from Apple drove away profit. This year,
:01:08. > :01:13.it will diversify its products. That could be a tough challenge. Our
:01:14. > :01:17.correspondent has more. Samsung became the world 's biggest maker of
:01:18. > :01:28.mobile phones in 2012 when it overtook Nokia. Sales of smartphones
:01:29. > :01:32.make up 60% of its operating profit. Sales started to slow when Apple
:01:33. > :01:40.release its latest iPhone in September. Samsung is now banking on
:01:41. > :01:45.its new phone, with a larger screen. Even will this come under
:01:46. > :01:49.competition. Apple are expected to release a similar sized phones this
:01:50. > :01:58.year. We will see what consumers think. I have been using Apple since
:01:59. > :02:07.2010. It is user-friendly for me and my children. I do not like Apple
:02:08. > :02:12.products. Samsung is customisable. Samsung has more functions. You are
:02:13. > :02:20.able to customise more things. Apple is quite restricting. Samsung has
:02:21. > :02:21.done well in emerging markets, especially with strategy of
:02:22. > :02:26.developing different models at different prices. It faces new
:02:27. > :02:31.challenges in China, where it has been the dominant player. Apple has
:02:32. > :02:37.started selling its iPhones with China Mobile. With the smartphone
:02:38. > :02:43.market mature red, it is putting pressure on all makers. Analysts say
:02:44. > :02:50.Samsung will have to innovate and come up with something unique if it
:02:51. > :02:55.is going to create new growth. Continuing with Samsung, its brand
:02:56. > :02:58.may be under threat. That is according to one of the founders of
:02:59. > :03:04.an advertising agency which was recently bought out by a French
:03:05. > :03:06.publicist, which in turn is in the midst of a merger, creating the
:03:07. > :03:13.largest advertising firm in the world. I caught up to find out the
:03:14. > :03:20.outlook for the industry, I started by asking about his views on
:03:21. > :03:25.Samsung. Looking at Samsung as a brand that has been particular the
:03:26. > :03:37.successful, I will be very critical here. It tends to be a copier. Where
:03:38. > :03:43.risk originality that? Originality has always been a dangerous word.
:03:44. > :03:47.Where risky fresh perspective? I look at what they have done it is
:03:48. > :03:52.like a copy of apple product. There is a place without, but the future
:03:53. > :03:56.for has got to be being more innovative and leading, not
:03:57. > :04:01.following. The past five years has been hard or industry. The slowdown
:04:02. > :04:06.in the global economy has not that many companies are not spending big
:04:07. > :04:11.money on advertising. How has that hit your company can make bizarrely,
:04:12. > :04:17.our industry always suffers when a recession comes along. Everybody
:04:18. > :04:51.suffers. In a peculiar way, when sales are slowing down, I was
:04:52. > :04:51.imagined... The right kind of advertising stimulative economy.
:04:52. > :04:57.Stimulator and investigation into products and services. It encourages
:04:58. > :05:00.productivity. If economics is a state of mind, than the more
:05:01. > :05:05.positive people are, the better the economy will be. There was a great
:05:06. > :05:10.deal of consolidation going on in your industry. Is it killing of
:05:11. > :05:13.competition as well as creativity? There is always a danger when you
:05:14. > :05:23.get consolidation, you get a reduction in competitiveness. That
:05:24. > :05:27.is a concern. The counter argument is that by consolidating we can get
:05:28. > :05:33.more information, we can aid and assistant make our product better.
:05:34. > :05:40.What are the cultural impediments to creativity in Asia? Creativity is
:05:41. > :05:46.not an occupation, it is a preoccupation. It requires eager. An
:05:47. > :05:53.overuse of respect will deaden creativity. Thank you.
:05:54. > :05:58.From March this year, India's central bank will withdraw all
:05:59. > :06:06.currency notes printed before 2005. Our correspondent has more.
:06:07. > :06:10.Plan to check my bank notes. A new water by the Indian central bank is
:06:11. > :06:15.to withdraw all currency notes issue before 2005. It is an attempt to
:06:16. > :06:21.curb the amount of black money in circulation. Cash that has not been
:06:22. > :06:24.declared, and not been taxed. By some estimates, India's underground
:06:25. > :06:29.economy accounts for nearly 50% of the national output. This new order
:06:30. > :06:34.will have people worried. Anybody holding a lot of cash will have to
:06:35. > :06:38.go to retail banks to exchange them. Anybody who it is not an existing
:06:39. > :06:41.customer of the bank has to show some kind of ID proof if they want
:06:42. > :06:47.to exchange more than ten of these 500 rupee or 1000 rupee notes.
:06:48. > :06:51.People on the streets are not panicking, because most to know
:06:52. > :06:58.about the order. I will check my wallet, the notes are fine. We
:06:59. > :07:02.withdraw money in squalid nominations -- smaller to
:07:03. > :07:10.nominations. There is no way that you could generate that kind of
:07:11. > :07:16.money. It is not bother me at all. The old notes will continue to be
:07:17. > :07:19.valid legal tender. Retailers. Stop accepting the money as payment. So
:07:20. > :07:24.how the notional currency that is old or new? The central bank has
:07:25. > :07:29.issued an advisory. If you look at the currency notes and see the
:07:30. > :07:36.middle of the nose, they should be a year. If the spaces bank -- the
:07:37. > :07:42.space is blank, then it is not valid. Retail banks have been
:07:43. > :07:49.advised to shore up their currency operations, expecting long queues of
:07:50. > :07:53.people. Shares of China's Lenovo are higher
:07:54. > :07:59.by as much as 8% today, that is after the company agreed to buy
:08:00. > :08:03.IBM's low-end server business. The deal had been widely anticipated as
:08:04. > :08:09.both sides were in talks. They could not agree on pricing. Lenovo bought
:08:10. > :08:20.IBM's business back into that in five -- in 2005. Lenovo overtook
:08:21. > :08:32.Hewlett-Packard as the number one PC make it into as it well. -- in
:08:33. > :08:39.2012. We saw a 10% decline in shipments. They are looking at new
:08:40. > :08:45.avenues for growth. This fits nicely with our strategic direction to
:08:46. > :08:50.become one of the largest technology companies. It gives them a new
:08:51. > :09:01.revenue Paul Butler so helps their bottom line. This is a business IBM
:09:02. > :09:04.does not want. IBM has done well with -- Lenovo has done well with
:09:05. > :09:10.that is as IBM has not wanted in the past. Can it do the same? I am sure
:09:11. > :09:14.they can do a good job. Once the deal goes through an integrated
:09:15. > :09:20.business into their organisation, I think the key will be understanding
:09:21. > :09:24.that this business is different from the PC business. There are elements
:09:25. > :09:42.of corporation or excellent -- it also requires partnerships with
:09:43. > :09:48.software vendor is to deliver a complete suite. It will have to
:09:49. > :09:54.compete with others who would do it well. The cloud is another issue.
:09:55. > :10:00.People moving away from traditional infrastructures. Lenders like HP,
:10:01. > :10:07.Dell and Cisco, who are the incumbents, fierce competitors, they
:10:08. > :10:13.will go aggressively after IBM's customer base and partners once the
:10:14. > :10:22.deal is close. That will be a huge challenge for women over. -- for
:10:23. > :10:32.Lenovo. A quick look at the market. They are all alive. We have seen the
:10:33. > :10:35.Nick Cave losing 300 points. The yen is strengthening. That will make an
:10:36. > :10:51.impact on exporters. Headlines: after a day of talks with
:10:52. > :10:52.the government, Ukraine's opposition