Buying a car, gold or property? How GST will impact your expenses from 1 July

Govt has surely kept the consumer's interest in mind while deciding the tax rates under GST

Company News :The introduction of GST from 1 July 2017 would not only have an impact on businesses in India but also on the common man’s monthly budget. The prices of goods and services forming part of the monthly budget would either increase or decrease depending on the GST treatment.

Eating out

For example, when an individual eats out in a restaurant, today there is service tax and VAT charged in the invoice, apart from having a service charge collected additionally. The service tax and VAT is not applicable for all types of restaurants and therefore varies from restaurant to restaurant. Under GST, the rate of tax on the restaurant invoice could be either 5%, 12% or 18%, depending on whether the restaurant is under composition scheme, non-air conditioned or air-conditioned, respectively. The replacement of service tax and VAT with GST at the above rates would make it simple for the customer to understand how much is actually going to the government in terms of taxes.

Buying gold

When it comes to buying gold, we Indians cannot stay away from this temptation. The taxes on gold currently is around 2% in most states, comprising of 1% of excise duty and 1% of VAT in most States.

Kerala has a higher VAT of 5%. The GST rate is increased from the existing rate of around 2% to 3%. While most consumers would have to shell out additional tax of 1%, consumers in Kerala would benefit from the rate reduction.

Buying property

For under-construction property, there is a significant impact post GST. The existing tax rates are broadly around 6% in most States comprising of service tax and VAT (other than a few where the VAT rate is higher). Under GST the rate shall increase to 12%, with the ability of the builder to avail all input tax credits, resulting in reducing his cost which may be passed on to buyers by commensurate reduction in prices. However, this may not be possible for the builder immediately, especially where the builder has already procured the construction material. Hence, for properties currently under construction, the transition into GST would have consumers being charged with the additional tax without actual reduction in construction value.

Tough times: Cognizant defers salary hikes, promotions by three months

IT major informed its employees that salary revisions and promotions would be effective from October 1. This process usually gets over by July.

Company News : Cognizant Technology Solutions (CTS) has pushed back promotions and salary hikes by three months due to slow growth and rising business costs.

The software services major informed its employees that any salary revisions and promotions would be effective from October 1, people in the know told Business Standard. This process usually gets over by July.

The company has 2,61,200 employees across the world.

The company's chief people officer, Jim Lennox, in a note to the staff said employees up to the manager level would receive “a percentage increase in their basic pay like previous years, while people at senior manager and above level would get a “lump sum” amount. This apart, they will get performance-linked bonuses.

For employees up to the level of vice president, according to the note, the new salaries would be effective from October 1. A Cognizant spokesperson declined to comment.

Some of the former and existing employees of the company said a delay in appraisal clearly hints at tough times for the IT industry and a large chunk of mid-level employees also fear job losses on account of slow growth and technology disruption.

This comes at a time when the company, like its peers such as Infosys, TCS others, reduced H1B visa applications and ramped up local hiring in their largest market in the US. This will certainly result in initial cost pressure, said analysts.

Ransomware attacks leave customers powerless, companies ignore cyber threat

'NotPetya' ransomware attack: It's time to take cybersecurity seriously

Company News : As the “NotPetya” ransomware attack spreads around the world, it’s making clear how important it is for everyone – and particularly corporations – to take cybersecurity seriously. The companies affected by this malware include power utilities, banks and technology firms. Their customers are now left without power and other crucial services, in part because the companies did not take action and make the investments necessary to better protect themselves from these cyberattacks.

Cybersecurity is becoming another facet of the growing movement demanding corporate social responsibility. This broad effort has already made progress toward getting workers paid a living wage, encouraging companies to operate zero-waste production plants and practice cradle-to-cradle manufacturing – and even getting them to donate products to people in need.

The overall idea is that companies should make corporate decisions that reflect obligations not just to owners and shareholders, customers and employees, but to society at large and the natural environment. As a scholar of cybersecurity law and policy and chair of Indiana University’s new integrated program on cybersecurity risk management, I say it’s time to add cyberspace to that list.

Online security affects everyone

The recent WannaCry ransomware attack affected more than 200,000 computers in 150 nations. The results of the attack made clear that computers whose software is not kept up to date can hurt not only the computers’ owners, but ultimately all internet users. The companies hit by the NotPetya attack didn’t heed that warning, and got caught by an attack using the same vulnerability as WannaCry, because they still haven’t updated their systems. Read more

PM Modi wins Jeff Bezos' assurance: Amazon will keep investing in India

Always impressed, energised by optimism and invention in India. Excited to keep investing: Bezos

US online retail giant Amazon would keep investing and growing in India, founder and CEO Jeff Bezos said in Washington DC on Sunday, soon after his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Terrific meeting with Narendra Modi. Always impressed, energised by optimism and invention in India. Excited to keep investing and growing,” Bezos said on social networking platform Twitter.

Bezos was one of the 20-odd US business leaders who met Modi on Sunday. Among other big names were Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Apple CEO Tim Cook. All four US technology giants have been vying to grow their businesses in India, the last large open market in the world.

Bezos’ indication that Amazon’s investments in India will keep rolling comes at a time when the company has completed four years of doing business here and has cornered a sizeable chunk of the e-commerce market. The firm has committed to investing $5 billion in the country, and says half its investments have so far gone into building infrastructure.

Company News : Amit Agarwal, Amazon vice-president & country manager for India, has said the country’s e-commerce market is still in its infancy and it will take a lot more investment, not just from his company but from all players, to grow in the coming years. His thoughts reflect Bezos’ own philosophy that Amazon is still playing in the “Day 1” of e-commerce.

“We don’t really hold ourselves back based on a targeted investment. We will require a lot of investment, as will Indian e-commerce. It is still very early and we should be ready to invest for many years,” Agarwal had told Business Standard in a recent interview. Read more

800 Google Play Store apps infected by 'Xavier' that leaks user information

Malware's stealing and leaking capabilities are difficult to detect due to a self-protect mechanism

Companies News : Global cybersecurity firm Trend Micro on Friday announced that it has detected more than 800 applications in Google Play Store embedded with a Trojan Android malware "Xavier". This malware has been downloaded millions of times till date.

"Xavier" steals and leaks a user's information silently.

"These applications range from utility apps such as photo manipulators to wallpaper and ringtone changers. We also provide multi-layered mobile security solutions to protect users from this threat," Trend Micro said in a statement.

Based on data from its "Mobile App Reputation Service", the team found that Xavier's stealing and leaking capabilities are difficult to detect because of a self-protect mechanism through the use of methods such as string encryption, internet data encryption and emulator detection.

It also has the capability to download and execute other malicious codes from a remote server, which might be an even more dangerous aspect of the malware.

"The easiest way to avoid a cunning malware like 'Xavier' is to not download and install applications from an unknown source even if they are from legitimate app stores like Google Play Store," said Nilesh Jain, Country Manager (India and Saarc), Trend Micro.

ISB placements up 39% this year, average salary offered is Rs 22 lakh

Offers come with an average salary of Rs 22 lakh; ISB says visible increase in leadership roles

Companies News : 

Over 400 domestic and international companies made 1,113 offers to post graduate programme students belonging to the class of 2017 at the Indian School of Business (ISB). The Hyderabad-based business school claims it registered a 39 per cent jump in the number of campus recruiters this year.

These offers come with an average salary of Rs 22 lakh.

The Andhra Pradesh government continued recruiting from ISB for the second consecutive year with 21 offer letters to the varsity's students. Some of the offers are for the post of executive assistant to district magistrates of select districts. Other roles offered are in areas such as financial technology, textiles, tourism, and infrastructure.

The state government has also recruited a similar number of ISB students and engaged them in the chief minister's office to work on specific projects.

Besides regular recruiters such as McKinsey & Co, BCG, Parthenon, AT Kearney, Apple, and Microsoft, there were several new companies such as JLL, Havells, Revigo, P&G, Lending Kart, Reliance Jio, and L'Oreal, among others, looking to hire talent at the business school.

ISB said that there was also a visible increase in leadership roles this year. Over 70 offers were made to ISB students for leadership roles by corporates, including Aditya Birla Group, Citibank, Yes Bank, Philips India Limited, Tech Mahindra, Max, Mytrah Energy, and Genpact.

The consulting and information technology/information technology-enabled services sectors continued to be the largest recruiters, constituting 20 per cent and 21 per cent of the total number of offers, respectively. They were followed by the banking, financial services and insurance sector and the healthcare & pharma sector, according to the Institute.                                                

ISB placements up 39% this year, average salary offered is Rs 22 lakh

Offers come with an average salary of Rs 22 lakh; ISB says visible increase in leadership roles

Companies News : 

Over 400 domestic and international companies made 1,113 offers to post graduate programme students belonging to the class of 2017 at the Indian School of Business (ISB). The Hyderabad-based business school claims it registered a 39 per cent jump in the number of campus recruiters this year.

These offers come with an average salary of Rs 22 lakh.

The Andhra Pradesh government continued recruiting from ISB for the second consecutive year with 21 offer letters to the varsity's students. Some of the offers are for the post of executive assistant to district magistrates of select districts. Other roles offered are in areas such as financial technology, textiles, tourism, and infrastructure.

The state government has also recruited a similar number of ISB students and engaged them in the chief minister's office to work on specific projects.

Besides regular recruiters such as McKinsey & Co, BCG, Parthenon, AT Kearney, Apple, and Microsoft, there were several new companies such as JLL, Havells, Revigo, P&G, Lending Kart, Reliance Jio, and L'Oreal, among others, looking to hire talent at the business school.

ISB said that there was also a visible increase in leadership roles this year. Over 70 offers were made to ISB students for leadership roles by corporates, including Aditya Birla Group, Citibank, Yes Bank, Philips India Limited, Tech Mahindra, Max, Mytrah Energy, and Genpact.

The consulting and information technology/information technology-enabled services sectors continued to be the largest recruiters, constituting 20 per cent and 21 per cent of the total number of offers, respectively. They were followed by the banking, financial services and insurance sector and the healthcare & pharma sector, according to the Institute.                                                

ICC Champions Trophy: 5 reasons why India lost to Pakistan in the final tie

The beginning of the end for India came right with the call to field first after winning the toss

Companies News : The hopes of more than a billion Indian seemed to have come a cropper on Sunday when their national team was handed a humiliating defeat by arch-rivals Pakistan in the final match of Champions Trophy, 2017. Played at the Oval in London, the match saw India crumbling in their chase of 339 runs and getting bundled out for a lowly 158.

Worse, the debacle for India – their biggest margin of defeat in an ICC tournament yet – came in their first clash with Pakistan in a summit match since 2007. Before this, India’s 125-run loss to Australia in the 2003 World Cup final, at Johannesburg’s New Wanderers Stadium in South Africa, had been their most crushing defeat.

While it was embarrassing for India, the emotions on Pakistan side were those of jubilation that comes with unexpected triumph. At the 8th spot in ODI rankings, Pakistan were the lowest-ranked team at the beginning of Champions Trophy 2017. But the way they downed the favourites like South Africa, Sri Lanka and England, and finally India, will be remembered by cricket enthusiasts for a very long time.

Among the most spectacular takeaways from Sunday’s game were the phenomenal opening spell by left-arm Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir and the brilliant maiden century by Fakhar Zaman, besides sublime field performance by Sarfraz Ahmed’s boys.

Here are five turning points in the match that took the game away from India:

1. The toss: Banking on India’s recent record of successfully chasing down big targets, India skipper Virat Kohli opted to put Pakistan in to bat first. This, it turns out, would have been a good toss to lose for India, as Pakistan captain Sarfaraz Ahmed also said he, too, would have elected to field if he had won the toss.(more)

Paytm GST clearance sale offers discount up to 80%, here are the best deals

You could win an Apple iPhone 7 on minimum purchase worth Rs 1,000 as well; sale ends on Thursday

Companies News :Paytm is running a pre-GST clearance sale on its e-commerce platform Paytm Mall. The three-day sale -- June 13 to June 15 – offers discounts, cashbacks and a chance to win Apple iPhone 7 in a bid to clear the stock before the final roll-out of Goods and Services Tax (GST) in the country on July 1.

Under the Paytm Mall pre-GST clearance sale, the e-commerce portal is offering up to 80 per cent off on products including TVs, laptops, phones, cameras, air-conditioners and refrigerators. The clearance sale also offers a cashback of up to Rs 20,000 on DSLRs, televisions, laptops and air conditioners.

Apart from all the discounts and cashbacks, the e-commerce portal is offering a chance to win Apple iPhone 7 on a minimum purchase amount of Rs 1,000.

Here are some of the best deals that the Paytm Mall is offering under pre-GST clearance sale:

Apple iPhone 7

maximum retail price of Rs 60,000, is currently going on sale at a discount of 24 per cent for Rs 45,366. Also, the e-commerce portal is offering a cashback of Rs 5,750 that brings down the overall selling price of the smartphone to Rs 39,616. At this price, the iPhone 7 is a great deal.

Also Read : Apple iPhone 7 Plus, Apple MacBook Air 13, HP OMEN Gaming Laptop, Canon EOS 1300D DSLR camera, Canon EOS 5D Mark IV Kit (EF 24 - 105 IS II USM)

Nokia 3, Nokia 5, Nokia 6 launched in India; know the price and specs here

Nokia 6 to be available on Amazon from July 14, offline-exclusive Nokia 3 and 4 from June 16 and July 7

Company News : Finnish telecom firm HMD Global, which manufactures and markets Nokia handests, on Tuesday launched the much-awaited Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 smartphones in India, priced at Rs 9,499, Rs 12,899 and Rs 14,999, respectively. While the Nokia 6 is going to be available from July 14, exclusively on Amazon, the Nokia 3 and Nokia 5, labelled 'offline exclusive' by the company could be purchased from offline retail stores starting June 16 and July 7, respectively.

Nokia 6

The Nokia 6 features a 5.5-inch full-HD screen and is crafted from a single block of 6,000 series aluminium. The device comes in four colours options -- matte black, silver, tempered blue and copper. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor that features Adreno 505 graphics processor.

The smartphone comes with two storage and RAM options -- 32GB/3GB and 64GB/4GB. The storage can further be expanded to up to 256 GB using microSD card. In terms of camera, the device sport a 16MP rear camera with phase detection auto-focus (PDAF) and flash and an 8MP selfie camera. The smartphone sports a fingerprint sensor, 4G LTE capabilities, a 3,000 mAh battery, dual speakers and near field communication (NFC).

Nokia 5

Nokia 5 is another mid-range smartphone that sports a 5.2-inch HD 720p IPS LCD display. The smartphone is powered by an octa-core Snapdragon 430 SoC coupled. The device features 16GB internal storage, expandable up to 256 GB using microSD card, and 2 GB of RAM.

Nokia 5 sports a 13MP rear snapper and an 8 MP front facing selfie camera. The smartphone is powered by a 3,000 mAh battery. It supports NFC and USB OTG as well.

Nokia 3

Nokia 3 is youngest in the trio of Nokia smartphone’s current line-up. The smartphone sports 5-inch HD 720p screen protected with Gorilla Glass. It is powered by MediaTek MT6737 quad-core processor that features Mali-T720MP2 graphic processor. The device features 16GB internal storage, expandable up to 256 GB using microSD card, and 2 GB of RAM.

Nokia 3 sports an 8MP snapper both at front and at rear. The smartphone is powered by a 2,650 mAh battery. It supports USB OTG as well.

Recently, HMD Global launched refreshed version of iconic Nokia 3310 in India priced at Rs 3,310. The feature phone saw huge interest from the Nokia fans who were desperately waiting to get their hands-on the latest Nokia smartphones.

Tata's JLR invests in Uber rival Lyft for driverless cars

InMotion's investment in Lyft makes India's Tata Group an indirect shareholder

Company News :Tata Motors-owned British luxury carmakr Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has invested $25 million in US ride-hailing company Lyft as part of a partnership that includes development and testing of autonomous cars.

The investment in Uber's chief rival Lyft was done through InMotion Ventures, the venture capital arm of JLR. This was part of the $600-million funding round the ride-hailing firm closed in April at a valuation of $7.5 billion.

In a statement, InMotion said that the innovation would help Lyft expand by supplying its drivers with fleets of Jaguar and Land Rover cars. However, more importantly, it said that the partnership would be used to further its research and development in mobility services, including autonomous cars.

"Personal mobility and smart transportation is evolving. This new collaborative venture will provide a real-world platform, helping us develop our connected and autonomous services," VentureBeat quoted Sebastian Peck, Managing Director at InMotion.

In May, Lyft announced its partnership with Google's self-driving vehicle spinoff, Waymo to work on developing new autonomous car technologies. The company's focus on autonomous cars comes at a time when its rival Uber is in the midst of a crisis that could see founder Travis Kalanick taking leave, temporarily.

One of Uber's biggest headaches right now is a lawsuit filed by Waymo, accusing Anthony Levandowski- a former Waymo employee who founded self-driving truck start-up Otto - of stealing its IP(Internet Protocol). Otto was bought out by Uber in August last year and while the company fired Levandowski recently, it is still being investigated for fraud.

Aurobindo Pharma looks to sell cancer drugs in the US by year end

Hyderabad-based pharma major says US FDA approval likely to come after upcoming audit

Company News : Hyderabad-based Aurobindo Pharma Limited is hoping to receive three-four product approvals in the oncology space from the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) before March 2018.

The company's optimistic prediction about a possible good start in this high-margin product business comes just ahead of a maiden audit slated to be conducted for its oncology formulations manufacturing facility by the US drug regulator.

A research and development facility and a manufacturing plant, both dedicated to the development and production of oncology and hormonal drugs, was set up in Hyderabad by Aurobindo-controlled Eugia Pharma Specialties Ltd, a joint-venture with Sequoia-backed Celon Laboratories.

Aurobindo holds around 68 per cent stake in Eugia Pharma.

The product approvals are expected to follow once the facility clears the US FDA inspection, which is scheduled to be conducted in the July-August period.

"This year, we will be filing 15-17 products (in the oncology segment, including hormonal drugs) and we can get some four-five products in hormonal and oncology injections. We have an audit in July-end or August-beginning and we hope that we will definitely start selling from the unit by the end of this year," P V Ramprasad Reddy, executive chairman of Aurobindo Pharma USA and founder of Aurobindo, said in a recent investor call.

If everything goes as planned, oncology will become the latest addition to the company's generics business this year. In the fields of vaccines and biosimilars, the other two new product verticals, the company may come out with its first set of product applications between 2019 and 2020. Read more

OnePlus 5 to be launched in India at Rs 32,999; here is what the device looks like

The much-awaited smartphone is expected to initially have two variants -- 64GB/6GB and 128GB/8GB

Company News :Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus is gearing up for the launch of its much-awaited flagship OnePlus 5 on June 22. And, according to latest reports, the smartphone is initially going to be available in two variants and a price tag of Rs 32,999 for the base model.

A True-tech.net report mentioned the price quoting "reliable sources" and said OnePlus 5 would be launched with two storage and RAM variants – 64GB/6GB and 128GB/8GB. According to the report, the base model, with 64 GB of storage and 6 GB of RAM, might be priced at Rs 32,999, while the premium version with 128 GB of storage and 8 GB of RAM could retail at Rs 37,999.

Recently, a teaser image posted on microblogging site Twitter by OnePlus showed that the OnePlus 5 smartphone would have dual rear cameras placed horizontal at the top left of the device. It also revealed that the upcoming smartphone might offer black as a colour option.

OnePlus on Twitter

Follow

OnePlus ✔@oneplus

Carl drops the mic this week! Check out his post on the forums to learn how your feedback makes us better. http://onepl.us/op5details

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 Follow

OnePlus 

✔@oneplus

Carl drops the mic this week! Check out his post on the forums to learn how your feedback makes us better. http://onepl.us/op5details 

4:31 PM - 8 Jun 2017

 
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Twitter Ads info and privacy

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Twitter Ads info and privacy

Of late, OnePlus has been teasing the upcoming flagship through subtle tweets and images on other social media channels. Not much information has been divulged yet about the device, except CEO Pete Lau confirming that the phone would use a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor.

Laptops cheaper than smartphones: Best deals under Amazon India's 'Back to Class' sale Edit

Company News : In its 'Back to College' sale and 'Back to class' offers, Amazon India has since June 8 been offering very exciting deals especially for school and college students. The sale, to continue till June 11, is centred around products particularly of interest to students.

Here are some of the best deals that are currently running on Amazon India for students:

Back to Class Sale


Under the 'Back to Class' sale, Amazon India is offering huge discounts and offers on books, school bags, sports & fitness accessories and basic school supplies.

Books

For students in class 10, the e-commerce giant is offering Oswaal social science CBSE chapter-wise and topic-wise question banks with complete solutions (for March 2018 exam) for Rs 215. The deal is available as a lightning deal and is valid till 2 pm on June 9. At current lightening deal price, the book is selling at a discount of 46 per cent.

Photo: Amazon Photo: Amazon For students looking for a book on English language for class 10, Amazon is offering All in One English communicative by Gajendra Singh at Rs 227, down from Rs 350, a discount of 35 per cent. The book is also a part of lightning deals.

School bags

Amazon is offering school bags for as low as Rs 500 under the 'Back to Class' sale. Currently, the portal is offering a backpack made by Kuber Industries for as low as Rs 590 under its lightning deals. The actual price of the product is Rs 1,298. Under the current sale, the product is available at a discount of 55 per cent.

There is another spacious school bag with 30 litres of space that is currently retailing at a discount of 55 per cent. The backpack is available under lightning deals and is selling for Rs 817, down from Rs 1,798.

Amazon lent $1 billion to merchants to boost sales on its marketplace

Loans range from $1,000 to $750,000. Sellers have said interest rates are between 6% and 14%

Company News : Amazon. com Inc has stepped up lending to third-party sellers on its site who are looking to grow their business, a company executive said in an interview on Wednesday.

The e-commerce giant has doled out more than $1 billion in small loans to sellers in the past 12 months, compared with more than $1.5 billion it lent from 2011 through 2015, said Peeyush Nahar, vice president for Amazon Marketplace. Sellers have used the money to expand their inventory or discount items on Amazon, he said.

Boosting sales for third-party merchants is lucrative for Amazon, which takes a cut of transactions on its site.

It also has made a business out of handling more leg work for sellers, too. They pay Amazon to fulfill their orders and boost their placement in search results, without which sellers might struggle to grab shoppers' attention.

More than 20,000 small businesses have received a loan from Amazon and more than half of those have taken a second loan from the company, it said.

Loans range from $1,000 to $750,000. Sellers have said interest rates are between 6 percent and 14 percent.

Rivals, including eBay Inc and Wal-Mart Stores Inc, now are doubling down on their marketplace businesses, but loans may help keep sellers close to Amazon's orbit.

"We do tell them it's to help them grow on the Amazon Marketplace," Nahar said.

Traditional lenders shied away from small merchants after the 2008 financial crisis, which created an opening for other sources of financing. While this exposes Amazon to additional credit risk, the company has near real-time data on sellers' businesses and access to their customer reviews, which are helpful in deciding whether to make a loan.

The loan program is invitation-only.

Amazon has issued loans to sellers in the United States, United Kingdom and Japan.

The company has said it would expand to other countries where it operates marketplaces, such as Canada, France and China. On the rollout's timing, Nahar said, "Stay tuned."

Toshiba aims to name buyer of $18 bn semiconductor chips biz on June 15

The unit cannot be sold without its consent, demanding exclusive negotiating rights: Toshiba

Company News : Toshiba Corp aims to name a winner for its prized semiconductor business next week, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, as a row with one of the bidders over the sale appeared to escalate.

Sources told Reuters the choice has narrowed to one bid from U.S. chipmaker Broadcom Ltd and U.S. tech fund Silver Lake and another from Toshiba chip partner Western Digital Corp and Japanese government-related investors.

Toshiba is rushing to find a buyer for the world's second-largest producer of NAND chips, which it values at $18 billion or more, to cover billions of dollars in cost overruns at its now-bankrupt U.S. nuclear business Westinghouse Electric Corp.

The laptops-to-nuclear conglomerate will hold a board meeting on June 15 to decide on the preferred bidder, two sources said, declining to be identified as they were not authorised to speak to the media.

Western Digital, which jointly operates Toshiba's main chip plant in Yokkaichi, western Japan, has complicated the sale effort with a legal challenge, accusing Toshiba of a serious breach of contract over the joint venture.

It argues that the unit cannot be sold without its consent and has demanded exclusive negotiating rights.

But in a letter seen by Reuters, Toshiba struck back, again asking Western Digital to stop challenging the plans.

"Toshiba encourages Western Digital to redirect the considerable efforts that it has put into disrupting Toshiba's sale process into more productive channels."

Toshiba did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Western Digital confirmed in a statement that it had received Toshiba's letter but added that any move by Toshiba to sell the unit without its consent "clearly violate the transfer restrictions in the joint venture agreements."

Western Digital said it was "best positioned to assist Toshiba in addressing its challenges and advancing its legacy of technological innovation in Japan."

The Broadcom-Silver Lake bid is seen as attractive because of its higher price of 2.2 trillion yen ($20 billion), sources have said.

Western Digital, by comparison, has an offer of fewer than 2 trillion yen and could also face antitrust hurdles because the firm is the third-largest maker of NAND flash-memory chips.

"Naturally, for the Toshiba corporate side, Broadcom is the best choice," one source said.

Toshiba shares rose as much as 6 percent on Thursday on the news that the company was closing in on a buyer. The stock has lost some 36 percent since late December when the company flagged huge losses at its U.S. nuclear power operations.

Other bidders include U.S. private-equity firm Bain Capital with South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix Inc, and Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd with its Japanese unit Sharp Corp.