Iphone Moves to Third-Largest Mobile Phone Brand

From NPD:

PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK, April 28, 2011 – According to The NPD Group, a leading market research company, in the first quarter (Q1) of this year Apple's mobile phone sales reached 14 percent of the U.S. market. Apple outranked HTC, Motorola and RIM as the third-largest handset brand in the U.S., behind Samsung at 23 percent and LG at 18 percent. After launching on Verizon's network in February, Apple's iPhone 4 further solidified its position as the top-selling mobile phone in the U.S., while iPhone 3GS, Motorola Droid X, HTC EVO 4G, and HTC Droid Incredible rounded out NPD's top-five mobile phone handset ranking. Unit sales of smartphones increased 8 percent in Q1 compared to the previous quarter; however, total handset unit sales fell 1 percent.

"Apple and Verizon had a very successful launch of the iPhone 4, which allowed the iPhone to expand its market share that was previously held back by its prolonged carrier exclusivity with AT&T," said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis at NPD. "While some of that growth came at the expense of Android operating system (OS), Android models still accounted for half of all smartphones sold in the quarter.”

Oil Prices Drive Down GDP Growth

GDP grew at 1.8% (annualized) in the first 3 months of 2011.  That’s down from the 3.1% annual pace last quarter.  Analysts suggest rising gas prices and winter weather were factors in the slowdown.

(My February post on oil prices is here.)

From the Washington Post:

Economic growth slowed at the start of the year, weighed down by higher oil prices and lower government spending, according to new data that lays bare the challenging climb the United States faces in trying to emerge from its long period of weakness.

Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic activity, rose at a 1.8 percent annual rate in the January through March period, down sharply from the 3.1 percent pace of growth in the final quarter of last year. Economists had forecast 2 percent growth.

Indeed, the growth rate in the first quarter, if sustained, would be too weak to bring down unemployment meaningfully. The economy must grow at a 2.5 percent or so rate just to create enough jobs to accommodate a growing population and more efficient workers.

The full article is here.

March Revenues Up Vs 2010

1% Sales tax revenues in Neosho were up 8.26% in March compared to one year ago.  For the year, the 1% sales tax is trending 0.92% LOWER than one year ago.

Total 1% Sales Tax revenues for the first seven months of the fiscal year stand at $1,143,653.89.

Missouri Tax Revenues Up Thru Q3 2011

From the Columbia Missourian:

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri's tax revenues are up 6.5 percent with only one-quarter of the budget year to go.

Figures released Monday by the state Office of Administration show the growth was fueled by stronger individual and corporate income tax collections than during the 2010 fiscal year. A decline in tax refunds also has contributed to the growth in state revenues.

State sales taxes have remained relatively flat through the first nine months of the fiscal year, even though they declined by 5.7 percent in March compared with the same month last year.

Individual income tax collections were up 6 percent in March while corporate income and franchise tax collections rose 8.4 percent compared with March 2010.