By text messaging mobile Multimedia services revenue tripled

Multimedia services will surpass text messaging this year as the main source of mobile operators' non-voice revenue in the Asia-Pacific region, industry analyst IDC said Monday. Driven by the rise of more technologically advanced handsets, multimedia services should reach $16.34 billion, or 11 per cent of total mobile revenues in the region outside of Japan, by the end of this year, it said. Text messaging, or Short Messaging System, which has been a major earner for years because of its simplicity, is likely to contribute around 10 per cent, or $14.65 billion, IDC said. Ring tones and wallpaper downloads were the early drivers of multimedia mobile services, which now include games, videos, pictures, music clips and other applications. IDC said text messaging last year accounted for 10.3 per cent of total mobile services revenues, with multimedia services contributing 10.1 per cent. 'IDC predicts that SMS contribution will plateau at 10 per cent for the next few years, while mobile multimedia services will continue to ride on growth trajectory,' the market researcher said. IDC data showed that by 2013, multimedia services revenues in the region outside Japan will reach $45.25 billion, more than double the $18. 18 billion in projected revenues from text messaging. 'Today, the emergence of handsets featuring larger screens and even touch-screen interfaces has pushed the uptake of mobile multimedia services to a new level,' said IDC senior research manager Alex Chau. 'This has spurred content and application developers to develop tens of thousands of applications to satisfy this new demand amongst mobile users.' New mobile handsets now come with advanced operating systems and high-speed connectivity, allowing subscribers to purchase and share content with ease.

Climate cash uncounted for poor countries

Large sums promised to developing countries to help them tackle climate change cannot be accounted for, a BBC investigation has found. Rich countries pledged $410 m (£247 m) a year in a 2001 declaration - but it is now unclear whether the money was paid. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has accused industrialised countries of failing to keep their promise. The EU says the money was paid out in bilateral deals, but admits it cannot provide data to prove it. " There have been promises which have not been fully materialised - there is an issue of trust " UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon The money was pledged in the 2001 Bonn Declaration, signed by 20 industrialised nations - the 15 countries that then made up the European Union, plus Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, Norway and Switzerland. They said they would pay $410 m per year until 2008 - a total of $1.6 bn. But only $260 m has ever been paid into two UN funds earmarked for the purpose, the BBC World Service investigation has found. "There have been promises which have not been fully materialised. There is an issue of trust," says Ban Ki-moon. The question of finance for developing countries to tackle climate change is one of the keys to a deal at the Copenhagen summit next month. Poor countries may not sign up to a new agreement unless they trust rich countries to keep their promises, and are satisfied with the mechanisms put in place to handle the flow of funds. Unequal sums The industrialised governments which drew up the Bonn Declaration say they never intended to put the money just into the UN funds. MONEY PAID INTO UN FUNDS Least Developed Countries Fund Received $155.4 m Biggest donor: Germany $34.6 m Special Climate Change Fund Received $104.1 m Biggest donor: UK $18.6 m Source: Global Environment Facility (figures at 30 /9 /09) The Declaration allowed them to spend it in " bilateral and multilateral" ways, they say. Artur Runge-Metzger, the senior climate change negotiator for the European Union, maintains the EU has lived up to its end of the bargain. "We can say we met the promise, climate finance has really been stepped up," he argues. However he admits the EU cannot provide data to show it did pay the money through these bilateral and multilateral means. "It's sometimes very hard to say what is the climate bit of this financing," he says. Richard Myungi, a climate change negotiator for the Least Developing Countries says: "We feel frustrated, we feel betrayed." Boni Biagini, who runs the UN funds, also believes much more money should have been paid in. "These numbers don't match the $410 m per year. Otherwise, we'd be handling billions of dollars by now," he says. Confusion Dr Marc Pallemaerts, who drafted the Bonn Declaration in 2001 when he was the deputy chief of staff for the European Union's Belgian Presidency, admits some developing countries may have been led to believe the promised money would go solely into the UN funds. "Some countries may have been genuinely misled - others knew it was deliberate ambiguity," he maintains. The Bonn Declaration is surrounded by confusion and has led to mistrust between developed and developing countries. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says any new financing agreement signed at Copenhagen must be clear. "This whole agreement and negotiation should be based on trust and confidence," he says. He adds that any new financing deal must be " measurable, reportable and verifiable".

Japan airlines secures bailout

Japan Airlines has announced it has secured government approval for a loan that will allow it to continue flying. This is the fourth time the troubled carrier has been bailed out by the state-run Development Bank of Japan since 2001. The airline is struggling with big debts and a large pension fund deficit. Earlier, shares in the airline slumped almost 9 % after one of the country's biggest brokers said it had sold its entire holding in the troubled airline. Share sell-off The carrier was only able to secure the loan once it had confirmed to the government that " convenience for users and corporate activities would be significantly affected [without aid]". The size of the loan was not disclosed but the airline said it had obtained the "funds necessary for the continuation of our flight operations." Between July and September, Japan Airlines lost 32.3 bn yen ($364 m; £220 m) and is struggling with $15 bn of debts. Along with all major global airlines, it has been hit hard by falling passenger numbers during the downturn. Shares in the company have fallen by more than a half since the start of the year. Last week, the airline was offered a $1 bn financial lifeline from the Sky Team grouping of airlines, led by Delta Air Lines. Tuesday's share price slump was sparked by an announcement by Mitsui & Co broking house that it had sold all its shares in the carrier between April and September.

Gulf Air unvail savings plan

Gulf Air on Monday unveiled a plan to achieve one billion dinars ($2.65b) in savings over five years and make Bahrain's state-owned carrier a profitable business. 'At the moment Gulf Air currently relies on significant government support, spending far more than it earns. This is clearly unsustainable,' chairman Talal al-Zain said in a statement. 'If we do not implement this programme, Gulf Air will continue to be an unacceptable burden on the national economy,' Zain said. Chief executive Samer al-Majali said Gulf Air is on course to post a loss of $193 million for 2009. Gulf Air is 'looking to significantly resize' the workforce and 'some redundancy may be inevitable,' he said. The company said it will axe 15 routes and close operations at unprofitable locations including Shanghai, Hyderabad and Bangalore. However, it plans to start serving 20 new destinations in the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Europe. Gulf Air plans to adjust its fleet to focus on narrow-body aircraft and regional jets. 'The strategic plan will necessitate a substantial increase in our current requirement for narrow- body aircraft beyond the fifteen ordered ( Airbus) A320s,' the airline said. It may sell five long-haul A340s and some other aircraft, as part of its 'strategy to turn the company into a commercially sustainable business in 2012.' Gulf Air, which currently operates 36 aircraft, laid off 500 employees in January. Officials say it has run up total losses of more than one billion dollars. The company was founded in 1974 and Bahrain initially had three partners — Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Oman — but they have all dropped out.

HP profit jumps

Hewlett-Packard Co tripled the size of its share repurchase program to $12 billion as China sales and better profit margins on its services boosted quarterly earnings. The fiscal fourth-quarter results released on Monday were in line with preliminary figures that HP gave two weeks ago, which had topped Wall Street's estimates at the time. Shares of HP fell slightly in after-hours trading. HP, a hardware and technology services company that is a bellwether for IT spending, has been more cautious than some of its peers in predicting an economic turnaround. But chief executive Mark Hurd sounded somewhat more optimistic, noting pockets of returning demand, including in its closely watched printer business, which has struggled this year. 'The economy remains challenging, but we do see encouraging signs of recovery in certain markets,' Hurd said on a conference call with analysts. 'They're basically pointing to year-over-year growth in the January quarter,' said Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu. 'It's a good sign.' Hurd cautioned that Europe remains weak, if stable, and it was not clear when a recovery will take hold in the region. HP's diversification, recurring revenue, and cost controls have provided it with a solid cushion during the downturn. HP bought EDS last year to become the No 2 provider of IT services, behind IBM. HP said it has now cut 19,000 jobs as it continues to integrate the company. HP's services revenue rose 8 per cent, and the company said signings were 'strong,' positioning it well for next year. PC unit sales rose 8 per cent, although revenue fell 12 per cent as prices across the industry continue to fall. HP, the world's No 1 PC maker, continues to engage Acer Inc (2353TW) in a price war, analysts say, particularly on consumer laptops. HP said it made big gains in the enterprise PC business in the United States, and PC revenue in China jumped 40 per cent. 'Although growth has slowed down to a certain extent in the U.S, emerging markets, where consolidation is taking place, is providing new opportunities for HP to broaden its reach,' said Unni Narayanan, chief executive of Primary Global Research, an investment research firm. Earlier this month HP announced a $3 billion deal to acquire 3Com Corp (COMS.O), as it moved to take on network giant Cisco Systems Inc ( CSCO.O). As competition in the corporate data centre heats up and industry consolidation continues, analysts expect HP to remain aggressive in M&A. 'The No 1 thing we get back from customers is they'd like us to do more, they'd like us to have a broader portfolio with more capabilities,' Hurd said. HP raised its stock repurchase plan by $8 billion, the company said. About $4 billion remained of an $8 billion share buyback program approved in September 2008. Chief financial officer Cathie Lesjak said the authorization was part of its normal strategy. HP reported a net profit of $2.4 billion, or 99 cents a share, in its fourth quarter, up from $2.1 billion, or 84 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Excluding items, HP earned $1.14 a share. Revenue fell 8 per cent to $30.8 billion. As it forecast earlier this month, HP expects fiscal 2010 earnings, excluding items, of $4.25 to $4.35 a share on revenue of $118 billion to $119 billion. Shares of Palo Alto, California-based HP closed at $51.02, up 1.96 per cent, on the New York Stock Exchange and fell to $50.71 after hours.

Tata Motors buying stake auto maker

India's largest carmaker Tata Motors is considering buying a stake in truck and bus manufacturer Swaraj Mazda, a report said Tuesday. The auto giant is looking at buying the 17 per cent stake from private equity firm Actis, according to the Economic Times business daily, citing people familiar with the matter. Actis owns a 7.7 per cent direct stake in Swaraj and 9. 3 per cent through its parent CDC. A spokesperson for Tata Motors said the report was 'purely speculative' while Actis' India head, JM Trivedi, refused to comment, the Economic Times reported on its web site. Swaraj Mazda makes buses, trucks and ambulances for the Indian market and is majority owned by Japan-based Sumitomo Corporation, which raised its shareholding to 53.5 per cent this year. Actis is a private equity firm focused on emerging markets, with more than $4.8 billion under management, according to its web site.

Clothing sales down in USA

After showing signs of improvement in early fall, sales of clothing and luxury goods weakened a bit the first half of November, compared with a year ago, when stores pulled shoppers in with massive discounts, figures released Tuesday show. 'It was a little bit softer,' said Michael McNamara, vice president at SpendingPulse, referring to the weak apparel and luxury figures. He cautioned against comparing the first half of November this year and last very closely: SpendingPulse found that sales of women's clothing fell 3.3 per cent; sales at department stores fell 7.1 per cent; footwear sales slipped 1. 5 per cent; and men's apparel sales dipped 1 per cent for the period from Nov. 1 to Nov. 14. Overall apparel sales rose in October after many months of declines starting in July 2008. Luxury sales, which rose in September and October, had shown declines since August 2008.

Nokia E72 in Bangladeshi store

Nokia has started selling its latest full QWERTY smartphone, Nokia E72 , in Bangladesh, the company said in a recent statement. It has a price tag of Tk 31 ,500. Nokia E72 , tailor-made for business and personal messaging, brings a rich mobile email and instant messaging experience right out of the box, it said in a statement. "Despite the outstanding market performance of Nokia E71 , we still continually look for ways to enhance the device," said Ilari Nurmi, vice president for Nokia, one of the world's top handset makers. The handset accommodates multiple work and personal email accounts and, with separate profiles for work and play, allowing people to be flexible when it comes to choosing how, when, where and who to respond to. The handset included the desktop like email experience and gave it a new optical navigation key for more intuitive scrolling through menus, emails and fast panning of images. The camera has been upgraded to 5 megapixels. "The research shows that people are spending an average of five full days per year -- equivalent to a full work week -- responding to emails. Half of us (46 percent) choose email over voice or text to send and receive important information," Ukko Lappalainen, vice president for Nokia. "The Nokia E72 was designed exactly with this kind of person in mind it allows the owner to be more responsive and communicate how they want, whenever they want and wherever they are." Accessing popular accounts such as Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, Windows Live Hotmail, Ovi Mail and thousands of other email service providers has been made simple through improved on-device email setup, with the same easy to use UI integrating all of the owner's corporate email accounts as well. The office capabilities have been updated with a new version of Quickoffice, which delivers Microsoft Office 2007 compatibility as well as free version upgrades when new features become available.

Some problem with A380 superjumbo project

The French markets watchdog heard claims Monday that 17 current and former EADS aerospace executives saved themselves millions by exploiting insider knowledge of problems with the A380 superjumbo project. The executives and three firms -- EADS and shareholders Daimler and Lagardere -- are accused of selling stock options in March 2006 because they knew the share price would slump when A380 production delays went public. They sold their stock options when the shares were around 30 euros, near their historic high. The price plummeted by 26 percent in a single day when the delay was officially announced in June that year. The executives face fines of up to five million euros (7.5 million dollars) if convicted by the Financial Market Authority (AMF) after the hearings, which follow a 30- month probe and which are not open to the press or public. The case is also being seen as a test of the AMF itself, with the watchdog under pressure to show it is able and willing to hold big business to account. Former EADS co-chief executive Noel Forgeard said he was "serene" as he arrived at the hearing on Monday. "I am fully confident in the jurisdiction of the AMF to whom my lawyers here have provided all the elements that show my innocence," he told reporters. Thomas Enders, current chief executive of EADS' Airbus unit, said he too was sure he would be cleared by the week-long hearing held in the Palais Brogniart, the former home of the Paris stock exchange. Forgeard faces the biggest fine of 5.45 million euros. He earned 3.5 million euros when he sold his European Aeronautics Defence and Space (EADS) options, but his lawyers argue they they can show that he began selling the stocks before managers became aware of the A380 problems. Lagardere, a French media group, and Daimler, a German carmaker, between them sold 7.5 percent of the shares in EADS -- in which the French state is also a shareholder -- and are being heard as corporate entities. A confidential AMF report leaked in July said that an inquiry had found that seven current and former EADS executives made millions of euros by exercising their company stock options in March 2006. But the report found that Enders, as well as shareholders Lagardere and Daimler, had not engaged in insider trading. Apart from Forgeard, the executives named in the report are Airbus commercial director John Leahy, former Airbus finance director Andreas Sperl, and former EADS managing director Jean- Paul Gut. Former Airbus vice president Olivier Andries, former Airbus human resources director Erik Pillet and Airbus Centres of Excellence chief Alain Flourens were also named. The report will likely influence this week's hearings but its findings are not binding. The EADS executives turned up at the Palais Brogniart Monday with a bevy of lawyers and interpreters in tow for the high-profile hearings. The first morning was largely taken up with procedural problems, Daimler's lawyer said as proceedings broke up for lunch. The hearings come three days after an Air France A380 made its inaugural flight from Paris to New York. The mammoth double-decker plane made its first commercial flight in 2007 from Singapore to Sydney with Singapore Airlines. EADS last week reported a quarterly loss, its first in two years, and warned it might cut production because of persistent problems with the A380 and its planned military transporter A400 M. The firm, which controls several other leading aerospace companies in addition to Airbus, is pulling through a deep crisis and restructuring. EADS chief executive Louis Gallois, in an interview on Monday, pledged support for his executives, adding that "everyone is in a hurry to move on from an affair that is more than three years old."