Briefcase

Fake Apple stores close as China investigates

BEIJING – Chinese officials found five fake Apple stores in a southwestern city and ordered two of them to suspend business while they’re investigated, a local government website said Monday.

Officials couldn’t do anything about the other three stores – which prominently displayed Apple signs and logos – because they did not find any fake Apple products for sale, according to a report by a local newspaper posted on the Kunming city government’s website.

The investigation follows a blog post last week by an American woman who lives in Kunming in Yunnan province, who stumbled across three shops masquerading as bona fide Apple stores in the city. She took photos and posted them on her BirdAbroad blog.

After the blog appeared on Wednesday, the Kunming Trade and Industry Bureau inspected more than 300 electronics stores in Kunming and found the five fake Apple stores, the city government’s website said.

Associated Press

Netflix subscription hike likely to slow growth

SAN FRANCISCO – Netflix Inc. is bracing for a backlash to its recently announced price hikes that could result in its slowest subscriber growth in more than three years.

The company’s sobering forecast Monday overshadowed its second-quarter earnings that easily topped Wall Street’s expectations.

Netflix’s shares plummeted by more than 10 percent.

The shortfall stems from an anticipated slowdown in Netflix’s subscriber growth amid changes to its online video and DVD rental service that will raise prices by as much as 60 percent.

Associated Press

BlackBerry maker announces layoffs

LOS ANGELES – Research in Motion Ltd., the maker of BlackBerry smartphones and the PlayBook tablet, said Monday that it will cut its workforce by about 2,000 jobs and move some executives into new roles in an effort to battle the continued growth of Google’s Android and Apple’s iPhone.

The job cuts, which are beginning on Monday, will leave the Canadian company with about 17,000 employees, RIM said. The moves follow a 12 percent drop in quarterly revenue during RIM’s fiscal first quarter, which was reported in June.

Los Angeles Times

Japan airline prepares for 787 inaugural flight

SEATTLE – All Nippon Airways of Japan, launch customer for Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner, said Monday that the new jet’s inaugural commercial flight will be a special charter from Tokyo to Hong Kong, likely in October.

All Nippon Airways said in a news release that it expects to take delivery of its first Dreamliner in September.

Seattle Times