■ China market share holds
Nokia Oyj, Motorola Inc and other international makers of mobile phones have stopped losing market share in China to local manufacturers, the Financial Times said, citing a report from research company GfK Asia.
The proportion of handsets sold in China under local brands between January and June fell to 46 percent of the total from 49 percent, the newspaper said. By sales value, the local brands' share of the market dropped to 37 percent from 42 percent, it said.
The overseas-based manufacturers regained market share after introducing new models developed specifically for the Chinese market, improving distribution and expanding their factories in the country, the newspaper said.
Local manufacturers, which gained market share from their international rivals starting in 1999, are struggling to keep up with new technology such as camera phones, the paper said, citing Sino-Market Research vice president Jeffrey Jiao.
■ Intel slashes chip prices
Semiconductor giant Intel Corp. cut the prices on some of its Pentium and Itanium chips on Sunday by as much as one-third.
Intel said the price moves do not reflect efforts to reduce inventory and are part of its normal business operations.
The price changes were available on Intel's Web site and reflect chips purchased in 1,000-unit lots by computer manufacturers.
The Santa Clara, California, chipmaker did not change the prices on its Centrino chips, which have built-in wireless functions.
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