:00:02. > :00:12.His daughter says that his health has dramatically improved. Those are
:00:12. > :00:22.
:00:22. > :00:29.the latest headlines. Now, the latest financial news.
:00:29. > :00:33.Del's Battle of the billionaires. Michael Dell and Carl Icahn face a
:00:33. > :00:40.vital shareholder vote in their fight for control of the company.
:00:40. > :00:50.Choosing his words carefully, Ben Bernanke tries to soothe markets in
:00:50. > :00:52.
:00:52. > :00:59.his twice yearly address to Congress. This is World Business
:00:59. > :01:03.Report. Falling sales and shrinking cash reserves. We will assess the
:01:03. > :01:09.options for struggling phone maker Nokia. We begin with Dell, once the
:01:10. > :01:14.darling of the tech apology world and now struggling with rapid
:01:14. > :01:19.decline. -- the technology world. Today could be a decisive one for
:01:19. > :01:23.the company's future. From a record high of almost $60 per share during
:01:23. > :01:30.the dot-com boom, shares for Dell have slumped, hitting an all-time
:01:30. > :01:33.low of just eight dollars in November. At the moment, they are
:01:33. > :01:38.$12. Billionaire Michael Dell, the man who founded the company three
:01:38. > :01:48.decades ago, is offering shareholders a way out. He wants to
:01:48. > :01:51.
:01:51. > :02:01.buy them out at $13 per share, take the company private and turn it
:02:01. > :02:05.
:02:05. > :02:09.around. However, hedge fund tycoon Carl Icahn, one of Wall Street's
:02:09. > :02:13.biggest names, has promised to block the buyout, saying it substantially
:02:13. > :02:23.undervalued the company. Shareholders will vote on the matter
:02:23. > :02:26.
:02:26. > :02:34.today and it could be very close. This is my old computer that I have
:02:34. > :02:42.not used in a really long time. Collecting dust in storage, this
:02:42. > :02:50.woman has been ages of Dell computers for decades until she
:02:50. > :02:57.needed to replace old laptop. She bought a tablet instead. People
:02:57. > :03:02.asked why I was going to get another laptop. They said I could get a
:03:02. > :03:07.tablet and I could take it wherever. That is the problem Dell has been
:03:07. > :03:11.facing with the growing popularity of tablet. Sales of personal
:03:11. > :03:18.computers have been in decline and tablet sales are set to overtake
:03:18. > :03:22.them by the end of next year. Who can save Dell? These two men have
:03:22. > :03:28.been fighting for many months. On the left, the company founder,
:03:28. > :03:31.Michael Dell. On the right, billionaire investor Carl Icahn.
:03:31. > :03:37.Michael Dell wants to buy the company back as naked private for
:03:37. > :03:44.just under $25 billion. Carl Icahn says the offer is not high enough.
:03:44. > :03:49.Whoever wins, it is a difficult job to turn the business around. Dell as
:03:49. > :03:55.a company derives 70% of its revenue from personal computers. Personal
:03:55. > :03:57.computers are in a state of historic decline. These are the traditional
:03:57. > :04:04.largely Windows software -based personal computers with keyboard and
:04:04. > :04:12.mouse. That business has been declining and has never been that
:04:12. > :04:15.bad in the history of the industry. Dell is trying to stay relevant. For
:04:15. > :04:25.its founder, the battle against the billionaire investor is only the
:04:25. > :04:29.beginning of the challenge. A very important day for Dell indeed. As I
:04:29. > :04:34.am sure you are well aware, Dell is not the only fallen star of
:04:34. > :04:37.technology fighting to reinvent itself. Nokia announces its
:04:37. > :04:41.second-quarter results later but what investors will really be
:04:41. > :04:47.looking for is news on whether there is enough money for the company to
:04:47. > :04:53.stick with its turnaround plan. Stephen Elop said it would take two
:04:53. > :04:59.years. It is now in its third year. His gamble in 2011 to ditch Nokia's
:04:59. > :05:03.operating system in favour of Windows has failed to pay off. There
:05:03. > :05:11.is little sign of it catching up with Samsung or Apple. Analysts
:05:11. > :05:21.expect the day's results to show a fall in handsets should then. Could
:05:21. > :05:26.
:05:26. > :05:31.this be crunch time? We are expect them... We expect 7 million handsets
:05:31. > :05:39.will be smartphones. The rest will be handsets that are not
:05:39. > :05:44.smartphones. That latter area has been on the improved. That has been
:05:44. > :05:50.the part of Nokia's business that has kept it going while it fell
:05:50. > :05:54.behind in the smartphone arena. is right. That has kept the company
:05:54. > :06:01.these last 2.5 years. Android smartphones have become much cheaper
:06:01. > :06:09.faster than anyone expect. This has slightly wrongfooted Nokia. It has
:06:09. > :06:13.launched its new devices that are not smartphones, but it does call
:06:13. > :06:18.them smartphones, and it is not clear if it can carry that. They do
:06:18. > :06:27.not have enough features. Clearly Stephen Elop has put his eggs in
:06:27. > :06:30.Microsoft's basket, as it were. Will this payoff? Sales are picking up
:06:30. > :06:36.with Microsoft. They have launched a new handset with an amazing camera,
:06:36. > :06:41.which we believe will help the whole range of smartphones. Things are
:06:41. > :06:48.looking better for the smartphones side of the business. Sounding
:06:48. > :06:51.optimistic. Thank you for your time.
:06:51. > :06:59.The world's most powerful banker, now. Can you guess his name? He was
:06:59. > :07:09.choosing his words very carefully yesterday as he gave his twice
:07:09. > :07:09.
:07:09. > :07:19.yearly testimony to Congress. Markets both in the US and around
:07:19. > :07:29.the world have been struck waiting with declaratory of Ben Bernanke's
:07:29. > :07:33.
:07:33. > :07:36.message -- fluctuating in-line with the of Ben Bernanke's message. Since
:07:36. > :07:38.the last global market sell-off, he has tried to clarify his message,
:07:38. > :07:42.making it clear that any tapering of asset purchases, the $85 billion
:07:42. > :07:47.spent on bonds every month, would happen only if the US economy
:07:47. > :07:50.continued on its current path of recovery. Because our asset
:07:50. > :07:56.purchases depend on economic and the natural development, they are by no
:07:56. > :08:01.means on a preset course. On the one hand, if economic conditions improve
:08:01. > :08:05.and inflation rises decisively, the pace of asset purchases could be
:08:05. > :08:10.reduced somewhat more quickly. On the other hand, if the outlook for
:08:10. > :08:20.employment were to become less favourable, if inflation did not
:08:20. > :08:20.
:08:20. > :08:25.move back to ideal levels, the current pace of purchases could be
:08:25. > :08:29.maintained for longer. Although what he said on Wednesday was not very
:08:29. > :08:34.different from what we have previously heard, it was the
:08:34. > :08:39.language that he used. He was very clear. That is exactly what
:08:39. > :08:48.investors were waiting to hear. Wall Street's reaction was muted, a clear
:08:48. > :08:54.indication that this was the clarity they were seeking.
:08:54. > :09:00.What has the market reaction been today? Ben Bernanke has spoken. What
:09:00. > :09:06.has happened since? So far, looking at the market numbers today in Asia,
:09:06. > :09:11.mixed results. One reason is concerned over China's property set
:09:11. > :09:17.and the financing available to property developments. This is
:09:17. > :09:20.weighing on the Chinese market. However, overall, it is being
:09:20. > :09:23.supported by the promise to keep monetary policy easy for the
:09:23. > :09:29.foreseeable future, which is why shares in Japan, Australia, New
:09:29. > :09:35.Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore are all in positive territory. Chinese
:09:35. > :09:39.and Chinese related shares are mostly lower. We have benchmarks in
:09:39. > :09:43.mainland China and Taiwan in negative territory. The slowdown in
:09:43. > :09:50.growth in the mainland is a main concern right now and increased
:09:50. > :09:53.pressure to reform the economy in its annual report... The IMF said it
:09:53. > :09:56.is increasingly urgent for China to move away from its dependence on
:09:56. > :10:02.exports and government led investments, which have fuelled
:10:02. > :10:05.rapid and unbalanced growth. Basically, the markets today on