business & technology updates

Asia cracks top 50 most innovative

For the first time since Bloomberg BusinessWeek began its annual "Most Innovative Companies" ranking in 2005, the majority of corporations in the Top 25 are based outside the US. The reason: Asia. Apple remain number 1, closely followed by Google but in 7th is Korea's LG Electronics and 8th is China's BYD,.the car manufacturer. In total 15 of the top 50 are from Asia, while China has seen the biggest rise with four firms in the top 50 versus only one last year.

Wal-Mart tops Fortune 500

EXXON MOBIL has been knocked off its number one spot as the US's largest company by revenue. Wal-Mart assumed the position after showing a sizeable profit despite the downturn and the fall in oil prices bringing down the numbers for Exxon and other oil companies.This year's list is packed with changes that reflect and spotlight the trends reshaping corporate America. The homebuilders that occupied 14 places in 2007 and three last year, including Centex and Pulte, have all disappeared, casualties of shrinking sales. No fewer than nine newcomers from recession-resistant health care joined in 2009, among them drugmakers Genzyme and Allergan. AT&T and HP kept up the technology space by staying in the top 10. The collapse in car sales pushed General Motors from sixth to 15th place, the first time in the list's history that GM didn't make the top 10.

The age of Asian innovation has begun

The top 10 firms receiving the most patents in the US in 2009 were:

Top Innovators:

Facebook-lkea scam hits 40,000 victims

Source: Bloomberg/Bus'messweek

iPad overseas launch delayed

APPLE IS DELAYING the international launch of its iPad by a month, because it is struggling to meet demand in the US. The firm said the decision to delay was "difficult", but necessary to meet higher than expected demand for the device in the US, which it only expects to grow as more devices reach consumers. So far, US consumers have only been able to buy the 16GB, WiFi-only, version of the device for $499. It plans to announce pricing for global markets and open the doors to pre-orders on May 10.

IN THE US, a scam Facebook page offering the site's users a $1,000 Ikea gift card took in nearly 40,000 victims in March. It's the latest example of a new trend on the social-networking site as scammers - usually disreputable online marketers trying to earn revenue by generating Web traffic - have flooded Facebook with these fake gift card pages over the past months. A similar $1,000 Ikea gift card scam took in more than 70,000 victims, and just last week another scam Facebook page offering a $500 Whole Foods gift certificate was widely reported. Cases in Asia have yet to be reported. El

iVIarket stats.

Wal-Mart revenue for 2009 - $408 billion compared to second-placed Exxon Mobil's $285 billion * 500,000 Pads already sold in the US Cliina now has 384 million internet users but stiil oniy a third of the total population
Apr/May 2010 I www.enterpriseinnovation.net

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