Indians buy fewer computers, sales drop 7 percent

October 14th, 2009 Retail sales fall 1.5 percent in SeptemberWASHINGTON — Retail sales declined in September by the largest amount this year as car sales plummeted following the end of the government's popular Cash for Clunkers program. The Commerce Department says retail sales dropped 1.5 percent last month.

October 9th, 2009 Audi September sales fall 6.8 percent on yearFRANKFURT — German carmaker Audi AG said Friday it delivered 6.8 percent fewer cars in September than a year earlier as the global downturn continued to affect demand, but noted it fared better than the wider market and saw gains in some regions. The Ingolstadt-based company, a unit of Europe's biggest carmaker Volkswagen AG, said it sold 88,600 cars for the month compared with 95,136 cars in September 2008.

September 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US not only increased its arms sales by nearly 50 percent last year but its share of world weapons sales also rose to more than two-thirds despite the global economic downturn, a newspaper reported Monday. The country expanded its ranking as the top weapons supplier with sales of $37.8 billion last year, or 68 percent of the world total, up from $25.4 billion in 2007, said The New York Times, citing a report from the Congressional Research Service, considered the US Congress' "think tank".

August 31st, 2009 Newsstand sales of US magazines drop 12 percentNEW YORK — Consumers are buying fewer magazines at newsstands given the deep recession and the availability of plenty of free reading material online. An industry group said Monday that single-copy sales tumbled 12 percent in the first half of this year compared with the same period in 2008.

August 28th, 2009 Hermes profit down 7 percent in 1st halfPARIS — Luxury goods maker Hermes International on Friday reported a 7 percent drop in net profit in the first half of the year but said it still plans to open or renovate several stores in the second half. In a statement, the maker of high-end scarves and Birkin handbags blamed the drop on currency fluctuations and a lower rate of return on financial investments.

August 25th, 2009 Glance: A look at Staples earnings highlightsStaples Inc., the nation's largest office supplies retailer, reported its fiscal second-quarter profit fell 39 percent compared with a year earlier, hurt by its acquisition of Corporate Express. Here's a look at some of the highlights of the earnings report.

August 6th, 2009 Sector Snap: Teen apparel wilts in JulyNEW YORK — Teen retailers reported weak same-store sales in July, partly hurt by later school-start dates and later tax-free shopping periods in several states. Labor day falls a week later this year compared to a year ago.

July 30th, 2009 Nintendo profit down 60.6 percent in April-JuneTOKYO — Nintendo Co. reports that its net profit tumbled 60.6 percent in the April-June quarter from last year, hurt by a stronger yen and fewer blockbuster games.

July 24th, 2009 UK Q2 GDP down 0.8 percentLONDON — Official data shows Britain's economy shrank by 0.8 percent in the second quarter, the fifth straight quarterly decline and worse than analyst forecasts of a drop of 0.3 percent. The figure released Friday is a marked improvement over the 2.4 percent decline in the first quarter but confirms that the economy is still in recession.

July 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Fewer personal computers were sold in India last fiscal, with the sale of notebooks dipping 17 percent and desktops down four percent, according to the hardware industry's representative body. Sales of computers, including notebooks and netbooks, declined 7 percent to 6.79 million units from 7.34 million units in 2007-08, the Manufacturers Association for Information Technology (MAIT) said here on Tuesday.

June 29th, 2009 Ford analyst says June best month for sales in '09DEARBORN, Mich. — Ford Motor Co.'s top sales analyst says June was the industry's best month of the year, with sales falling less than 30 percent.

June 2nd, 2009 May Auto Sales: General MotorsDETROIT — General Motors Corp. said Tuesday that its May U.S.

May 8th, 2009 Target same-store sales edge up in AprilMINNEAPOLIS — Target says same-store sales edged up 0.3 percent in April and it predicted first-quarter results will likely beat expectations. Analysts had expected same-store sales at the discount retailer to rise 0.4 percent.

May 8th, 2009 Wholesale inventories fall more than expectedWASHINGTON — Wholesalers slashed inventories for a seventh straight month in March as businesses struggled to get stockpiles in line with plunging sales. The Commerce Department says wholesale inventories dropped 1.6 percent in March, much larger than the 1 percent fall that analysts had expected.

January 12th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Amid a worldwide economic downturn, Indians have emerged as the most optimistic lot as people who think that their country will climb out of recession in the next 12 months, a survey said. 'Despite the global economic recession, about 51 percent Indians, the highest in the world, seem to be quite confident of the economy picking up in the near future,' said Sonia Pall, Executive Director in Consumer Research at The Nielsen Company, which conducted the survey.