Apple yesterday reported record revenues for the second quarter in a row, with profits of US$6 billion and revenues of US$26.74 billion – up 77.5 per cent and 70.5 per cent respectively.

The company announced that during the Christmas quarter it sold 7.3 million iPads – as many as it sold in the previous two quarters – taking the total sold to 14.5 million copies since its introduction in April 2010. The iPhone also saw strong growth, with 16.24 million sold in the most recent quarter – its best ever.

In a statement, Jobs said: "We had a phenomenal holiday quarter, with record Mac, iPhone and iPad sales. We are firing on all cylinders and we’ve got some exciting things in the pipeline for this year, including iPhone 4 on Verizon."

Observers have focused on an apparent rivalry in the mobile market between Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android mobile operating system. But the signs are that Android is not weakening Apple; instead the two are taking market share in the US, particularly from RIM, the Canadian maker of the BlackBerry. Apple passed RIM for the number of phones sold in the US in the third quarter, and RIM is struggling to maintain market share.

The iPhone, meanwhile, is expected to receive a sales boost in the US after Verizon, the largest US mobile network, with 93.2 million subscribers, announced it would begin selling Apple’s phones from the end of this month. That will be in addition to AT&T, with 89.8 million subscribers, which has sold the device since its inception in June 2007.

Grameenphone has announced the appointment of Tore Johnsen as the company’s new CEO. Johnsen will succeed Oddvar Hesjedal and assume his position commencing March 1, 2011. Oddvar Hesjedal will move on to new responsibilities in Telenor Group.

Johnsen was previously CEO of the Thai mobile operator, Dtac. He has also held positions as CEO of Telenor Pakistan and CEO of DiGi in Malaysia. He joined the Telenor Group in 1974, and he has held a number of managerial positions and international assignments. Tore Johnsen holds an MSc in addition to studies in international business management.

Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, who has survived a rare pancreatic cancer, is taking a medical leave of absence from the company almost exactly two years after he took a similar one, during which he received a liver transplant.

The news was announced when US stock markets were closed for a public holiday. In after-hours trading in Frankfurt on January 16, the stock fell US$22, or nine per cent. When Jobs took a similar leave of absence in 2009, the stock was briefly suspended after falling 10 per cent on the US market.

The company’s chief operating officer, Tim Cook, who has been at the company since March 1998, will take over the day-to-day operations of the company – though in an email to staff Jobs said that he will "continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company". He added: "I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy."

Apple executives in Europe declined to provide any further detail on the reason for Jobs’ absence or its expected length.

Carolina Milanesi, vice-president of mobile devices for the research company Gartner, said that Jobs’ absence need not mean the end of Apple. "The timing of the announcement [when markets were closed] shows that timing is part of being good at your job. I think that this time around, compared to 2009, people know that Tim Cook can do a good job. As a consumer, I don’t care who’s running the company – I just care about the products I can buy."

India’s Ministry of Corporate Affairs has cleared Reliance Communications of allegations that it held more than 10 per cent of Etisalat DB (formerly Swan Telecom), which would be have been a breach of Indian law. Cross shareholdings in rival companies is limited.

The review of the company shareholders came as a result of the investigation into the scandal over the award of telecom licences and whether Reliance had qualified for the licences it won in 2008.

In its report, the ministry said that Reliance had no equity shareholding or voting rights in any of the subsidiary companies that created Etisalat DB. The company was created in 2007 and was granted telecom licences in January 2008, although Reliance did hold a 9.9 per cent equity stake in the firm at the time. Etisalat later took a 45 percent stake in the company.

Reliance is still facing a "show notice" from the regulator to explain why it should not forfeit some of its licences, which it is alleged to have been awarded without the necessary qualifications.

Zain Saudi Arabia announced significantly higher revenue for the 2010 fourth quarter with an increase of 93 per cent to SR1.73 billion (US$461 million), compared to reported revenue of SR895 million for the fourth quarter of 2009.

Gross profit increased by 132 per cent to SR826 million, compared to SR356 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. Operating losses for the fourth quarter decreased significantly by 58 per cent to SR179 million compared to losses of SR435 million in the fourth quarter of 2009. Net loss for the period saw an improvement of 21 per cent to SR521 million compared to a net loss of SR657 million for the fourth quarter of 2009. 

Zain Saudi’s customer base exceeded eight million at the end of December 2010.

The Zain Saudi also reported it had reached break-even point at the level of profit before interest on its Murabaha loan, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA) for the year ended 2010 ahead of initial expectations.