There is a consultation space used by alternative therapists as well as the village doctors, and three business units, housing newly-thriving businesses.

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This set a new record for the company, but it was well below the expectations of several analysts, who had predicted that Apple would sell as many as 10 million units during the three-day period.

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The three companies will have their own management, and operate as wholly owned units of Alibaba Group.

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And, before that, the most accelerated consumer device in history was the iPod, which took three times as long, or 15 quarters, to sell over 28M units.

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The latter will consist of three free-standing units a square glass pavilion (as a workroom for the sculptor's poet wife), a tall triangle of recycled steel (forming the sculptor's studio) and an arc-shaped monolith of untreated wood, whose patina will turn grey with age (for the couple's house).

ECONOMIST: Building design

Shinozuka diplomatically predicts that Oki's computer, telecom and chip units will account for the same shares of sales in three years as they do today.

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Envisioned as an affordable housing solution, each Oil Silo Home is divided into three units that are accessible via a central pneumatic elevator or exterior walkway that wraps around each silo.

FORBES: Written by Matt Hickman