In the second quarter of 2006 T-Mobile USA added 613,000 net new customers, down from 972,000 in the second quarter of 2005, and the 1.04 million net customers added in the first quarter of 2006. Postpay customers made up 83% of the second quarter customer growth, up from 70% in the first quarter of 2006, and comprised 84% of T-Mobile USA's total customer base at June 30, 2006.
China will have more than 500 million mobile phone subscribers by next year—37% of the population. The country's dense urban markets are already saturated with mobile phones, and by 2010, almost half of China's 1.3 billion people will be using mobile phones, according to eMarketer's new report, China Mobile.
In the second quarter of 2006, Group sales increased 59% on a currency-neutral basis, driven by the consolidation of the Reebok business segment as well as higher than anticipated double-digit growth of both adidas and TaylorMade-adidas Golf. Sales for the adidas Group excluding Reebok increased 20% on a currency-neutral basis, with double-digit sales increases coming from all regions. In euro terms, Group revenues grew 60% to EUR 2.428 billion in the second quarter of 2006 from EUR 1.516 billion in 2005. Sales for the adidas Group excluding Reebok grew 20% in euro terms to EUR 1.812 billion from EUR 1.516 billion in the prior year.
The shareholders of Kettle Foods ("Kettle") and Lion Capital LLP ("Lion") are pleased to announce that an agreement has been reached whereby Lion will acquire Kettle Foods, a leading premium natural potato chip company in the US and UK. Lion is acquiring the company in a private transaction which, conditional upon regulatory approval, is expected to close in the next 30 days. No financial details of the transaction are being released
Oslo, London, Copenhagen, Zurich and Tokyo are the world's most expensive cities in relation to a standardized basket of 122 goods and services. The UBS study "Prices and Earnings" shows that life is particularly expensive in London and New York if the cost of housing is included. The basket of goods and services costs the least in Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai, Delhi and Buenos Aires.
Bank of America Corporation has entered into definitive agreements to exchange its BankBoston operations in Chile and Uruguay for stock in Banco Itau Holding Financeira S.A. (Itau). These agreements follow a similar transaction for the operations of BankBoston in Brazil that was announced on May 2. At that time, it was also announced that the two companies would negotiate exclusively with respect to the Chile and Uruguay businesses.
At the request of eMarketer, online measurement companies Nielsen//NetRatings and Hitwise each produced a list of the top retail Web sites in the UK, ranked by number of visitors in June 2006. Nielsen//NetRatings also listed the top e-commerce sites in Germany and France.
The US is the global leader in online travel expenditures. Its leisure and non-corporate travel consumers will spend $122.4 billion by 2009, up from $64.9 billion last year, eMarketer projects in its new report, Online Travel Worldwide: A Mosaic of Separate Markets.
Consumers overwhelmingly want smart, live and responsive customer service, preferably over the phone rather than by e-mail. Highest expectations found among women, 18-34 year olds and residents in the Southwest and Midwest
