Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2008

The Buzz On Business

4 SMALL SUVS EARN TOP CRASH TEST SCORES: Four small sport utility vehicles received top scores in crash tests to be released today by the insurance industry, a sign of improvement compared with SUVs built earlier in the decade. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety gave top crash test scores in front-end, side and

rear tests to the 2009 Ford Escape, 2009 Volkswagen Tiguan, 2008 Mitsubishi Outlander and the 2008 Nissan Rogue. Adrian Lund, the institute's president, said the Escape, Tiguan, Outlander and Rogue were equipped with standard electronic stability control, which guards against rollovers, and side air bags. The safety equipment helped the vehicles show improvements across the board, including in the side tests.

APPLE BLAMES NANOS' MELTDOWN ON BATTERIES: Apple Inc. said Tuesday that batteries from a single supplier are to blame for the meltdown of some models of its tiny iPod Nano digital music player. The company's written statement came in response to a Japanese government report that two iPod Nanos overheated in Tokyo, scorching nearby paper and a woven straw mat. Apple said the flaw affected first-generation Nanos, sold from September 2005 to December 2006, in rare instances. The company's statement added that "There have been no reports of serious injuries or property damage, and no reports of incidents for any other iPod Nano model." A defect in the lithium-ion battery was suspected in all three cases, company officials said.

FEWER CELL PHONES SOLD, BUT HIGHER PRICES PAID: U.S. consumers have been buying significantly fewer cell phones but paying higher prices for them, according to a research firm. The NPD Group said in a report Tuesday that 28 million cell phones were sold in the United States in the second quarter, a decline of 13 percent from the same period a year ago. It was the third-straight quarter with a year-over-year decline, and the lowest number of phones sold since NPD began tracking the category in 2005, said Ross Rubin, the firm's director of industry analysis. However, the phones that were sold tended to have more features and be more expensive, and the total value of the market was down only 2 percent from a year ago, at $2.4 billion, according to NPD. Motorola Inc.'s phones were the most popular, but its share of the units sold dropped to 21 percent, from 32 percent last year.

BOTTLED TEA SALES TAKE COMPANIES' FOCUS: PepsiCo and Starbucks, already partners in a deal to sell bottled Frappucinos, are turning their attention to bottled tea. The two companies plan to give the Tazo brand greater exposure and expand distribution, as sales of ready-to-drink teas grow. Tazo bottled iced tea and juice teas are sold in Starbucks and other outlets. Starting in mid-October, the bottled teas will be made available nationwide through the PepsiCo bottling system. Under the new deal, Starbucks Corp., PepsiCo Inc. and Unilever will make and sell Tazo drinks, taking advantage of a distribution partnership that was established earlier to sell Lipton ready-to-drink teas. Sales of ready-to-drink teas grew 6.6 percent in the year ended in July, significantly slower than the double-digit growth in the three years before that. Beverage Digest editor John Sicher said sales of ready-to-drink teas grew more slowly this year than last because of consumer spending cuts, and that tea sales would rebound when the economy improves.

BEE NEWS SERVICES

Figuratively Speaking

47: Percentage of "high performers," measured on their annual job performance appraisal scores, who say they are looking for other jobs, according to a study conducted by Leadership IQ

18: Percentage of "low performers" who say they are looking for other jobs

28 million: Estimated number of debit card transactions in 2007, according to a report by Packaged Facts

$1.4 trillion: Estimated total debit card dollar volume in 2007

40: Percentage of sales organizations that say their sales forces did not meet last year's sales goals, according to a survey conducted by Deloitte and Oracle

49: Percentage of sales organizations that say they are satisfied or very satisfied with their sales force performance

JOHN MacINTYRE,

UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE