Sweden’s Ikea, the world’s largest furniture maker, is set to enter the consumer electronics market with products developed in cooperation with China-based TCL Multimedia. Ikea plans to launch a line of furniture with integrated connected television and sound systems in five European cities in June, throughout seven European countries this autumn, and in its remaining markets in the summer of next year. The televisions, wireless sound systems and built-in CD/DVD/Blu-ray players will be designed specifically for Ikea. The cooperation with TCL isn’t Ikea’s first venture outside the furniture sector. Previously it has sold appliances developed in cooperation with Whirlpool and Electrolux. Ikea has 294 stores in 26 countries. TCL Multimedia sells televisions and other multimedia electronics under the brands TCL, ROWA, Thomson and RCA. It reported an operating profit of HKD883 million last year, helped by a 46% rise in the sales of LCD televisions to 10.9 million sets.

A mediated settlement is the preferred solution to the lawsuit between Apple and Proview Technology over the iPad trademark, Qiu Yongqing, a judge with the Guangdong High People’s Court, said. If no agreement is reached through court mediation, a ruling is likely to be handed down by the end of May. The court opened a public hearing between Shenzhen Proview Technology and Apple on February 29, with both sides claiming they own the iPad trademark on the Chinese mainland. During the hearing, attorneys from both parties focused on whether Taiwan-based Proview Electronics had the right to represent Shenzhen-based Proview Technology at the sale of the iPad trademark. Attorneys for Shenzhen Proview said the two are independent companies and the contract signed between Taiwan Proview and Apple for the iPad trademark transfer on the mainland was invalid. Attorneys for Apple, however, said Taiwan Proview was linked with Shenzhen Proview and that Apple has the right to use the iPad trademark on the mainland. Apple and IP Application Development paid USD56,000 to Taiwan Proview for the iPad trademark transfer in 2009. But Shenzhen Proview refused to recognize the contract signed by Apple and Taiwan Proview. “According to Chinese law, both parties involved in the trademark transfer should apply with us together (to make the transfer legal). So Proview Technology is still the owner of the iPad trademark,” said Fu Shuangjian, Deputy Director of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC). Fu’s remarks about the trademark ownership have no legal power, however, because the administrative and judicial systems are independent from each other, said Feng Xiaoqing, an intellectual-property scholar with the China University of Political Science and Law. Authorities would be wise not to act until the court’s verdict is announced, Feng said. Xie Xianghui, the attorney for Shenzhen Proview, said the two parties have not reached an agreement on the amount of compensation. Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court rejected creditor Fubon Insurance’s application to liquidate Proview Technology (Shenzhen) Company, allowing the failed display maker to pursue its legal fight against Apple over the iPad trademark, a lawyer for Proview said.

International Business Machines (IBM) has opened China’s first dedicated plant for rebuilding and refurbishing old server computers, placing it at the forefront of a niche domestic market worth about USD18 billion by 2014. The firm said the new Shenzhen “re-manufacturing center”, its ninth such facility worldwide, would help reduce the environmental impact of “e-waste” – discarded electrical and electronic devices – by extending the life of older information technology equipment that would otherwise go into landfills. Richard Dicks, General Manager at IBM’s Global Asset Recovery Services unit, said the firm was “the first IT provider licensed by the government to re-manufacture servers in mainland China”. The Shenzhen facility will initially handle hundreds of IBM’s Power Systems-brand servers that the firm plans to buy this year from corporate customers, as they upgrade to new IBM equipment. Each server will be reconditioned, tested and certified by IBM or rebuilt to meet specific customer needs. Labelled “IBM Certified Pre-owned Equipment”, these low-cost servers will be sold mostly to small and mid-sized businesses. IBM said the Shenzhen re-manufacturing center will rapidly expand to annually process about 100,000 low-end and mid-range IBM servers, personal computers (PCs), and servers from other computer brands by 2014. Technology research firm IDC said the Chinese market for used information-technology equipment would reach USD25 billion by 2014. Preliminary estimates by market research firm Gartner show that IBM led China, the world’s second-largest information technology market after the United States, in total server sales last year. IBM’s China revenue climbed 27% to USD2.51 billion last year, from USD1.97 billion in 2010 – seizing a 44 % domestic market share, the South China Morning Post reports.

Proview Technology, which is battling Apple over the iPad trademark in China, has asked distributors to stop selling the new iPad after Apple announced its launch. The Higher People’s Court in Guangzhou heard Apple’s appeal on the trademark lawsuit on February 29 and is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks or months. Chinese media have reported that Proview is seeking up to CNY10 billion in compensation for trademark infringement. Proview has said it favors an out-of-court settlement, which usually involves the payment of compensation. Analysts have said the company needs funds to repay its creditors. Hejun Vanguard, a consulting company representing Proview creditors, said in a statement that the iPad trademark on the mainland belonged to them. Proview’s main creditors are Bank of China (BOC), China Minsheng Banking, China Development Bank (CDB), China Guangfa Bank, Bank of Communications (BoCom), Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPDB), Hua Xia Bank and Shenzhen Pingan Bank. Experts say the chances are slim that Proview Shenzhen will be able to block the import and export of iPads and that it is unlikely the company will be able to meet all the requirements for filing a successful petition.

Revenue of Shanghai’s integrated circuit (IC) industry, which accounts for one-third of the total revenue nationwide, may grow 12% annually this year, according to Xue Zi, Deputy General Secretary of the Shanghai Integrated Circuit Industry Association (SIA). In 2011, Shanghai’s IC industry revenue was CNY63 billion, up an annual 17.2%. The revenue may grow 12% year on year in 2012, according to SIA. By comparison, China’s IC industry revenue will “remain unchanged or have single-digit growth” this year compared with a revenue of CNY157.2 billion last year, according to the China Semiconductor Industry Association (CSIA). In 2011, the revenue of the chip design sector in Shanghai grew 39.1% annually to CNY14.9 billion, compared with CNY12.8 billion in the IC manufacturing industry, which fell 4.2% from a year ago. “Chip design is the flagship sector of the whole IC industry chain representing innovation and the development level of the industry,” said Xue. “The rapid growth of the design sector will fuel the revenue of manufacturing, assembly and testing sectors in the future.” Four of the top 10 chip design firms in 2011 are from Shanghai, according to Chen Xian, CSIA’s Secretary General.