■ ComputersApple's earnings decline
Apple Computer Inc on Wednesday reported earnings of US$14 million for the second quarter of the current fiscal year, down from US$40 million in the year-earlier period. Revenues were down 1 percent to US$1.48 billion for the quarter ended March 29, the company said. Apple announced profits of US$0.04 a share, compared to US$0.11 from the same period a year ago. Apple manufactured 711,000 computers during the period, with more than 40 percent being notebooks.
■ Airlines
AA attendants okay plan
American Airlines flight attendants on Wednesday approved a US$340 million concession plan after turning it down a day earlier, news reports said. The Association of Professional Flight Attendants had on Tuesday turned down the concessions in a 9,842 to 9,309 vote. AMR Corp's American Airlines has said the plan was crucial to avoid bankruptcy.
■ WTO
Tariff disucssions heat up
The WTO's Doha Round of talks to bring down barriers to global commerce looked headed into deeper trouble on Wednesday as rich and poor countries squabbled over how to cut goods tariffs. While major powers including the EU, the US and Japan argued for an across-the-board percentage cut, India, Malaysia, Brazil and Nigeria said this would be unfair to developing economies and could not be accepted. "It looks like another deadlock," said one trade source. "There seems little doubt that this will be another missed deadline." Negotiators from most of the 146 WTO member states were supposed to decide by May 31 how tariff reductions on industrial goods -- everything but farm produce -- could be achieved.
■ Cellphones
Nokia sees profit falling
Nokia Oyj, the world's largest maker of mobile phones, said profit will fall this quarter on costs for job cuts in the network unit. The stock rose as the company said it will raise its handset market share. Earnings per share will probably be between 0.12 euros (US$0.13) and 0.15 euros, Nokia said in a statement to the Helsinki exchange. The company earned 0.18 in the year-earlier period. Nokia will take a charge for slashing jobs of between 350 million euros and 400 million euros in the second quarter. Nokia, which together with its local suppliers accounts for about a quarter of Finnish exports, this month said it would trim 1,800 jobs at its network unit as operators curb spending on base stations and switches. In phones, Nokia expects to increase its 38 percent market share this quarter, helping buoy profitability.
■ Servers
Sun gains profit on cuts
Sun Microsystems Inc, a maker of server computers that run corporate networks, said it had a third-quarter profit of US$4 million as cost cuts helped compensate for an eighth consecutive drop in sales. Net income was break-even on a per-share basis, compared with a net loss of US$37 million, or US$0.01, a year earlier, Sun said on a conference call. Revenue in the quarter ended March 30 declined 10 percent to US$2.79 billion from US$3.11 billion. Sales would have been lower without a favorable conversion rate on the euro, which kept prices low in Europe. Sun has eliminated 20 percent of its workforce.
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