The risk here is that as Huawei and ZTE continue their assault on low-end smartphone market, the arrival of iPhone 4S will suck the oxygen out of the high-end smartphone segment, triggering order cancellations from Samsung, Nokia, LG, Sony Ericsson and HTC.

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At the high-end segment of the market, the wines are meant to age for years or even decades.

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My thought was to help that momentum, by backing and then announcing that backing right after the end of my Kick-a-thon segment to tie it all together.

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And it really marks the end of the major assembly of at least the U.S. orbiting segment to -- as we transition into full utilization of this magnificent orbiting laboratory.

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China Telecom is looking to tap into the high-end segment as it attempts to drive further adoption of its stand alone wireless service.

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The problem for all players in this competitive low-end segment is that Amazon is more motivated by the prospect of the Kindle Fire as an enticing storefront for its merchandise than by direct profits.

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Hamada notes that adjusting for currency, Avnet expects top-line sequential growth of 4.2% for the electronics marketing segment, at the low end of the normal sequential improvement in the 4%-7% range.

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As of Sept. 24, the end of Apple's fiscal year, the company's retail segment had about 36, 000 full-time employees.

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