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World Business Quick Take

■ computers
Q2 sales rise 22%: IDC
Sales of personal computers in the Asia-Pacific region outside of Japan rose 22 percent to 14.3 million units in the second quarter, buoyed by strong demand for notebooks, an industry report said yesterday. Compared with the first quarter, growth came in at 11 percent, global research firm International Data Corp (IDC) said. Lenovo was the top vendor with a 20.7 percent market share during the quarter, up from 17.7 percent in the first, IDC said. Hewlett-Packard placed second with a 16 percent market share, while Dell was third with 8.5 percent and Acer fourth with 6.5 percent, the research firm said.

■ automobiles
Chrysler pulls SUV ad
Chrysler Group apologized on Thursday for an advertisement that showed a dog being electrocuted beside its new Dodge Nitro sports utility vehicle. The ad, created by BBDO Netherlands which supports Chrysler's sales in the Dutch market, shows a dog being electrocuted after urinating on a Nitro's wheels. The agency is part of Omnicom Group Inc's BBDO Worldwide. The ad, which ends with the dog going up in flames, has the tagline "charged with adrenaline." Chrysler said the ad was placed exclusively on the Internet. The firm had the ad pulled from YouTube.com. It was unclear if it was on other Web sites.

■ beverage
Starbucks tries chocolate
Starbucks Corp, which has a bittersweet history mixing its coffee with chocolate, is trying again, this time with Hershey Co. The world's largest specialty coffee retailer said on Thursday it would begin offering Starbucks-branded coffee-flavored chocolate products in the fall under a deal with Hershey, which has been struggling to revive flat sales. The first product slated to hit US grocery, drug store and department store shelves this fall, will be a premium hot chocolate, though Hershey executives would not say whether it will be sold in powder or drink form.

■ telecoms
Verizon switches IC source
Verizon Wireless said on Thursday it had struck a licensing deal with chipmaker Broadcom Corp, averting a ban on imports that would have threatened the introduction of new phones. Verizon Wireless had previously sided with chipmaker Qualcomm Inc in efforts to overturn a US International Trade Commission (ITC) ban on imports of high-end phones that contain Qualcomm chips. The ITC found that Qualcomm infringed on a Broadcom patent. The ban is scheduled to take effect on Aug. 6, posing a potentially big headache for carriers and handset makers because it may prevent them from introducing phones ahead of the Christmas buying season.

■ investment
Terra Firma extends offer
Private equity firm Terra Firma Capital Partners set one last deadline on its ?2.4 billion (US$4.9 billion) offer for EMI Group PLC yesterday after reporting that more than a fourth of the music company's shares now backed the offer. It was the first significant surge of support for the bid by Terra Firma, which reported last week that it had won acceptances from holders of less than 4 percent of EMI shares. Terra Firma, through its takeover vehicle Maltby Ltd, said it had acceptances for 26.2 percent of the shares and extended the deadline until July 29, which it said would not be extended.

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