BUSINESS

Apple Inc's iPad sales in Australia is challenged by cheaper tablets running on Google's Android operating system as tablet sales in the country doubled in 2013. According to a new study, the less expensive Android tablets are slowly gaining on Apple in Australia. Technology firm Telsyte has released data from a study which revealed that 4.8 million tablet computers were sold in Australia in 2013. The firm estimates that this translates to 9.4 million Australians owing and using tablets. A...

Telsyte survey found that sales of Apple tablets rose by 52 per cent while sales of Android tablets rose by a whopping 186 per cent

The Australian sharemarket ended higher for just the second time in seven trading days. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) finished 0.5 per cent firmer to 5360.2, remaining below the 5400.0pt mark but bouncing from a one-month low. All sectors finished higher by the close.

At least three million people from around the world have joined a crowdsourcing project to help locate the week-old missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 airliner.

Buyers were able to make an impression on the ASX200 in early trade on Tuesday after the index shed 1.76% in the last 2 days. The improved tone saw every ASX sector trade higher over the course of the morning. The positive momentum was dominated by Materials and Financials, helped by economic news out of the US which revealed a better than expected reading on industrial production which rose by 0.6% in February, above forecasts for a 0.1% gain.

With nary a competition in sight, Canada's big three wireless carriers have all raised prices for their monthly plans by $5 as well as on their discount brands Koodo, Fido and Virgin. All their base plans now cost the same.

Some of the weakest political and economic sanctions have been imposed on Russia overnight as Crimea is officially recognised as a sovereign state by the Russian Parliament, with President Putin signing a decree.

n US economic data, industrial production rose by 0.6% in February, above forecasts for a 0.1% gain. The New York Federal Reserve manufacturing index rose from 4.48 to 5.61 in March, near market forecasts. And the National Association of Home Builders index rose from 46 to 47 in March, short of forecasts centred near 50.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) would not likely follow the footstep of neighbour's Reserve Bank of New Zealand which last week its overnight cash rate by 25 basis points to 2.75 per cent.

Canadian manufacturing giant Bombardier got part of a $5.16-billion contract to supply South Africa with 1,064 locomotives to the country's freight rail system, Transnet Freight Rail.

he Australian share market closed lower on the first trading day of the week, as Crimea concerns continued to weigh on investors' minds. Exit polls on Sunday showed 93 per cent of voters in Crimea chose to secede from Ukraine and re-join Russia in a referendum the West has labelled illegal.

Ten days after it first went missing, at least three jet takeover theories have erupted, and 600 possible landing spots have been drawn for the still missing Malaysia Airlines MH370. Still all figures. Nothing inconclusive.

The Australian sharemarket is slightly weaker for the fifth time in six trading sessions. Concerns relating to a referendum on the future of Crimea in Ukraine is keeping investors on edge. The vote is considered by the West to be an illegal undertaking. One of the reasons why markets are a little concerned is that Russia supplies Europe with more than a quarter of its oil and gas import requirements.

The weekends are becoming the 'days of choice' for China to announce major policy changes, with the PBoC announcing the widely touted widening of the trading band on the CNY on Saturday.

In US economic data, producer prices fell by 0.1% in February while core prices (excludes food and energy) fell by 0.2%. Both results were weaker than forecast. Consumer sentiment fell from 81.6 to 79.9 in March, below forecasts near 82.0.

Amid global focus on the aviation industry as the world waits for fresh developments about the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, the aircraft engineers' union at Qantas warned of a possible aviation disaster waiting plans of the Flying Roo.

Apple Inc is on its way to a 'disastrous' first quarter for Fiscal Year 2014 as analyst Brian Blair of Wedge Partners delivers the bad news about the company's Q1 performance. According to Mr Blair, Apple may be having a bad first quarter. He warned investors that Apple's stock could crash after the company releases its first quarter earnings.

The New Zealand dollar is expected to have a weekly gain of 0.9 per cent following the interest rate hike of the Reserve Bank. The Kiwi dollar rose to 85.39 U.S. cents as on March 14 as of 5pm in Wellington from a previous close of 84.55 cents. The Kiwi dollar rose to an 11-month high at 86.06 cents before trading at 85.23 cents by 8am on March 14. According to a BusinessDesk survey of 11 analysts, the Kiwi dollar is predicted to trade between 82.75 and 86.35 U.S. cents by the end of the week.

The local market had its second worst day of the year; is trading at a one month low and recorded its worst week in three months. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) fell 1.5 per cent today, taking the losses this week to 2.37 per cent (worst week in three months).

A few days ago, just several days after a minor 7.0.6 iOS update, Apple released a major update for their latest mobile platform – iOS 7.1. The update quickly spread throughout the users of Apple mobile devices in North America, with 12 percent adoption rate in two days, according to a study by Chitika.

King Digital Entertainment the company that created the popular game Candy Crush Saga is going in for an IPO with a valuation of AU $8.5 billion. Will the valuation and share price succeed? Or will we see a repeat of Facebook?

Readers who are looking to get the one year membership of the Amazon Prime have just one week before the prices go up to $99. The price currently is $79 and the increase is set to offset rising costs for the company such as fuel and shipping costs.

Radioactive activity from Fukushima has reached Fraser River Valley in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. Although the scientists uncovered very low levels of cesium-134 in the soil, they remain baffled as to how it arrived in the area.

It was no surprise to see local stocks under pressure from the outset on Friday. One of the main talking points in the last day has been the latest round of Chinese economic news, which was released after the close of Australian trade on Thursday afternoon. The Chinese figures had the capacity to be a boon or a bane. The much weaker than expected results have meant the latter. As a result sellers returned to commodity markets, base metals finished mostly lower on demand concerns after China's...

Numbers of suicide cases in Fukushima continued to rise since 2011 triggered by depression and uncertainty over the future.

After having seen an improvement in sentiment yesterday, it seems we are back to square one with renewed China concerns and Ukraine tension ramping up. China data was releases post local trade and this set the tone for overnight trade. Industrial production slowed significantly at just +8.5% which was well below consensus of +9.5%. Retail sales and fixed asset investment data also missed estimates and analysts feel the combined impact of these readings points to a high likelihood of a big GDP dr...

In US economic data, claims for unemployment insurance fell by 9,000 in the latest week to 315,000. Retail sales rose by 0.3% in February with sales excluding autos up by 0.3%. Both figures were slightly above forecasts. The Federal Budget was in deficit by $193.5 billion in February, smaller than the forecast $212 billion deficit. And import prices rose by 0.9% in February with export prices up 0.6% - both ahead of forecasts.

Australian supermarket giant Woolworths plans to add another 7,000 employees in 2014 to its current 180,000 workers by opening 108 more new stores across the country.

The ASX 200 spent most day moving higher, although prices softened in the last 2 hours as investors focussed on Chinese economic figures due for release after the close of local trade. At its best levels of the session the market was up by 41 points; at the lows of the day the index was still in positive territory with a gain of 2 points. Volume was reasonable at around $4.5 billion.