:00:18. > :00:21.business news live from Singapore. As we await fresh numbers on
:00:22. > :00:26.household spending in Japan, a look at the prospects for the next
:00:27. > :00:31.planned tax rise. Apple shares dip on the eve of its
:00:32. > :00:38.big launch. Is it a sign of what is to come?
:00:39. > :00:44.Thank you for joining us for this addition of Asia Business Report.
:00:45. > :00:48.After posting its worst performance since the end of the financial
:00:49. > :00:53.crisis, we are expecting fresh data on the state of the Japanese
:00:54. > :00:56.economy. We will be getting a measure of consumer confidence. It
:00:57. > :01:01.comes after news that the third`largest economy shrank at a
:01:02. > :01:06.rate of 7.1% in the three months ending in June compared to the same
:01:07. > :01:11.period in 2013. Japanese households have been cutting back spending
:01:12. > :01:20.following a 3% increase in the sales tax in April. I asked if today's
:01:21. > :01:29.numbers would be as bad as the GDP. We think it is quite possible that
:01:30. > :01:33.is some negative sentiment. But as investors, this does not give us so
:01:34. > :01:38.much cause for concern as an opportunity. The bank of Japan will
:01:39. > :01:49.respond forcefully if consumer confidence goes down too much. But
:01:50. > :01:53.in the meeting last week, the bank of Japan held back on monetary
:01:54. > :01:58.policy and did not make any moves in terms of stimulating the economy.
:01:59. > :02:04.When I we likely to see a boost in consumer confidence. You will see
:02:05. > :02:13.them move if there is a panic. But when the bad GDP figure came out,
:02:14. > :02:15.the stock market still went up. The fact that second`quarter numbers
:02:16. > :02:25.were going to go down, everybody had accepted that. If we have a
:02:26. > :02:33.third`quarter rebound as we expect, we will be back towards 2.5%, then
:02:34. > :02:38.probably the bank will not take any action. With the current state of
:02:39. > :02:43.consumer confidence, do you think that Shinzo Abe will push through
:02:44. > :02:50.with the next planned tax hike next year? That is a bit more of a
:02:51. > :02:55.challenge. We will have to see how the third and fourth quarter go. We
:02:56. > :02:59.will have to see where he is politically to see if that becomes a
:03:00. > :03:06.priority one of the things he puts aside in 2015.
:03:07. > :03:09.After a decade of delay and disagreements, fresh hope in
:03:10. > :03:14.Australia and China that a free`trade deal could be signed by
:03:15. > :03:25.day's end. Trade has already doubled and a free`trade arrangement could
:03:26. > :03:29.boost this even further. China's demand for iron and other
:03:30. > :03:33.natural resources help the Australians avoid the worst of the
:03:34. > :03:38.global recession. The trade between the nations is only growing. Today
:03:39. > :03:48.China is Australia's largest trading partner. 2`way trade is worth more
:03:49. > :03:52.than $140 billion. Australia is china's sixth`largest trading
:03:53. > :04:00.partner, with almost a quarter of Australian exports going to China.
:04:01. > :04:06.Future prosperity will depend in large part on the education and
:04:07. > :04:11.tourism is. They hope to attract more of china's wealthy middle
:04:12. > :04:17.classes. In Sydney, the Foreign Minister has held talks with his
:04:18. > :04:23.counterpart, who says the bilateral relationship is mature and strong.
:04:24. > :04:27.We are on track to sign a free trade agreement with China later this year
:04:28. > :04:34.which will further strengthen this relationship. Over the past year,
:04:35. > :04:38.Australia has sealed a free`trade agreements with Japan and South
:04:39. > :04:44.Korea. Canberra's close ties with Tokyo have caused some annoyance in
:04:45. > :04:50.China. Although not enough to derail a prosperous economic relationship.
:04:51. > :04:54.TRANSLATION: China may not be Australia's closest friend at the
:04:55. > :04:58.moment, but we can truly become your most sincere. Australia says it
:04:59. > :05:03.often challenges China over human rights in Tibet. Canberra's military
:05:04. > :05:08.alliance with the United States might be another source of tension.
:05:09. > :05:14.But some diplomacy has allowed Australia to call the closer
:05:15. > :05:20.economic ties with China while pursuing a closer security
:05:21. > :05:26.relationship with Washington. Best of's market value has stopped
:05:27. > :05:36.at $200 billion, making it one of the world's biggest companies. This
:05:37. > :05:40.followed investor optimism about the future of mobile advertising. That
:05:41. > :05:44.makes Facebook the 22nd largest company in the world, ahead of
:05:45. > :05:49.Toyota. For Apple enthusiasts, the wait is
:05:50. > :05:55.almost over. The new iPhone will no longer be shrouded in secrecy. Along
:05:56. > :06:01.with all the hype, should we expect a bounce in Apple's share price?
:06:02. > :06:09.Actually, no. It typically dips on the day it releases a new phone. A
:06:10. > :06:16.market strategist said this is part of a trend. We always see a rally
:06:17. > :06:25.ahead of the announcement and a buildup of expectations. I had we
:06:26. > :06:32.are going to have new size, expectations, built up, and then
:06:33. > :06:44.excuses. If the announcement does not meet expectations, we have got a
:06:45. > :06:52.lot of problems. Rivals, the iPhone crowd leak, a price cut on the new
:06:53. > :07:02.phone from $200 to 99. So competition is becoming more this.
:07:03. > :07:09.You still have the competition from Samsung. It is seeing its revenues
:07:10. > :07:15.falling due to competition from cheaper manufacturers. It is similar
:07:16. > :07:20.to what we have seen before. We have got the Chinese telecoms cutting
:07:21. > :07:28.back on marketing subsidies to the tune of $5 billion. That means bad
:07:29. > :07:37.for handsets and more leveraged for new makers. The advantage of apple
:07:38. > :07:41.is that it has its own operating system, as opposed to its
:07:42. > :07:48.competitors to use android. What is the future of Apple? We will have to
:07:49. > :08:01.see if Apple will come out with differentiating features. And also
:08:02. > :08:11.whether we will see I payments. How that will play out. That should lock
:08:12. > :08:16.in more users. Could this be the most expensive
:08:17. > :08:22.video game ever created? Destiny is reported to have cost $500 million
:08:23. > :08:24.to make and it is said to be the most significant release since the
:08:25. > :08:31.next`generation consoles arrived late last year.
:08:32. > :08:36.Destiny is a games at 700 years in the future. But it is the next ten
:08:37. > :08:40.years that the producers will be most concerned about. Call of duty
:08:41. > :08:45.and while the four craft are not selling as much as they used to. So
:08:46. > :08:53.they are relying on Destiny to be a big hit. It has spent $500 million.
:08:54. > :09:00.It is going to be a blockbuster. It is not a risk. We have marketed the
:09:01. > :09:04.game and worked with retailers. We think we have done all of that.
:09:05. > :09:11.Destiny is a massive new title for Activision. What is it going to be
:09:12. > :09:16.like? It is a first person shooter. You will be involved in a lot of
:09:17. > :09:24.firefights, on your own or with friends. They will be multiplayer
:09:25. > :09:32.activities. You will also be exploring different planets and
:09:33. > :09:36.fighting the enemy of us. At its essence, it is a game where you are
:09:37. > :09:41.a Guardian protecting the last known city on earth. You have to go out
:09:42. > :09:49.and explore planets and become legend. What happens is that the
:09:50. > :09:54.service cannot cope for many games. How confident are you that this will
:09:55. > :09:58.not happen to Destiny? It is critical. We are confident that once
:09:59. > :10:07.the servers are turned on, because they already have been, it will be a
:10:08. > :10:14.great game and experience. We had in excess of 4.6 million people on the
:10:15. > :10:19.open beta. We wanted to make sure we could test the robustness of the
:10:20. > :10:24.server. We are confident everything will be fine.
:10:25. > :10:34.You can read more about Destiny by logging onto our website. Before we
:10:35. > :10:41.go, a quick look at the markets. Asian stocks are lacklustre in early
:10:42. > :10:45.trading. Japan continues to be on the rise as the yen continues to
:10:46. > :10:53.weaken against the dollar. Thank you for investing your time with us.
:10:54. > :10:55.Goodbye for now. Here are the headlines: Iraq's
:10:56. > :10:59.parliament has endorsed a new, more representative government. The
:11:00. > :11:01.United States has called it a crucial step towards defeating the
:11:02. > :11:03.group known as Islamic