HELSINKI/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Mobile operators risk alienating lucrative smartphone users if they follow the example of AT&T (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in ending all-you-can-use mobile data plans to ease pressure on their creaking networks.

According to a survey carried out by GfK NOP in association with Reuters in Britain, users of smartphones such as the Apple (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) iPhone care more about their mobile data allowance than they do about their choice of operator or even handset brand.

FRANKFURT, Aug 12 (Reuters) – German salt miner K+S
(SDFG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) raised its potash sales volume forecast for this year
as a global rebound in demand for fertiliser helped earnings
beat forecasts in the second quarter.

“The welcome development so far this year shows that the
economic situation has bottomed out,” Chief Executive Norbert
Steiner said on Thursday. “The positive trend in fertiliser
demand is set to continue in the second half of the year too.”

FRANKFURT, Aug 4 (Reuters) – German chipmaker Infineon’s
(IFXGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) finance chief quit on Wednesday amid differences over
future strategy that could lead to shelving the sale of its
wireless unit now that its chief executive takes full control.

In a terse statement on Wednesday, Infineon announced that
the 46 year-old Marco Schroeter, who was appointed CFO in 2008,
had left with immediate effect over differences over future
company policy.

FRANKFURT, July 28 (Reuters) – German chipmaker Infineon
(IFXGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) raised its full-year outlook for the second time in
three months thanks to third-quarter results that beat
expectations and an improving outlook for the chip industry.

“We have come a long way in improving profitability and are
now beginning to take aim at our ambitious goal of 15 percent
[operating margin],” Chief Executive Peter Bauer said in a
statement on Wednesday.

FRANKFURT, July 27 (Reuters) – SAP (SAPG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world’s
biggest maker of business software, raised its 2010 sales
forecast by less than the market had hoped given a rebound in
global technology spending.

The disappointing outlook eclipsed solid quarterly results
on Tuesday that confirmed the trend at rivals such as Oracle
(ORCL.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and may help ease concerns that
cautious companies could slow their tech spending again.

FRANKFURT, July 20 (Reuters) – European telecom companies,
especially Nordic operators, have begun to reap the benefit of a
surge in mobile data usage in the second quarter, with some
expected to raise their full-year outlooks.

“We expect rapidly growing data use and operator pricing
power to fuel a return to top-line growth,” said Robin
Bienenstock, analyst at Bernstein research.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Nedim Cen and Peter Bauer have more in common than being CEOs of German tech companies: Cen, who heads solar cell maker Q-Cells(QCEG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), and Bauer, CEO of chipmaker Infineon, are both seen as turnaround men.

Now analysts want Cen to take a page out of Bauer’s book on how to rescue a company from the edge: Q-Cells, once the world’s top maker of solar cells, trades at a tiny fraction of a high hit in late 2007 and clearly needs transformation.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Nedim Cen and Peter Bauer have more in common than being CEOs of German tech companies: Cen, who heads solar cell maker Q-Cells, and Bauer, CEO of chipmaker Infineon, are both seen as turnaround men.

Now analysts want Cen to take a page out of Bauer’s book on how to rescue a company from the edge: Q-Cells, once the world’s top maker of solar cells, trades at a tiny fraction of a high hit in late 2007 and clearly needs transformation.

GUETERSLOH, Germany, July 9 (Reuters) – Arvato, the services unit of German media conglomerate Bertelsmann [BERT.UL], has seen brisk business in the past four months and aims to outperform the outsourcing market this year.

“We expect the outsourcing market to grow 5-6 percent annually … and it is our goal to grow more than that market,” Arvato Chief Executive Rolf Buch told Reuters in an interview.

LONDON/MUNICH (Reuters) – European telecom stocks, which have fallen away badly this year, are set for further losses as they face the threat of rising capital expenditure, stricter regulation and slow economic growth.

Analysts said the lure of traditionally high free cash flows and dividends is unlikely to be sustainable, and are uneasy about the lack of visibility on investments needed to improve and expand networks. Delaying investments, on the other hand, could cost companies customer confidence.