IPhone new king of consumer sales

Oakland Tribune, Nov 10, 2008

Apple Inc.'s iPhone 3G became the most popular handset among U.S. consumers for the first time in the third quarter, overtaking Motorola Inc.'s Razr. The Razr had been ranked as No. 1 for 12 straight quarters, New York-based research firm NPD Group said in an e-mailed release today. NPD's numbers exclude purchases by companies.

Cupertino-based Apple, which started selling the latest iPhone model in July, increased sales even as total handset purchases by U.S. consumers dropped 15 percent, NPD said. The Web-browsing iPhone, introduced last year, accounted for more than a third of Apple's revenue last quarter. The Razr took second place last quarter and was followed by Research In Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry Curve and two LG Electronics Inc. models.

Online

Microsoft Corp. said its Internet search software will be distributed by Sunnyvale-based Sun Microsystems Inc. alongside downloads of Sun's Java program, replacing a previous relationship Sun had with Mountain View based-Google Inc. The MSN search toolbar will be offered to U.S. customers who use Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser and download Sun's Java Runtime Environment, which operates Internet applications. Microsoft is paying Sun for the distribution.

Earnings

Livermore-based McGrath RentCorp earned $11.6 million, or 48 cents a share, on revenues of $86.3 million, for its third quarter of 2008 ended Sept. 30. Profits fell 2.5 percent and revenues rose 6.8 percent compared with the prior-year third quarter, the supplier of modular buildings and electronic test equipment said.

Oakland-based Scientific Learning earned $590,000, or 3 cents a share, on revenues of $12.7 million, for the third quarter of 2008. Compared with the prior-year quarter, profits more than doubled, rising 140 percent, and revenues increased 12 percent, the software company said.

Emeryville-based Neurobiological Technologies Inc. lost $2.8 million, or 10 cents a share, on revenues of $3.6 million, for its first quarter of fiscal 2009 ended Sept. 30. In the year-ago quarter, the life sciences company lost $922,000 or 19 cents a share. Revenues fell 7.7 percent.

Alameda-based InSite Vision Inc. lost $8 million, or 8 cents a share, on revenues of $960,000, for its third quarter of 2008 ended Sept. 30. In the year-ago quarter, the pharmaceutical company earned $3.6 million. Revenues fell 88 percent.

Compiled from staff and wire reports. Got Bay Area business news? Reach Drew Voros at 925-943-8099 or dvoros@bayareanewsgroup.com.