Singapore air show offers scant sales hopes

Military aircraft makers are set to dominate Asia’s largest air show in Singapore this week.

Few, if any, sales of planes to commercial airlines are expected during the event.

But the Asia Pacific region is experiencing a return to growth that should prove lucrative going forward.

So aircraft and equipment makers such as Boeing, EADS, Airbus, as well as Honeywell, Rolls-Royce and Lockheed Martin, are exhibiting at the show.

Attendance and deal-making at the Singapore air show, which is hosted in the east of the city state near Changi airport, will indicate the state of the aerospace industry.

“We’re slowly turning things around,” Jimmy Lau, managing director of the Singapore Air Show, told a news conference.

“Any news is good news this week, as far as I’m concerned.”
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Microsoft sees 60% jump in profit, boosted by Windows 7

Microsoft has reported a 60% jump in profit, thanks largely to “exceptional demand” for Windows 7.

Net profit came in at $6.66bn (£4.13bn) for the three months to 31 December 2009, up from the $4.18bn it made in the same period a year earlier.

It also reported record revenues of $19.2bn, which comfortably beat analysts’ forecasts.

“We are thrilled by the consumer reception to Windows 7,” said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer.

“This is a record quarter for Windows units.”

Microsoft released Windows 7 in October last year.

‘Outstanding’

Windows 7 has proved to be Microsoft’s best-selling operating system to date after the disappointing Vista.
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The second epistle of St Bill

Bill Gates worries about falling aid and poor teaching

“HELLO world,” tweeted Bill Gates on January 19th, announcing his entry to the world of Twitter. He has also just launched a blog, called the Gates Notes, and has been at the Sundance film festival, talking about his appearance in the latest film by the director of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth.” Called “Waiting for Superman”, this tackles a topic close to Mr Gates’s heart, education reform in America—but, mercifully, it is not believed to feature the Microsoft founder-turned-philanthropist wearing a cape and red underpants.

Mr Gates will also be making various appearances this week, among the global great and good at the World Economic Forum in Davos. And for any of his fans still thirsting for more of the wisdom of St Bill, on January 25th he published the second of what he says will be annual letters on philanthropy.

Because Mr Gates was inspired by the annual letters to shareholders of his old friend and partner in mega-giving, Warren Buffett, it is easy to be disappointed by the relative lack of zing in his writing. It is not just that, as he promised, he would differ from the Sage of Omaha by not quoting Mae West—or any other witty commentator. Mr Buffett is a master of the carefully chosen overstatement. Derivative securities he doesn’t like become “financial weapons of mass destruction”. When rival investors make losses in a tough market, he points out that “it is only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked.”

By contrast, Mr Gates seems determined to understate, taking the controversial edge off his observations with language chosen so carefully that it must have been through an army of PR people. “It’s been an incredible year,” Mr Gates tells us. “I love my new job and feel lucky to get to focus my time on these problems.”
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Make or brake

Toyota suffers another blow to its already wavering reputation

IN A race that matched Formula One for its predictability, Toyota Motor Corporation slipped past General Motors just under two years ago to become the world’s biggest carmaker. But even as Toyota built up the revs, all has not been well. The latest setback came on Tuesday January 26th when the firm announced that it would halt production temporarily at six assembly plants in north America and suspend sales of eight of its most popular models, including the Camry, the best-selling car in the United States.

Toyota’s latest troubles in America had begun to surface a week before when it announced a huge recall of 2.3m vehicles to fix accelerator pedals that could jam open, sending cars racing forwards without warning. Toyota is mulling a similar move in Europe that could affect a further 2m cars. The firm’s decision to stop sales and production in America is a substantial blow for the stumbling car giant. The output of these plants accounted for some 60% of sales in 2009. The news put a banana skin under its share price.
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Apple unveils iPad tablet device

Apple has put an end to weeks of speculation by unveiling its tablet device, which it has called the iPad.

Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive unveiled the touchscreen device at an event in San Francisco.

Mr Jobs described the tablet, which will cost between $499 and $829 in the US, as a “third category” between smartphones and laptops.

The device, which looks like a large iPhone, can be used to watch films, play games and browse the web.

The firm has also done a deal with publishers including Penguin, Macmillan and Harper Collins to allow e-books to be downloaded directly to the device through a new iBook Store.

“You can download right onto your iPad,” said Mr Jobs.

He also showed off magazines and newspapers on the device.

‘Gold rush’

He told an audience of journalists, analysts and industry peers that the device lets people “hold the whole web in your hands”.
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Apple versus Google: Friends turned rivals

All eyes will be on Apple on Wednesday. Most will be watching to see just what the company unveils at San Francisco. Others will watch for signs of a growing rivalry between Apple and Google.

At a glance, they don’t make obvious competitors. Apple doesn’t have a search engine and Google doesn’t make computers. But the two companies are slowly encroaching on each others’ turf, from phones to web browsers.

It wasn’t always this way. The two used to be close allies. The proof is in the hands of millions of people around the world: The iPhone. The default search engine on the iPhone is Google. The built-in Maps application runs on Google Maps. And every iPhone has a dedicated application to access Google’s YouTube. Google CEO Eric Schmidt appeared at the iPhone’s unveiling in January 2007 to tout these features and the close ties between the two companies.

(Just before launch, Schmidt was seen in this video proudly showing off the iPhone he received for sitting on Apple’s board of directors.)

By November, the first real signs of competition appeared. Google announced that it was partnering with mobile manufacturers like Motorola and HTC to build Android, an open software platform for mobile phones. It culminated in the launch of the Nexus One: An Android phone from Google itself, sold on Google.com.
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Apple doubles iPhone sales in record quarter

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Apple Inc. reported another strong quarter Monday on the back of its current product lineup, including iPhones and Macintosh computers, as the company gears up for its widely anticipated announcement of a new tablet computer on Wednesday.

The Cupertino, Calif., company said net income for the quarter ended Dec. 31 surged 50% from a year earlier to a record $3.4 billion, or $3.67 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected earnings of $2.08 per share.

Apple’s sales rose 32% to a record $15.7 billion, easily sweeping past analysts’ forecasts of $12.1 billion. That marks the second straight quarter in which Apple posted record revenue.

“If you annualize our quarterly revenue, it’s surprising that Apple is now a $50+ billion company,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs in a statement. “The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we’re really excited about.”
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McDonald’s ‘wrong’ to fire worker over cheese slice

A McDonald’s outlet in the Netherlands was wrong to sack an employee for giving a colleague a piece of cheese on a hamburger, a court has ruled.

The waitress was fired last March after she sold a hamburger to a co-worker who then asked for cheese, which she added.

The fast-food chain argued this turned the hamburger into a cheeseburger, and so she should have charged more.

But Leeuwarden district court ruled a written warning would have been more appropriate.

McDonald’s was ordered to pay the former employee more than 4,200 euros ($5,900; £3,660) for the last five months of her contract.

The fast-food chain had argued that the waitress – who was employed at a branch in the northern town of Lemmer – had broken staff rules prohibiting free gifts to family, friends or colleagues.
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JP Morgan Chase reports $3.3bn profits

Wall Street bank JP Morgan Chase has reported profits of $3.3bn (£2bn) for the last three months of 2009.

That compares with profits of $702m reported at the end of 2008 at the height of the financial crisis.

Total profits for the year were $11.7bn, the bank said, with investment banking providing the bulk of the earnings.

Staff compensation – made up of salaries and bonuses – totalled $27bn for the year.

Investment bankers earned $9.3bn in pay and bonuses.

Mixed performance

Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan’s chairman and chief executive, said he was pleased with the bank’s performance, but said it could be better.

“Though these results showed improvement, we acknowledge that they fell short of both an adequate return on capital and the firm’s earnings potential,” he said.
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GM ends car loans for Tiger Woods

Carmaking giant General Motors (GM) has said an arrangement that allowed troubled golf star Tiger Woods free access to its vehicles is over.

The world’s number one golfer had an endorsement contract with GM’s Buick brand, but that ended in 2008.

However, an arrangement remained that allowed him to keep several GM motors on loan. A company spokesman has now said the deal ended at the end of 2009.

Woods has lost a number of endorsements since crashing his car on 27 November.

A GM spokesman said the loan arrangement had previously been scheduled to end on 31 December.

Time off

Woods has been engulfed in a media whirlwind since the incident disturbance outside his Florida home.

He has since admitted being unfaithful to his wife, and is taking a break from professional golf.
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