Technology digest
air china partners search engine on online bookings
Air China has secured the mainland airline industry's first comprehensive marketing and distribution partnership with an internet search engine provider to boost its online travel business.
The new alliance with Qunar.com will provide millions of internet users with data on available flights and prices, leading purchasers directly to Air China's website for online booking.
'Qunar provides Air China with an efficient way to reach China's emerging class of frequent independent travellers,' said Hu Fa Jin, head of the airline's e-commerce business.
canon staff to increase amid sales expansion
Japanese electronics group Canon expects to record up to 20 per cent overall sales growth in Hong Kong this year as local demand for its major product lines - cameras, printers and photo-copiers - continues to rise.
That local market expansion would be supported by an increase in staff to about 550 by the year-end from 470, said Kenji Kobayashi, president and chief executive of Canon Hong Kong.
Total Canon sales in Hong Kong last year reached more than HK$2 billion, up 18 per cent from HK$1.7 billion in 2005.
eqos bases first asian outpost in hong kong
British firm Eqos, a supplier of global sourcing and supplier management software for the retail supply chain, last week opened its first Asian outpost in Hong Kong.
'Eqos is ideally positioned to capitalise on the opportunities presented by the expanding retail community in China,' said chief product officer Chris Foulkes, who heads up Eqos' local operations based in Kwun Tong.
Eqos supports corporate clients and users in over 40 countries, including more than 4,000 users in the mainland. Its solutions help manage more than 5,000 transactions a day worldwide which covers nearly US$20 billion worth of inventory annually.
logistics firm ids hones up with descartes
Logistics services provider Integrated Distribution Services Group is adopting delivery management systems from Toronto-based Descartes to sharpen its business processes.
Hong Kong-listed IDS, whose customers include Unilever and L'Oreal, will use Descartes' Route Planning and Dispatch solutions to automate daily route plans, daily dispatch and delivery of goods based on customers' demand for quantity, frequency, timing and service time. Financial terms were not given.
IDS posted net profit of US$8.53 million in the six months to June - up 16 per cent from US$7.37 million a year earlier.
neusoft keeps dominance with US$101m revenue
Neusoft Group has remained the mainland's leading software outsourcing services provider, posting a record US$101 million in offshore outsourcing revenue last year - the first such mainland player to do so, said market research firm CCID Consulting.
Neusoft saw revenue grow on intensified expansion in Japan where it has offices in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, CCID said.
