Word: firmly
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...India's biggest supplier by a huge margin. Nokia devices are sold in 162,000 retailers in India, more than three times the number for rivals Samsung or LG. Although Samsung is investing heavily to catch up, Nokia claims roughly 60% of the Indian market. So ubiquitous are the firm's products that many locals refer to their mobile phone as a "Nokia" even when it isn't. In China, Nokia supplies around 30,000 retailers, far more than its rivals. Across the Middle East and Africa, it has another 120,000 outlets and enjoys a 52% share. (Nokia...
That kind of presence in emerging markets helps explain why Nokia is blurring the boundary between smart phones and cheaper handsets, and trying to entice customers to trade up. In recent months, the firm has unveiled a slew of devices aimed at developing markets, some costing as little as $60. That might seem a lot to pay for someone earning a few hundred dollars a month, but for many people in places where access to electricity is hit-and-miss at best, a good phone can double as a computer, an MP3 device or even a video player...
...through 2009, boosting its share of global car sales to 12% from 9.9% in the first half of the year. Yes VW's second quarter profits, released July 30, were down 83%, but have you seen the competition's numbers? The markets certainly like the look of the German firm: its stock price surged 5% the day the latest figures were released. "Even in a particularly difficult phase in the international automotive markets we were able to gain share in key markets. This has further improved our position on our way to the top," said Winterkorn in a statement announcing...
...benefiting from its traditional strengths - and even some of its weaknesses. The German firm has a strong position in Latin America, where it is the leading car maker, and in China, where it is ahead of the pack despite intense pressure from GM. Interestingly, the German car maker's weak position in the U.S. market, the world's largest, has turned out to be a blessing in disguise during this crisis. Toyota has been hit hard by falling sales in the U.S. and is closing a manufacturing plant in California, the first closure ever for the world's largest...
...Terrorist violence always acts as a kind of propaganda that is fundamental for maintaining group unity," says terrorism expert Alonso. But with the organization in decline, violence also has an obscuring effect. "Now it's become a way for a considerably weakened ETA to hide the fact that with firm action from the state, an unstoppable process of disintegration would begin," he adds. If the 2006 peace process is any indication, that firm action would have to couple a police crackdown with concessions - such as amnesty or a transfer of ETA prisoners to jails in the Basque Country to make...