Apple iPad sales disappoint, Street eyes the holidays

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc delivered a second straight quarter of disappointing results and iPad sales fell well short of Wall Street’s targets, marring its record of consistently blowing past investors’ expectations.

Shares in the world’s most valuable technology company briefly dipped to levels not seen since the start of August, after it delivered a 27 percent rise in fourth-quarter revenue and a 24 percent increase in earnings.

The numbers, while in line with expectations, lacked the positive surprises that investors have grown used to, and came after Apple undershot revenue targets in the previous quarter. Its shares bounced back after CEO Tim Cook told analysts on a conference call that the latest iPhone 5 was heavily backlogged but the company had mostly worked out kinks in its supply chain.

Apple shipped 26.9 million iPhones in the last quarter, just ahead of analysts’ predictions, but iPad sales of 14 million were well below lowered forecasts for the tablet as the economy remained weak and consumers awaited the iPad mini, which will hit store shelves next month. South Korean rival Samsung Electronics Co sold 56.3 million smartphones in the quarter, according to research firm IDC, giving it 31.3 percent global market share, more than double that of Apple.

FEVERED COMPETITION

Analysts say the real test for Apple will come during the crucial year-end holiday shopping season, when competition will reach fever-pitch against new gadgets from Amazon.com Inc, Google Inc and Microsoft Corp.

“Going into earnings we were wondering if the slowing economy will catch up with Wall Street, and it has,” said Channing Smith, co-manager of the Capital Advisors Growth Fund.

“Apple is very well positioned with the iPad and now the iPad mini. It has a great smartphone and we expect the iPhone 5 to sell very well. The outlook is conservative, but that’s not surprising. Err on the side of caution is a proven formula.”

Apple heads into the current quarter after refreshing almost all of its product lines, including introducing an upgraded, fourth-generation full-sized iPad. The December quarter will show how well consumers respond to its latest gamble – the iPad mini – which goes on sale on November 2.

Quarterly revenue in China, Apple’s second-largest market, rose 26 percent, and jumped nearly 80 percent to $ 23.8 billion over the full year, contributing 15 percent of Apple’s total, Cook told analysts. Apple plans to launch the iPhone 5 in China in December, hoping to staunch market share loss in what is set to become the world’s largest smartphone market this year.

Apple’s China smartphone market share almost halved to 10 percent in April-June as buyers waited for the iPhone 5.

ONE WEEK LESS

For the December quarter, Apple forecast revenue of $ 52 billion, below the average estimate of $ 55 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. It expects margins of 36 percent, far lower than analysts’ expected 43 percent.

Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer mostly attributed the lower margin and conservative guidance to a combination of a stronger dollar, higher costs associated with new products, and the fact that Apple’s next fiscal quarter has one less week than the same period a year ago.

Apple’s stock was holding steady at $ 609.40 in extended trade after flirting with the $ 600 level. The shares had ended regular trade at $ 609.54.

Supply constraints holding up sales of the iPad and iPhone dominated discussions between analysts and Apple executives during the post-results conference call. Apple had struggled to deliver large quantities of the iPhone 5 since its launch in late September, with the waitlist for the device at one point stretching to three weeks in some regions.

“Our supply output is significantly higher than it was earlier in October,” Cook said, referring to the iPhone 5. “And I’m confident we’ll be able to supply quite a few during the quarter.”

CAR THAT FLIES AND FLOATS

Cook also opined on Microsoft’s new Windows 8-based Surface tablet that will hit stores early on Friday.

“I haven’t personally played with the Surface yet, but what we’re reading about it, is that it’s a fairly compromised, confusing product,” he said. “I suppose you could design a car that flies and floats, but I don’t think it would do all of those things very well.”

Despite the lackluster fourth quarter, Apple put up big numbers for the year, ending its fiscal 2012 with a 45 percent increase in revenue to $ 156.5 billion, while net income was up 61 percent at $ 41.7 billion.

For the final fiscal quarter, it posted net income of $ 8.2 billion, or $ 8.67 a diluted share, on revenue of $ 35.96 billion, versus $ 6.6 billion, or $ 7.05 a share, a year earlier. Analysts had expected on average that Apple would earn $ 8.75 per share.

Apple ended the quarter with $ 121.3 billion in cash and securities, of which $ 83 billion was offshore.

(Additional reporting by Melanie Lee in SHANGHAI; Editing by Richard Chang, Edmund Klamann and Ian Geoghegan)

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

China passes law to curb abuse of mental hospitals

BEIJING (AP) — China‘s legislature on Friday passed a long-awaited mental health law that aims to prevent people from being involuntarily held and unnecessarily treated in psychiatric facilities — abuses that have been used against government critics and triggered public outrage.

The law standardizes mental health care services, requiring general hospitals to set up special outpatient clinics or provide counseling, and calls for the training of more doctors.

Debated for years, the law attempts to address an imbalance in Chinese society — a lack of mental health care services for a population that has grown more prosperous but also more aware of modern-day stresses and the need for treatment. Psychiatrists who helped draft and improve the legislation welcomed its passage.

“The law will protect the rights of mental patients and prevent those who don’t need treatment from being forced to receive it,” said Dr. Liu Xiehe, an 85-year-old psychiatrist based in the southwestern city of Chengdu, who drafted the first version of the law in 1985.

“Our mental health law is in line with international standards. This shows the government pays attention to the development of mental health and the protection of people’s rights in this area,” Liu told The Associated Press by phone.

Pressure has grown on the government in recent years after state media and rights activists reported cases of people forced into mental hospitals when they did not require treatment. Some were placed there by employers with whom they had wage disputes, some by their family members in fights over money, and others — usually people with grievances against officials — by police who wanted to silence them.

The law states for the first time that mental health examinations and treatment must be conducted on a voluntary basis, unless a person is considered a danger to himself or others. Only psychiatrists have the authority to commit people to hospitals for treatment, and treatment may be compulsory for patients diagnosed with a severe mental illness, according to the law.

Under the law, police still may send people for diagnosis — a common practice in many countries. Significantly, the law gives people who feel they have been unnecessarily admitted into mental health facilities the right to appeal.

Though questions remain over how the law will be enforced and whether sufficient government funding will be provided to enable the expansion of services, psychiatrists said the passage of the legislation marked a milestone

“It’s very exciting. I honestly believe this will start a new trajectory,” said Dr. Michael Phillips, a Canadian psychiatrist who has worked in China for nearly three decades and now heads a suicide research center in Shanghai.

Phillips said the biggest change for the psychiatric system is the curb on involuntary admissions. At least 80 percent of hospital admissions are compulsory, he said.

The expansive scope of the law — covering treatment, stigma prevention, admissions and other areas — made it “revolutionary,” he added.

___

Follow Gillian Wong on Twitter: http://twitter.com/gillianwong

Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Lull in fighting between Israel, Gaza militants

JERUSALEM (AP) — A flare-up in fighting between Israel and militants from Gaza’s ruling Hamas movement has subsided.

Both sides say the government in Egypt helped to restore calm.

Israeli defense official Amos Gilad told Army Radio on Thursday that Egyptian security forces have “a very impressive ability” to convey to the militants that it is in their “supreme interest not to attack.”

Hamas spokesman Ayman Taha says Egypt conveyed Israel’s desire to contain the violence. He says Hamas told Egyptian that militants would cease fire if Israel would.

The Israeli military says militants haven’t attacked southern Israel since Wednesday night. It says the military hasn’t struck Gaza since Wednesday morning.

Militants fired some 80 rockets and mortars at Israel on Wednesday and Israeli aircraft struck four times.

Middle East News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Exclusive: Huawei partner offered U.S. tech to Iran

LONDON (Reuters) – An Iranian partner of Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, a Chinese company that has denied breaking U.S. sanctions, last year tried to sell embargoed American antenna equipment to an Iranian firm, according to documents and interviews.

The buyer – an Iranian mobile-phone operator – says it canceled the deal with Huawei when it learnt the items were subject to sanctions and before any equipment was delivered. Huawei, the world’s second-largest telecoms equipment maker, uses products from a U.S. company, Andrew LLC, in some of the systems it sells.

Documents reviewed by Reuters show that Soda Gostar Persian Vista, a Tehran-based supplier of Huawei equipment in Iran, had offered to sell to MTN Irancell 36 cellular tower antennas made by Andrew for 14,364 euros. The equipment was to be delivered in Tehran on February 3, 2012, to “Huawei warehouse ready for installation,” according to a MTN Irancell purchase order dated November 30, 2011.

Huawei, based in Shenzhen, China, has an agreement with CommScope Inc. in Hickory, N.C. – which owns Andrew – to purchase Andrew antennas and other equipment and use the products in Huawei systems, according to CommScope. The Andrew antennas were part of a large order for Huawei telecommunications gear that MTN Irancell had placed through Soda Gostar, the documents show.

Washington has banned the sale of U.S. technology to Iran for years. Huawei said in a statement that it complies with U.S. law and also requires third parties like Soda Gostar “to follow applicable laws and regulations.” This month, the U.S. House Intelligence Committee criticized Huawei for failing “to provide evidence to support its claims that it complies with all international sanctions or U.S. export laws.”

South Africa’s MTN Group, which owns 49 percent of MTN Irancell, said the Iranian telecoms firm had requested 36 German-made antennas not subject to sanctions but that “Huawei, through its local partner Soda Gostar, mistakenly provided details of U.S.-manufactured” antennas.

“This was later identified as an error and as a result the tender request was canceled with Huawei and the German goods obtained from a local reseller,” Paul Norman, MTN Group’s corporate affairs officer, said in a statement. He added, “The incident is illustrative of the strong processes in place in MTN and Irancell to ensure compliance” with U.S. sanctions.

In a statement, Vic Guyang, a Huawei spokesman, acknowledged that MTN Irancell had canceled the order. He added, “We did not participate in the delivery of this project because Huawei has been and continues to be in strict compliance with all relevant international and local laws and regulations.” Officials at Soda Gostar could not be reached for comment.

Rick Aspan, a spokesman for CommScope, said the company was not aware of the aborted transaction. “Obviously we’re going to look into this a little further,” he said.

He described Huawei as a major customer of antennas and other CommScope telecommunications equipment. “They purchase certain CommScope products that they incorporate into the systems they’re making for their wireless operator customers,” he said. CommScope manufactures its products in a number of countries, including China.

Reuters has documented how China has become a backdoor way for Iran to obtain embargoed U.S. computer equipment. In March and April, Reuters reported that China’s ZTE Corp, a Huawei competitor, had sold or agreed to sell millions of dollars worth of U.S. computer gear to Telecommunication Co. of Iran, the country’s largest telecommunications firm, and a unit of the consortium that controls TCI. The articles sparked investigations by the U.S. Commerce Department and the Justice Department.

In a filing this month with the Hong Kong stock exchange, ZTE said it was cooperating with the investigations.

Reuters has also documented how MTN procured U.S. computer equipment through a network of companies in Iran and the Middle East when it launched MTN Irancell in 2006. MTN employees created presentations for meetings and wrote reports that openly discussed circumventing U.S. sanctions to source the equipment, Reuters reported in August.

(Edited by Simon Robinson)

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Economy is healing – Chancellor Osborne

LONDON (Reuters) – Chancellor George Osborne said on Thursday the latest GDP data showed the economy was on the mend but there were still challenges ahead due to weak data coming from the euro zone.

Figures released on Thursday showed Britain pulled out of recession in the third quarter, posting its strongest quarterly gross domestic product growth in five years.

“There is still a long way to go, but these figures show we are on the right track,” Osborne said in a statement. “This (is) another sign that the economy is healing …”

He added however: “Yesterday’s weak data from the euro zone were a reminder that we still face many economic challenges at home and abroad.”

The Office for National Statistics said Britain’s gross domestic product rose by 1.0 percent between July and September, beating forecasts for a 0.6 percent gain, after shrinking by 0.4 percent between April and June.

On the year, the economy was flat, better than expected.

(Reporting By Maria Golovnina; editing by Steve Addison)

Economy News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

“American Idol”, “Touch”, “The Following” get premiere dates

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – Fox released its midseason premiere dates Wednesday, announcing the returns of “American Idol” and the Kiefer Sutherland drama “Touch,” as well as the debut of the Kevin Bacon thriller “The Following.”

“American Idol” will kick off its 12th season, with new judges Mariah Carey, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban, with a two-night premiere on Wednesday, January 16 and Thursday, January 17 at 8 p.m.

“The Following,” which was created by “The Vampire Diaries” and “Scream” vet Kevin Williamson, will premiere Monday, January 21 at 9 p.m. The series stars Kevin Bacon as a former FBI agent who’s drawn out of retirement to track down a serial murderer who leads an expanding web of killers.

“Touch,” which had its Season 2 premiere bumped from October 26 in order to afford the show better promotional opportunities, will now return on Friday, February 1 at 9 p.m.

TV News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Sanofi sees relief from patent loss pain

PARIS (Reuters) – French drugmaker Sanofi forecast 2012 earnings would fall less than expected as cost cuts and demand for diabetes and rare disease drugs cushion the blow from patent expiries.

Sanofi said on Thursday full-year earnings could fall 12 percent, compared with its previous guidance for a decline of up to 15 percent, helped also by demand from emerging markets.

“We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” chief executive Chris Viehbacher told reporters after third-quarter income dropped less than expected.

“As our growth platforms continue to build steam, we believe this will put Sanofi back on a growth trajectory,” he added.

Sanofi has seen sales of blockbusters such as blood clot preventer Plavix nearly wiped out by the loss of patent protection. Plavix was the world’s second-biggest-selling medicine until its U.S. patent lapsed in May.

It expects to return to growth from next year thanks to emerging markets, diabetes, vaccines, animal health, biotech drugs and new products such bowel cancer drug Zaltrap and multiple sclerosis pill Aubagio.

Sanofi’s better than expected third quarter and improved guidance contrast with bleak quarterly earnings from European rivals, which are also facing headwinds from a wave of patent expiries sweeping through the global pharmaceutical industry.

Switzerland’s Novartis reported lower-than-expected third-quarter sales on Thursday, dragged down by a patent loss on top-selling blood pressure drug Diovan and lower sales at its generics unit.

Sales at AstraZeneca slumped by a bigger-than-expected 19 percent in the third quarter.

“Sanofi should be capable of returning to very consistent revenue and EPS growth over the long-term, which makes it unique among its peers,” said Bernstein analyst Tim Anderson.

DOUBLE-DIGIT GROWTH

In the three months to September 30, Sanofi’s business net income, which excludes items such as amortization and legal costs, fell 7.4 percent to 2.22 billion euros ($ 2.9 billion), beating the average forecast of 1.97 billion in a Reuters poll.

Double-digit percentage growth in diabetes treatment Lantus and rare disease unit Genzyme as well as the weaker euro lifted sales to 9.04 billion, up 3.3 percent, offsetting the slump in Plavix and cancer treatment Eloxatin due to generic competition.

Sales in emerging markets, one area Sanofi is betting on for future growth, provided a cushion to the overall results, though they grew slower than in the previous quarter – up 6.8 percent compared with 9.8 percent in the second quarter – due to a lower contribution from Asia and Latin America.

Sanofi shares were up 1.9 percent at 67.35 euros by 0815 GMT, outperforming France’s benchmark CAC 40 index.

The shares have risen around 17 percent since the start of 2012, giving the company a market capitalization of over 87 billion euros, close to toppling its former parent, oil company Total, as the largest company on the CAC 40.

($ 1 = 0.7711 euros)

(Editing by Christian Plumb and Mark Potter)

Medications/Drugs News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..