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.

Roaming charges in Hong Kong decreased after China Mobile Hong Kong launched a cross-border data sharing service, which will make it cheaper to access services locked behind Beijing’s internet firewall. China Mobile, the second operator to offer 4G services after CSL, will intensify competition among next generation mobile phone services in Hong Kong as subscribers to its 4G service can get cheaper access to news portals or social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, which are banned on the mainland. Although existing roaming services can still overcome the firewall, users face steep charges. Many Hong Kong mobile users tend to switch off their data roaming option and use Wi-fi services offered by mainland operators. China Mobile has cut roaming charges on voice services between the mainland and Hong Kong to HKD0.65 per minute, from at least HKD7. The cut took effect on April 25, when the new 4G roaming service was launched. The company is targeting the 500,000 frequent travelers between Hong Kong and the mainland. It already claims more than 20% of the Hong Kong market. CSL and HTC launched the first 4G handset two months ago. CSL has yet to disclose the number of 4G subscribers but said total subscribers for all services stood at 3.16 million at the end of last year. China Mobile’s 4G monthly fees are similar to those under the 3G plan: HKD88 for 200 megabytes of downloads; HKD148 for 400 MB and HKD218 for unlimited data.

China Mobile’s profit rose 3.5% to CNY27.8 billion in the first quarter, lower than analysts’ expectations. The company will boost capital expenditure to CNY131.9 billion this year, from CNY128.5 billion last year, as it upgrades networks and rolls out more Wi-Fi hotspots to help maintain its lead in smartphone users over China Unicom (Hong Kong) and China Telecom. “They are facing more extensive competition, so China Mobile is going to have to try hard to maintain its profitability level,” said Jim Tang, Analyst at Shenyin Wanguo Securities in Shanghai. “Definitely going forward, their margins will be under pressure.” Sales rose 7.8% to CNY127.4 billion. In the first three months of this year, China Mobile said it added 17.6 million subscribers, for a total of 667.2 million. Profit margins in the first quarter fell to 21.8%, from 22.7% a year earlier, as the company faced “increasingly intensified competition”, China Mobile said. The operator had a total of 649.6 million mobile-phone subscribers at the end of last year, including 51.2 million 3G users. That outpaced China Unicom’s 199.7 million total subscribers and 40 million users of its 3G service. China Telecom was in third place with 126.5 million subscribers. Still, China Mobile’s share of all wireless users would drop to 64% this year from 69% in 2010, Barclays Capital Analyst Anand Ramachandran estimated last month. The company is counting on the move to a 4G network, based on TD-LTE technology, to stem a decline in market share among users who watch videos and play games on their phones.

China Unicom (Hong Kong) posted first-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates on weaker than expected subscriber growth in its third-generation service. The company said net income rose to CNY1 billion from a restated CNY145 million a year earlier. That compared with the CNY1.1 billion median of six analysts’ estimates in a survey. Unicom lost the advantage of being the only Chinese carrier to offer Apple’s iPhone with a service contract when China Telecom began sales of the device on March 9. Unicom added 8.84 million users to its 3G network in the first quarter, which Macquarie Analyst Lisa Soh called “a weak number”. Revenue rose 25% to CNY61.2 billion. Unicom had 48.9 million 3G subscribers at the end of last month. Its mobile customer base of 209.5 million was less than half that of China Mobile’s 667.2 million.

Wireless infrastructure spending by China’s three telecommunications network operators will top the USD11 billion mark in three years, driven by new 4G mobile investments. China Mobile is expected to lead that record capital outlay, according to a report by market research firm IHS iSuppli. The Hong Kong-listed carrier has spearheaded the adoption and testing of time-division long-term evolution (TD-LTE) technology, the high-speed 4G standard backed by China. The other recognized 4G standard, commercially deployed in other markets worldwide, is known as frequency division duplexing (FDD-LTE). The advanced 4G networks have theoretical internet download speeds of up to 100 megabits per second, faster than what 3G networks provide. IHS iSuppli forecast total wireless infrastructure spending in China will reach USD11.2 billion in 2014, as operators ramp up 4G mobile investments. That would be a significant increase from the estimated USD10 billion next year and USD9.9 billion this year. Commercial trials of China Mobile’s pilot 4G network are expected to be completed this June, which may coincide with the possible release of a compatible iPhone from Apple. Miao Wei, Minister of Industry and Information Technology, told China Central Television (CCTV) last month it may take two to three years before 4G licenses are issued, because the government wanted first to double the number of TD-SCDMA base stations. China Mobile operates a TD-SCDMA 3G network with about 200,000 base stations, but most of its subscribers are still on its 2G network based on the GSM standard. The plan was to upgrade those TD-SCDMA base stations to TD-LTE within the next two to three years, according to Miao. China Mobile started offering its 4G data service to subscribers in Hong Kong this week, the South China Morning Post reports.