IBM Corp’s decision to manufacture personal computers in Russia was the most positive vote of confidence yet in the reborn nation, but it has all ended in tears. According to the Financial Times, IBM will end assembly there because tax changes have made it uneconomical: the Russian parliament had stripped the company of tax exemptions that allowed it to import parts and manufacturing equipment tax-free, and the Moscow authorities also failed to honour promises to buy up to 100,000 IBM computers. The plant, in Zelenograd, near Moscow, has produced 40,000 computers all told. – o The buoyant cellular telephone business has not yet been affected by a slowdown in the global economy, but it will be in the future, L M Ericsson Telefon AB said on Tuesday. It said the three main economic regions, Europe, North America and Asia are in step and on the way down together. However, the mobile phone market still has potential, the company told Reuters, especially in Asia. Deregulation in the US offered further potential in that region too, the company said. – o Motorola Inc’s cellular infrastructure group signed a $225m contract in the People’s Republic of China to provide Total Access Communications System equipment and services to the Hangzhou Communications Equipment Factory of Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications. Motorola said the cellular equipment, to be supplied through Zhejiang Technical Import & Export Corp, will result in cellular telephone service being provided to about 1m subscribers. The analog equipment is expected to be deployed throughout China by year-end.
