Business news with words demand+product. 40 news.

TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Magic Software Enterprises Ltd., the Or Yehuda, Israel, provider of business-integration and application-development technology, sold its Advanced Answers on Demand subsidiary to Fortissimo Capital for $17 million. Fortissimo is the Rosh ha'Ayin, Israel, investment firm. Magic expects to post a more than $9 million gain on the sale of AAOD, which develops software for application in long-term health care, including retirement facilities as well as home-health and rehabilitation agencies. As part of the deal, Magic has licensed to AAOD the right to continue to sell its product portfolio for three years.

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Sales of semiconductors rose 0.7% in November compared to October to $22.5 billion, or 2.3% more than last year, the Semiconductor Industry Association said Monday. "Early indications are that consumer products with high semiconductor content such as LCD TVs, PMP and MP3 players, along with digital cameras all sold well in the holiday buying season," said SIA President George Scalise. "While unit demand has been very robust, average selling prices have declined in a number of key product segments," it added.

CHINA'S oil and petrochemicals industry is expected to record a strong 21-percent rise in profit this year, an industry organization said, while warning a fuel shortage could recur in 2008 if the pricing mechanism is not improved. Profits of the sector may rise to 530 billion yuan (US$71.8 billion), up from 434.5 billion yuan in 2006, spurred by high crude prices and rising demand, the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association said on its Website. The industry would contribute 5.99 percent to China's gross domestic product this year. Profit growth in the industry may slow to around 19 percent in 2008, CPCIA said. The rise was 17.9 percent in 2006. The association also expected fixed asset investment in the oil and petrochemicals industry could grow more than 20 percent next year. "China's economic growth is giving the sector an increasing attractive power to international capital, so spending in the industry would keep fast rising." However, CPCIA pointed

CHINA'S retail sales last month posted record growth, fueled by surging consumer prices and people's rising incomes, the National Bureau of Statistics said this morning. Sales climbed 18.8 percent from a year earlier to 810.5 billion yuan (US$ 109.83 billion) in November, surpassing October's 18.1 percent growth. This was the biggest rise since 1999, when the government started releasing figures. Spending in urban areas accelerated 19.2 percent to 542.6 billion yuan, faster than sales in rural areas, which grew 18 percent to 267.8 billion yuan. Household spending accounted for 36 percent of China's gross domestic product last year compared with more than 50 percent in the United States, Japan and India. China's economic growth is likely to slow to 10.7 percent in 2008 from 11.4 percent this year on reduced demand for exports, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Through November, retail sales rose 16.4 percent to 8.02 trillion yuan.

Nintendo's problem fulfilling demand for the still-popular Wii illustrates how tough it is for companies to try to predict demand for a product, even in the second year. But it also may reveal a cautious approach by the Japanese company.

CHINA'S manufacturing industry expanded at a rapid pace last month, according to a government survey of purchasing managers released on Saturday. The Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 55.4 from 53.2 in October, the statistics bureau told Bloomberg News. A reading above 50 indicates expansion. The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee said last Tuesday that preventing the economy from overheating would be a key goal for 2008. China wants to cool surging investment that may leave the country with idle factories and bad loans if a global slowdown curbs demand for exports. Gross domestic product grew 11.5 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, the fastest pace of any major economy. The 11.9 percent expansion in the previous three months was China's quickest in 12 years. Of 20 industries surveyed, 19 of them, including clothing producers, transportation equipment manufacturers and energy processors, recorded PMI of more than 50, the report

CHINA will continue to tighten monetary policy, to control inflation and keep the economy from overheating, said Ma Kai, who heads the country's top economic planning body. The domestic economy is likely to keep pace with the growth achieved last year, Ma, director of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at the China-Japan economic summit in Beijing on Saturday. China's economy grew 11.1 percent in 2006. China said last Tuesday that preventing the economy from overheating will be a key goal for 2008. The government wants to cool surging investments that may leave the country with idle factories and bad loans if a global slowdown curbs demand for exports. "China's economy is still seeing accelerated investment growth, a widening trade gap, rising pressure in higher product prices and over-lending," said Ma, whose comments were posted on the Commerce Ministry's Website. "The government is clearly aware of these problems." The nation will use a

Holiday demand for Nintendo's hit product is so steep that many retailers can't keep Wii units on the shelves, reports Fortune's Yi-Wyn Yen.

CHINA'S energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product dropped three percent year on year in the first three quarters of 2007, a senior economic planning official said yesterday. The emission of main pollutants - sulfur dioxide and chemical oxygen demand - also fell between January and September, Xie Zhenhua, deputy chief of the National Development and Reform Commission, told a Beijing press conference. China has vowed to cut energy consumption used to generate one unit of GDP by 20 percent and major pollutants emissions by 10 percent between 2006 and 2010. During the three quarters, sulfur dioxide emissions fell 1.81 percent and the COD, a measure of water pollution, dropped 0.28 percent, the State Environmental Protection Administration said on November 14. "Energy saving and pollution reduction efforts are starting to yield results, but the situation is still grave," Xie said. He noted the nation would take full economic, legal and necessary measures to

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The U.S. economy expanded at the fastest pace in four years in the third quarter, growing at an real annual rate of 4.9%, the Commerce Department said Thursday in its second estimate of last quarter's growth. The upward revision to gross domestic product was due to larger inventory building and a better trade balance. It was in line with Wall Street expectations. A month ago, the government pegged third-quarter GDP at 3.9%. Real GDP has increased 2.8% in the past year, close to the economy's long-run potential. Growth was not balanced in the third quarter, with nearly half the growth coming from inventory building and an improvement in the trade balance. Final worldwide sales of U.S. domestic product increased 3.9%, but domestic demand was weaker, growing at a 2.4% pace.

JAPAN'S housing slump will recover as early as this month, after the government eased regulations that slowed building approvals to a crawl, said Land Minister Tetsuzo Fuyushiba. The building approval rate doubled to 50 percent in October from the previous month, Fuyushiba said in Tokyo yesterday, speaking at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan. Japan's gross domestic product forecast was cut this week by economists after a plunge in housing starts and construction investment. Housing starts dropped 37 percent in the third quarter and investment in housing fell 7.8 percent after the government tightened rules on building permits in response to a 2005 scandal involving faked earthquake-engineering data. "It's not that demand is dropping. It is the approval process," Fuyushiba said. "I expect the number to be back on track in November." Japan expanded loan guarantees for small and midsize companies in construction and related industries to counter the

BAYERISCHE Motoren Werke AG, the world's largest maker of luxury cars, added the 6-Series to its product line-up in China yesterday, as economic growth boosts sales of high-end cars. The four 6-Series models, including coupes and convertibles, are priced at as much as 1.54 million yuan (US$207,000), the auto maker said yesterday. The cars were introduced at the Guangzhou Auto Show yesterday, said Bloomberg News. BMW, Volkswagen AG's Audi and other luxury car makers have added new models as China's economic growth of at least 11 percent fuels demand for more expensive cars. Chinese sales of BMW sedans, sports-utility vehicles and Mini-brand cars rose 37 percent from a year earlier in the first nine months of the year. Munich-based BMW makes 3-Series and 5-Series sedans with Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd in northeastern China's Shenyang. It also imports X3 and X5 sports-utility vehicles as well as Mini compacts. The carmaker sold 36,300 vehicles in China in the first

Farm hands place mounds of bright red pomegranates into shipping boxes stamped "Product of Afghanistan." The price and quality of the sweet fruit are up, and the farmers are happy that a new storage facility has extended their selling season.

CHINA needs to take more policy action to contain the rising trade surplus - the main macroeconomic issue for China, according to a World Bank report released yesterday. Meanwhile, the World Bank maintained its 2007 forecast for China's economic growth rate at 11.3 percent, based on a bulging trade volume and fast-expanding domestic demand. "China's macroeconomic prospects generally remain good," said the World Bank in its East Asia and Pacific Update report, which also predicted that growth may ease a bit in 2008 to 10.8 percent. "Domestically, prospects remain buoyant. With profit and credit growth strong, investment is likely to continue to expand strongly." The World Bank estimated in April this year that China's gross domestic product will grow 9.6 percent and raised the forecast in May to 10.4 percent. In September, it lifted the estimation again to 11.3 percent. The GDP growth is boosted by a continued strong contribution of external trade and an

SIEMENS AG expects its enterprise communications business revenue in China to grow about 30 percent in the next fiscal year ended on October 31, 2008, the German-based firm said yesterday in Shanghai. Siemens attributed the high growth in China to the demand in power, transport and government sectors and a newly-launched product which can be fully integrated with other vendors' equipment, said Roland Bernshaus, president and chief executive of Shanghai-based Siemens Business Communication Systems. Siemens declined to reveal SBCS's latest data for the fiscal year ended last month. SBCS generated revenue of 430 million yuan (US$57.3 million) in China in the year ended on October 31, 2006, a jump of 34 percent from the previous year. Siemens has launched a unified communications products for enterprises including HiPath 8000, which can work as a pure software platform integrated with equipment provided by other vendors like Cisco or TCL. Rivals, like Cisco and Nortel, have

GERMAN economic growth accelerated in the third quarter as companies and consumers increased spending. Gross domestic product grew 0.7 percent in the third quarter from the second, when it added 0.3 percent, the Federal Statistics Office in Wiesbaden said yesterday. That's the fastest pace since the fourth quarter of 2006 and in line with the median forecast of 39 economists in a Bloomberg News survey. Germany is powering the euro region's expansion for a second year after companies boosted spending and hiring to meet booming exports. With a surge in the euro making goods less competitive abroad and record oil prices sapping consumers' purchasing power, Europe's largest economy is showing signs of cooling. "It's what we've been waiting for: faster economic growth driven by domestic demand," said Andreas Rees, chief German economist at UniCredit Markets & Investment Banking in Munich. "Unfortunately, we're seeing it in the rearview mirror. Conditions have

SHANGHAI General Motors Co Ltd yesterday started selling its first sport-utility vehicle in China, allowing it to boost sales with an extended product portfolio into China's emerging SUV market. Shanghai GM, General Motors Corp's local tie-up with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp, will sell the imported Chevrolet Captiva SUV, powered by a 2.4-liter engine, at prices between 224,800 yuan (US$30,378) and 265,800 yuan in two configurations, the company said yesterday. A more powerful version equipped with 3.2-liter V6 engine will also hit the market in the second half of next year, priced about 310,000 yuan to 330,000 yuan. "The move marks a milestone for Shanghai GM to break into the mid-level SUV market, which is growing at the fastest pace with the largest market demand," Shanghai GM said. Officials said the Captiva would be locally produced later to increase its price competitiveness, pending the market response. The Captiva will help the car maker to round out

OVERSEAS trips made by domestic residents will almost triple by 2015 compared with 2006, a senior tourism official said in Guizhou Province today. Residents will make 100 million overseas trips in 2015, compared with the 34.52 million in 2006, said Wang Zhifa, deputy director of the China National Tourism Administration in a forum. Overseas includes Chinese territory outside the mainland, such as Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. The tourists will spend around US$100 billion on overseas trips at that time, Wang said. The added value for the country's tourism sector will reach two trillion yuan (US$268.10 billion) in 2015, accounting for 4.8 percent of gross domestic product and contributing one percentage point to the growth rate, Wang said. A total of 100 million people will work in industries related to tourism, Wang said. The country is also expected to be the most popular tourism destination in the world by 2015 thanks to the expanded market. The robust demand will

Pumped up saltwater chickens are on the regulatory menu in Washington as advocates for "natural" food demand labels that reflect what the product actually contains.

Formosa Plastics Corp.(FPG), the world's second-largest maker of PVC, or polyvinyl chloride, posted a record quarterly profit as demand from China helped bolster product prices. Net income surged 65 percent to NT$20.1 billion (US$619 million) in the three months ended Sept. 30, up from NT$12.2 billion a year earlier, beating the median estimate of NT$15.5 billion in a Bloomberg survey of four analysts. The figure was derived by deducting first-half profit from nine-month earnings the Taipei-based company announced today.