AUDIO SLIDESHOW: Two Decades, One Somalia
In the 20 years since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled, Somalia has faced hunger, flooding, fighting, suicide attacks, piracy and insurgency.
Prevailing violent conflict inside Somalia makes it difficult if not impossible for aid agencies to reach people.
AlertNet brings you special coverage of the country which has struggled without a strong central government ever since.
Here is a selection of Reuters pictures from 1993 to 2011 on this war-torn country and failed state.
US Postal Service lifts stamp price by 1 cent
By Emily StephensonWASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The cash-strapped U.S.
Postal Service announced on Tuesday a one-cent increase in the
cost of mailing a letter, starting in January.The new prices lift the cost of a first-class stamp to 45
cents starting on Jan. 22, 2012, the first increase in more
than two years.The Postal Service is facing a financial crisis because
mail volumes have declined as more people use electronic mail
or the services of private sector competitors such as FedEx and
United Parcel Service.The Postal Service said the cost to mail a postcard will go
up three cents to 32 cents, letters to Canada or Mexico will
increase five cents to 85 cents, and letters to other
international locations will increase seven cents to $1.05.The agency, which is allowed to raise prices in line with
the rate of inflation, said it filed the new prices with the
Postal Regulatory Commission on Tuesday. The regulator has 45
days to approve the changes.Until the price changes take effect, consumers can still
purchase 44-cent Forever stamps, which do not require
additional postage after prices go up.”The overall average price increase is small and is needed
to help address our current financial crisis,” said Postmaster
General Patrick Donahoe. “We continue to take actions within
our control to increase revenue in other ways and to
aggressively cut costs.”The Postal Service has asked Congress for permission to
drastically overhaul its business, including cutting Saturday
mail delivery and eliminating a massive annual payment to
prefund retiree health benefits. The agency also is studying
thousands of post offices and processing facilities for
possible closure.
US Postal Service lifts stamp price by 1 cent
By Emily StephensonWASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) - The cash-strapped U.S.
Postal Service announced on Tuesday a one-cent increase in the
cost of mailing a letter, starting in January.The new prices lift the cost of a first-class stamp to 45
cents starting on Jan. 22, 2012, the first increase in more
than two years.The Postal Service is facing a financial crisis because
mail volumes have declined as more people use electronic mail
or the services of private sector competitors such as FedEx and
United Parcel Service.The Postal Service said the cost to mail a postcard will go
up three cents to 32 cents, letters to Canada or Mexico will
increase five cents to 85 cents, and letters to other
international locations will increase seven cents to $1.05.The agency, which is allowed to raise prices in line with
the rate of inflation, said it filed the new prices with the
Postal Regulatory Commission on Tuesday. The regulator has 45
days to approve the changes.Until the price changes take effect, consumers can still
purchase 44-cent Forever stamps, which do not require
additional postage after prices go up.”The overall average price increase is small and is needed
to help address our current financial crisis,” said Postmaster
General Patrick Donahoe. “We continue to take actions within
our control to increase revenue in other ways and to
aggressively cut costs.”The Postal Service has asked Congress for permission to
drastically overhaul its business, including cutting Saturday
mail delivery and eliminating a massive annual payment to
prefund retiree health benefits. The agency also is studying
thousands of post offices and processing facilities for
possible closure.
EU mergers and takeovers (Oct 18)
APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS:N— Mitsubishi Corp to acquire a stake in Czech auto
car body maker Sungwoo Hitech from South Korea’s Sungwoo Hitech
Co Ltd (approved Oct. 17)— Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners to acquire a
stake in international health club operator Virgin Active
(approved Oct. 14)— A joint venture led by Gores Group LLC to acquire
clothing retailer Mexx from Liz Claiborne Inc (approved
Oct. 17)NEW LISTINGS:— Dutch conglomerate Philips Electronics NV to acquire
lighting product company Indal (notified Oct. 17/deadline Nov.
23)EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES:— German sugar company Suedzucker to acquire a 25
percent stake in British commodities trading company ED&F Man
(notified Sept. 19/deadline extended to Nov. 9 from Oct. 24
after Suedzucker offered commitments)FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINEOCT 20— Dutch bank AEGON’s Spanish unit to acquire a 50
percent stake in Spanish life insurer Cajaburgos Vida, part of
Banca Civica (notified Sept. 15/deadline Oct.
20/simplified)OCT 26— German property operator ECE and German retailer Metro
to set up a joint venture (notified Sept. 21/deadline
Oct. 26)— U.S.-based Seagate Technology to acquire Samsung
Electronic’s hard disk drive business (notified
April 19/deadline extended for the second time to Oct. 26 from
Oct. 10)— U.S. equipment maker Caterpillar to acquire
German maker of gas and diesel engine maker MWM Holding GmbH
(notified March 14/deadline extended to Oct. 26 from Sept 16
after Commission opens in-depth investigation and despite
commitments offered)OCT 28— U.S. company Dow Chemical and Japanese trading
house Mitsui to set up a Brazilian joint venture
(notified Sept. 23/deadline Oct. 28/simplified)— German conglomerate Siemens to acquire Dutch
engineering company NEM Holding (notified Sept. 23/deadline Oct.
28)OCT 31— Vitol Investment Holdings, a unit of oil trader Vital
, and U.S. energy company ArcLight to acquire joint
control of Luxembourg-based Petro Lux (notified Sept.
26/deadline Oct. 31/simplified)NOV 3— Belgian building materials group Etex to acquire German
peer Lafarge’s gypsum assets in Europe and South
America (notified Sept. 27/deadline Nov. 3)— U.S. healthcare company Johnson & Johnson to
acquire Swiss medical devices maker Synthes Inc
(notified Sept. 27/deadline Nov. 3)— Private equity group TPG Capital LP to acquire a
stake in Danish online brokerage Saxo Bank from Portugal’s Banco
Espirito Santo (notified Sept. 27/deadline Nov.
3/simplified)NOV 7— Danish dairy coperative Arla Foods to acquire German
dairy cooperative Allgauland (notified Sept. 15/deadline
extended to Nov. 7 from Oct. 20 after Arla offered commitements)NOV 8— German fruit producer Agrana and Austrian equipment maker
RWA to combined their subsidiaries into a joint venture
(notified Sept. 30/deadline Nov. 8)NOV 10— U.S. cleaning and pest-control services company Ecolab
to acquire water treatment services company Nalco
Holding (notified Oct. 4/deadline Nov. 10)NOV 14— German industrial services company Buchen
Industrieservice to acquire German technical services company
ThyssenKrupp Xervon (notified Oct. 6/deadline Nov.
14/simplified)NOV 15— German natural gas supplier Verbundnetz Gas
Aktiengesellschaft to sell a 25.1 percent stake in VNG Austria
to CE Gas Marketing & Trading (notified Oct. 7/deadline Nov.
15/simplified)NOV 17— U.S. agribusiness company Cargill to acquire
KoroFrance, the holding company of Dutch animal feed maker
Provimi from private equity firm Permira (notified Oct.
11/deadline Nov. 17)— French company Caisse des Depots et Consignations to
acquire 50 percent of a Paris real estate from a subsidiary of
French insurer Axa (notified Oct. 11/deadline Nov.
17/simplified)— French power and transport engineering group Alstom
and Bouygues subsidiaries Bouygues
Immobilier and Exprim SAS to form a joint venture (notified Oct.
11/deadline Nov. 17/simplified)NOV 30— U.S. technology company Western Digital Corp to
acquire Hitachi’s hard disk drive business (notified
April 20/deadline extended for the fourth time to Nov. 30 from
Nov. 9 after Western Digital offered remedies)— U.S. conglomerate General Electric, Russian energy
producer and importer Inter Rao Ues and Russian engine maker
United Engine Corporation to set up a joint venture (notified
Sept. 30/deadline Nov 9/simplified)DEC 13— Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext to
merge (notified June 29/deadline extended to Dec. 13 from Aug. 4
after Commission opens in-depth probe)GUIDE TO EU MERGER PROCESSDEADLINES:The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is
filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working
days to 35 working days, to consider either a company’s proposed
remedies or an EU member state’s request to handle the case.Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission
opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90
additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working
days.SIMPLIFIED:Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the
clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving
any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as
non-simplified — that is, ordinary first-stage reviews — until
they are approved.
ACÇÕES PORTUGAL-PSI20 em queda com Europa, China e Moody’s pesam
“Notícias de um menor crescimento económico na China a comprometerem a recuperação económica
mundial, ao que se junta e o aviso da Moody’s quanto ao rating de França e as palavras de Olli
Rehn em relação a Portugal voltam penalizar as bolsas europeias”, disse João de Deus, trader da
Dif Broker.* O Comissário Europeu para os Assuntos Económicos e Monetários, Olli Rehn, alertou que
Portugal poderá falhar a meta de défice prevista para 2011.O Governo de Portugal entregou ontem no Parlamento a proposta de Orçamento do Estado para
2012, que prevê que o paÃs tenha a mais grave recessão económica em três décadas, em 2012,
devido ao reforço das medidas de austeridade para o paÃs cumprir as metas do défice público
fixadas no ‘bailout’ da UE/FMI, num contexto de desaceleração da economia global.* A China cresceu ao ritmo mais lento desde o inÃcio de 2009, no terceiro trimestre de 2011,
enquanto a Mody’s avisou que poderá dar a França um ‘negative outlook’ nos próximos três meses,
se os custos de bailout a outros paÃses e bancos continuarem a ‘esticar’ o seu orçamento.Também o Ãndice que mede o sentiomento dos investidores alemães caiu, em Outubro, para o
nÃvel mais baixo em cerca de 3 anos.”A convicção dos investidores está a ser muito testada. A situação na Europa ainda está
‘tremida’, muito devido aos dados da China”, disse Keith Bowman, da Hargreaves Lansdown, que
frisou: “o contexto que temos actualmente está a criar as condições ideais para a realização de
mais valias”.* Os futuros do Nasdaq NDc1 sobem 0,48 pct e os do Dow Jones DJc1 perdem 0,19 pct,
apontando para uma abertura indefinida do outro lado do Atlântico, em dia de divulgação de
resultados de mais um conjunto de empresas.Hoje serão conhecidas as contas da Apple , Intel , Bank of America ou
Goldman Sachs .* O PSI20 cai 0,66 pct para 5.963,03 pontos, com 17 tÃtulos em queda e três
subidas, tendo-se negociado 16,8 milhões de acções ou 20 ME, na NYSE Euronext Lisbon .Os analistas técnicos do BPI apontam o próximo nÃvel de suporte do PSI20 nos 5.944 pontos e
aconselham uma postura vendedora aos investidores.”O recente dinamismo comprador de curto prazo levou à aproximação de uma importante zona de
resistência. Perante sinais de tomada de proveitos nos actuais nÃveis, seja vendedor se os
valores de resistência apontados não forem postos em causa”, explicaram.* Na banca, o Banco EspÃrito Santo cai 3,44 pct para 1,738 euros, o BPI
cede 2,73 pct para 0,641 euros, o Banif recua 2,93 pct para 0,364 euros e o Millennium
bcp perde 2,34 pct para 0,167 euros, tendo fixado um novo mÃnimo histórico nos 0,165 euros. O
Ãndice europeu DJ Stoxx para o sector cai 1,87 euros.* A Brisa recua 1,67 pct para 2,474 euros, a EDP-Energias de Portugal
perde 0,62 pct para 2,405 euros e a Portugal Telecom desce 0,61 pct para 5,213 euros.* O euro cede 0,37 pct para 1,3680 dólares.* O contrato do barril de brent para Dezembro LCOc1 cai 0,66 pct para 109,43 dólares e o
de crude para Novembro CLc1 desce 0,37 pct para 86,08 dólares.
(Por PatrÃcia Vicente Rua; Editado por Filipa Cunha Lima)
EU mergers and takeovers (Oct 18)
APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS:N— Mitsubishi Corp to acquire a stake in Czech auto
car body maker Sungwoo Hitech from South Korea’s Sungwoo Hitech
Co Ltd (approved Oct. 17)— Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners to acquire a
stake in international health club operator Virgin Active
(approved Oct. 14)— A joint venture led by Gores Group LLC to acquire
clothing retailer Mexx from Liz Claiborne Inc (approved
Oct. 17)NEW LISTINGS:— Dutch conglomerate Philips Electronics NV to acquire
lighting product company Indal (notified Oct. 17/deadline Nov.
23)EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES:— German sugar company Suedzucker to acquire a 25
percent stake in British commodities trading company ED&F Man
(notified Sept. 19/deadline extended to Nov. 9 from Oct. 24
after Suedzucker offered commitments)FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINEOCT 20— Dutch bank AEGON’s Spanish unit to acquire a 50
percent stake in Spanish life insurer Cajaburgos Vida, part of
Banca Civica (notified Sept. 15/deadline Oct.
20/simplified)OCT 26— German property operator ECE and German retailer Metro
to set up a joint venture (notified Sept. 21/deadline
Oct. 26)— U.S.-based Seagate Technology to acquire Samsung
Electronic’s hard disk drive business (notified
April 19/deadline extended for the second time to Oct. 26 from
Oct. 10)— U.S. equipment maker Caterpillar to acquire
German maker of gas and diesel engine maker MWM Holding GmbH
(notified March 14/deadline extended to Oct. 26 from Sept 16
after Commission opens in-depth investigation and despite
commitments offered)OCT 28— U.S. company Dow Chemical and Japanese trading
house Mitsui to set up a Brazilian joint venture
(notified Sept. 23/deadline Oct. 28/simplified)— German conglomerate Siemens to acquire Dutch
engineering company NEM Holding (notified Sept. 23/deadline Oct.
28)OCT 31— Vitol Investment Holdings, a unit of oil trader Vital
, and U.S. energy company ArcLight to acquire joint
control of Luxembourg-based Petro Lux (notified Sept.
26/deadline Oct. 31/simplified)NOV 3— Belgian building materials group Etex to acquire German
peer Lafarge’s gypsum assets in Europe and South
America (notified Sept. 27/deadline Nov. 3)— U.S. healthcare company Johnson & Johnson to
acquire Swiss medical devices maker Synthes Inc
(notified Sept. 27/deadline Nov. 3)— Private equity group TPG Capital LP to acquire a
stake in Danish online brokerage Saxo Bank from Portugal’s Banco
Espirito Santo (notified Sept. 27/deadline Nov.
3/simplified)NOV 7— Danish dairy coperative Arla Foods to acquire German
dairy cooperative Allgauland (notified Sept. 15/deadline
extended to Nov. 7 from Oct. 20 after Arla offered commitements)NOV 8— German fruit producer Agrana and Austrian equipment maker
RWA to combined their subsidiaries into a joint venture
(notified Sept. 30/deadline Nov. 8)NOV 10— U.S. cleaning and pest-control services company Ecolab
to acquire water treatment services company Nalco
Holding (notified Oct. 4/deadline Nov. 10)NOV 14— German industrial services company Buchen
Industrieservice to acquire German technical services company
ThyssenKrupp Xervon (notified Oct. 6/deadline Nov.
14/simplified)NOV 15— German natural gas supplier Verbundnetz Gas
Aktiengesellschaft to sell a 25.1 percent stake in VNG Austria
to CE Gas Marketing & Trading (notified Oct. 7/deadline Nov.
15/simplified)NOV 17— U.S. agribusiness company Cargill to acquire
KoroFrance, the holding company of Dutch animal feed maker
Provimi from private equity firm Permira (notified Oct.
11/deadline Nov. 17)— French company Caisse des Depots et Consignations to
acquire 50 percent of a Paris real estate from a subsidiary of
French insurer Axa (notified Oct. 11/deadline Nov.
17/simplified)— French power and transport engineering group Alstom
and Bouygues subsidiaries Bouygues
Immobilier and Exprim SAS to form a joint venture (notified Oct.
11/deadline Nov. 17/simplified)NOV 30— U.S. technology company Western Digital Corp to
acquire Hitachi’s hard disk drive business (notified
April 20/deadline extended for the fourth time to Nov. 30 from
Nov. 9 after Western Digital offered remedies)— U.S. conglomerate General Electric, Russian energy
producer and importer Inter Rao Ues and Russian engine maker
United Engine Corporation to set up a joint venture (notified
Sept. 30/deadline Nov 9/simplified)DEC 13— Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext to
merge (notified June 29/deadline extended to Dec. 13 from Aug. 4
after Commission opens in-depth probe)GUIDE TO EU MERGER PROCESSDEADLINES:The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is
filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working
days to 35 working days, to consider either a company’s proposed
remedies or an EU member state’s request to handle the case.Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission
opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90
additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working
days.SIMPLIFIED:Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the
clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving
any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as
non-simplified — that is, ordinary first-stage reviews — until
they are approved.
EU mergers and takeovers (Oct 18)
APPROVALS AND WITHDRAWALS:N— Mitsubishi Corp to acquire a stake in Czech auto
car body maker Sungwoo Hitech from South Korea’s Sungwoo Hitech
Co Ltd (approved Oct. 17)— Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners to acquire a
stake in international health club operator Virgin Active
(approved Oct. 14)— A joint venture led by Gores Group LLC to acquire
clothing retailer Mexx from Liz Claiborne Inc (approved
Oct. 17)NEW LISTINGS:— Dutch conglomerate Philips Electronics NV to acquire
lighting product company Indal (notified Oct. 17/deadline Nov.
23)EXTENSIONS AND OTHER CHANGES:— German sugar company Suedzucker to acquire a 25
percent stake in British commodities trading company ED&F Man
(notified Sept. 19/deadline extended to Nov. 9 from Oct. 24
after Suedzucker offered commitments)FIRST-STAGE REVIEWS BY DEADLINEOCT 20— Dutch bank AEGON’s Spanish unit to acquire a 50
percent stake in Spanish life insurer Cajaburgos Vida, part of
Banca Civica (notified Sept. 15/deadline Oct.
20/simplified)OCT 26— German property operator ECE and German retailer Metro
to set up a joint venture (notified Sept. 21/deadline
Oct. 26)— U.S.-based Seagate Technology to acquire Samsung
Electronic’s hard disk drive business (notified
April 19/deadline extended for the second time to Oct. 26 from
Oct. 10)— U.S. equipment maker Caterpillar to acquire
German maker of gas and diesel engine maker MWM Holding GmbH
(notified March 14/deadline extended to Oct. 26 from Sept 16
after Commission opens in-depth investigation and despite
commitments offered)OCT 28— U.S. company Dow Chemical and Japanese trading
house Mitsui to set up a Brazilian joint venture
(notified Sept. 23/deadline Oct. 28/simplified)— German conglomerate Siemens to acquire Dutch
engineering company NEM Holding (notified Sept. 23/deadline Oct.
28)OCT 31— Vitol Investment Holdings, a unit of oil trader Vital
, and U.S. energy company ArcLight to acquire joint
control of Luxembourg-based Petro Lux (notified Sept.
26/deadline Oct. 31/simplified)NOV 3— Belgian building materials group Etex to acquire German
peer Lafarge’s gypsum assets in Europe and South
America (notified Sept. 27/deadline Nov. 3)— U.S. healthcare company Johnson & Johnson to
acquire Swiss medical devices maker Synthes Inc
(notified Sept. 27/deadline Nov. 3)— Private equity group TPG Capital LP to acquire a
stake in Danish online brokerage Saxo Bank from Portugal’s Banco
Espirito Santo (notified Sept. 27/deadline Nov.
3/simplified)NOV 7— Danish dairy coperative Arla Foods to acquire German
dairy cooperative Allgauland (notified Sept. 15/deadline
extended to Nov. 7 from Oct. 20 after Arla offered commitements)NOV 8— German fruit producer Agrana and Austrian equipment maker
RWA to combined their subsidiaries into a joint venture
(notified Sept. 30/deadline Nov. 8)NOV 10— U.S. cleaning and pest-control services company Ecolab
to acquire water treatment services company Nalco
Holding (notified Oct. 4/deadline Nov. 10)NOV 14— German industrial services company Buchen
Industrieservice to acquire German technical services company
ThyssenKrupp Xervon (notified Oct. 6/deadline Nov.
14/simplified)NOV 15— German natural gas supplier Verbundnetz Gas
Aktiengesellschaft to sell a 25.1 percent stake in VNG Austria
to CE Gas Marketing & Trading (notified Oct. 7/deadline Nov.
15/simplified)NOV 17— U.S. agribusiness company Cargill to acquire
KoroFrance, the holding company of Dutch animal feed maker
Provimi from private equity firm Permira (notified Oct.
11/deadline Nov. 17)— French company Caisse des Depots et Consignations to
acquire 50 percent of a Paris real estate from a subsidiary of
French insurer Axa (notified Oct. 11/deadline Nov.
17/simplified)— French power and transport engineering group Alstom
and Bouygues subsidiaries Bouygues
Immobilier and Exprim SAS to form a joint venture (notified Oct.
11/deadline Nov. 17/simplified)NOV 30— U.S. technology company Western Digital Corp to
acquire Hitachi’s hard disk drive business (notified
April 20/deadline extended for the fourth time to Nov. 30 from
Nov. 9 after Western Digital offered remedies)— U.S. conglomerate General Electric, Russian energy
producer and importer Inter Rao Ues and Russian engine maker
United Engine Corporation to set up a joint venture (notified
Sept. 30/deadline Nov 9/simplified)DEC 13— Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext to
merge (notified June 29/deadline extended to Dec. 13 from Aug. 4
after Commission opens in-depth probe)GUIDE TO EU MERGER PROCESSDEADLINES:The European Commission has 25 working days after a deal is
filed for a first-stage review. It may extend that by 10 working
days to 35 working days, to consider either a company’s proposed
remedies or an EU member state’s request to handle the case.Most mergers win approval but occasionally the Commission
opens a detailed second-stage investigation for up to 90
additional working days, which it may extend to 105 working
days.SIMPLIFIED:Under the simplified procedure, the Commission announces the
clearance of uncontroversial first-stage mergers without giving
any reason for its decision. Cases may be reclassified as
non-simplified — that is, ordinary first-stage reviews — until
they are approved.
REFILE-Sterling hits session low, gilts pare gains after UK data
The pound fell to a low of $1.5710 from around
$1.5763 before the data was released. The euro was
down 0.3 percent on the day versus the pound at 87.04 pence, but
was little moved by the data.December gilt futures pared gains by more than ten ticks
after the data to stand at 128.06, up 42 ticks on the day by
0831 GMT, having traded at 128.19, up 55 ticks, beforehand.
UPDATE 1-Portugal 2012 budget bill sees deep recession
LISBON Oct 17 (Reuters) - Portugal’s recession will deepen
next year as the centre-right government adopts severe austerity
measures to restore the economy to health under a
78-billion-euro bailout, the draft 2012 budget bill showed on
Monday.The draft budget sees the economy contracting 2.8 percent
next year, much more than the decline of around 2 percent
envisaged when Portugal agreed on its bailout plan with the
European Union and IMF in May.The government presented a series of tough austerity
measures as part of the 2012 budget on Friday, including cutting
year-end and holiday bonuses for civil servants. Unions have
promised a general strike in response.Next year is likely to mark the deepest recession since the
country returned to democracy in 1974 after decades of
dictatorship and compares with a decline of 1.9 percent this
year.”We have reached the moment of truth, we have to take
profound measures to ensure budget consolidation,” Finance
Minister Vitor Gaspar told journalists as he presented the 2012
draft budget.”The situation in Europe and in the euro zone is one of the
principal risks to the world economy and Portugal is in the
centre of this crisis,”The budget document, which the centre-right government
presented to parliament on Monday, sees the 2012 budget deficit
at 4.5 percent of gross domestic product compared with 5.9
percent this year — in line with the terms of bailout plan.The budget should be voted in parliament on Nov. 29 but its
passage is assured as the centre-right government has a
comfortable majority.
UPDATE 2-Apple’s iPhone 4S goes on sale, fans say tribute to Jobs
* Reviewers rave about Siri, but otherwise no revolutionBy Michael Perry and Isabel ReynoldsSYDNEY/TOKYO, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Apple Inc’s iPhone
4S finally went on sale in stores around the globe on Friday,
with fans snapping up the final gadget unveiled during Steve
Jobs’ lifetime, many buying the phone as a tribute to the former
Apple boss.”I think a lot of people are going to buy the iPhone 4S
because it was the last iPhone Steve worked on,” said Wil
Batterham, 15, who with his school friend Tom Mosca were the
first to buy the new phone in Sydney’s Apple store.”People are saying it was named after him, like iPhone 4S,
for Steve,” said Batterham, clutching his new phone.Asked what will be the first function they use on the iPhone
4S, Mosca said he would ask the new iPhone’s voice-activated
“personal assistant” software: “Where’s Steve?”.CEO Tim Cook and his executive team hope the first device
launched without Apple’s former visionary leader at the helm
will safeguard their global market share lead.Samsung ,
Apple’s arch-rival with smartphones powered by
Google’s Android software, expects
to overtake Apple as the world’s biggest smartphone vendor in
terms of units sold in the third quarter .The iPhone 4S — introduced to the world just a
day before Jobs died — was dubbed a disappointment because it
fell short of being a revolution in design, but glowing reviews
centered around its “Siri” voice-activated software have since
helped it set a record pace in initial, online sales orders.Apple fans showed no disappointment in Sydney on Friday as
they purchased the phone, ahead of sales in Japan, Germany,
France, Britain and North America.Hundreds queued around the block of the Sydney Apple store,
many rugged up against the chilly morning, as Apple staff
chatted and clapped a countdown to the store opening. Apple’s 13
Australian stores were the first to open their doors at 8.00
a.m. local time (2100 GMT, Thursday) to sell the iPhone 4S.The vast majority of iPhone 4S buyers at the
Sydney store appeared to be
existing Apple customers, many having bought the
original iPhone and upgrades each time.Only one out of 10 people surveyed by Reuters was a new
Apple customer . That buyer was replacing his
HTC smartphone with the new iPhone 4S.”I have been waiting for the iPhone 5 for a long time.
But since Jobs died, I wanted to make sure I had a new iPhone
with some advantages over the old,” said Mark Du, referring to
his concern over future Apple gadgets without Jobs at the
helm.Apple said it did not release sales figures on launch day,
so gauging the initial sales may be difficult. Apple said it had
taken more than 1 million online orders in the first 24 hours
after its release, exceeding the 600,000 for the iPhone 4,
though that model was sold in fewer countries.Some analysts expect fourth-quarter iPhone shipments of as
much as 30 million or more, almost double from a year ago.Apple’s fifth-generation iPhone uses chips from Qualcomm Inc
, Toshiba and a host of smaller semiconductor
companies, according to repair firm iFixit, which cracked the
device open on Thursday.SPEECH RECOGNITION A WINNERAnalysts say Apple CEO Cook needs to move out from under his
former mentor’s enormous shadow soon, and avoid clinging to the
Jobs’ mystique to preserve its brand.Apple fans in Sydney made sure to remember
Jobs as part of the iPhone 4S
launch, with a small flower, candle and photo shrine
erected outside the glass-fronted
store.The iPhone — seen as the market’s gold standard
— is Apple’s highest-margin product and accounts for 40 percent
of its annual revenue. It is the world’s biggest selling
smartphone, for now maintaining a slim market-share lead over
Samsung’s Galaxy, at 18.4 versus 17.8 percent worldwide.In a sign of how tough the competition is, two doors along
from the Sydney Apple store, Samsung has been selling its new
Galaxy SII for only A$2 to its first 10 customers each day,
prompting Samsung fans to also camp out on the footpath.But analysts point to several factors in Apple’s favor: a
$199 price that matches up well with rival devices such as
Amazon.com Inc’s “Fire” tablet; availability promised
on more than 100 carriers by the end of 2011, far more than its
predecessors; and glowing reviews.Apple’s iconic smartphone comes with a faster processor and
a better and more light-sensitive camera, but little else to
separate it from its predecessor. But tech experts say the real
gems lie beneath the phone’s familiar sleek casing.Influential reviewers Walt Mossberg and David Pogue raved
about “Siri” — a voice-command activated assistant that
responds to spoken commands and questions in context, such as
queries about the weather or a friend’s phone number.”I’m buying it mainly for the voice activated Siri, its like
your own personal secretary,” said Shane Gray, 42, one of the
Sydney buyers.
