Patent cases treble in a year as downturn bites July 30, 2012 THE NUMBER of patent disputes lodged in Britain has almost trebled over the last year, as firms desperately vie to protect their market share in a dismal economic climate, research released today shows. Law firm EMW says the High Court in London saw 183 patent and design cases last year, compared with 65 in 2010. [...]
Smartphones power record $5.9bn Samsung profit July 27, 2012 Samsung Electronics, the world’s top technology firm by revenue, reported on Friday a record operating profit of $5.9bn (£3.7bn) for the June quarter, as rampant Galaxy S handset sales helped stretch its lead over Apple. September quarter mobile profits are expected to forge further ahead as the latest Galaxy model enjoys a sales boom before [...]
Arm defies the chip slowdown as profits leap July 25, 2012 ARM Holdings posted a jump in earnings yesterday, as the British chip designer continued to outperform the rest of the industry. The company beat forecasts for the three months to July, reporting a 23 per cent rise in year-on-year profits in the face of poor recent performances from its rival Intel and chipmaker Qualcomm, which [...]
Rare miss by Apple pushes Nasdaq lower July 25, 2012 THE S&P 500 fell for a fourth day and the Nasdaq dropped yesterday after a rare earnings stumble from Apple, while strong results from Boeing and Caterpillar lifted the Dow. Apple, the most valuable US company by market capitalisation, reported sales late on Tuesday that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations as the European economy [...]
Here’s what you could have won July 25, 2012 Apple has said the feverish rumour mill surrounding the impending launch of its next iPhone has dented the growth in sales of its current product, with customers holding off for the next generation. So what exactly has got consumers in such a spin? We take a look at some of the gossip surrounding Apple’s next [...]
Apple slows on iPhone 5 speculation July 24, 2012 APPLE recorded a rare quarter of disappointing sales last night, sending shares down almost six per cent in after-hours trading, as demand for its iPhone fell ahead of the impending release of its next model. The world’s largest company by market value said revenues were $35bn (£22.6bn) in the three months to July, lower than [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 23, 2012 Financial times Local staff hired as G4S fails G4S has been replaced as the security contractor for Olympic football matches in Newcastle after games organisers realised that the company could not provide enough staff to safeguard the venue. Farmers agree milk price deal Dairy farmers have struck a deal “in principle” with processing companies and supermarkets [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING July 22, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Electricity market reforms unworkable The Treasury’s refusal to back the energy department’s low-carbon agenda has made flagship electricity market reforms “unworkable”, “vacuous” and counterproductive, the government has been told. A draft bill designed to spur billions of pounds of spending on power sources such as wind farms and nuclear plants is so flawed [...]
BEST of the BROKERS July 22, 2012 LUFTHANSA UBS rates the airline “buy” and has raised its target price by €1 to €14. The broker thinks Lufthansa’s second quarter results on 2 August will show a benefit from the falling value of the euro, offset by fuel and restructuring costs. UBS is forecasting a slight year-on-year fall in earnings before interest and [...]
WALL ST THE WEEK AHEAD July 22, 2012 THE trend of better-than-expected earnings will be put to the test this week when investors hope Apple can exceed already high expectations and Facebook reports its first quarterly earnings. Apple accounts for a significant proportion of the overall earnings of Standard & Poor’s 500 components. S&P 500 earnings are expected to show a rise of [...]