The iPhone 5 & iPad mini go to China

FORTUNE -- There was mixed reaction on Wall Street to Apple's (AAPL) announcement about which new products are headed to China and when they might get there.

The key paragraph (with irritating trademark symbols stripped out):

The Wi-Fi versions of iPad mini and fourth generation iPad with Retina display will be available in China on Friday, December 7, and iPhone 5 will be available on Friday, December 14. iPad mini and the new fourth generation iPad with Retina display are currently available in 42 countries, and iPhone 5 is available in 47 countries, including the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the UK.

Excerpts from the early analyst's reactions:

Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster: China iPhone Launch Slightly Earlier Than Expected. "We had previously expected both products to go on sale in China during the quarter and while the iPad timing is generally in-line with our prior thinking, the iPhone 5 will be available about a week earlier than we expected. The bottom line is that the China iPhone 5 announcement gives us slightly greater confidence in our 45 million unit iPhone estimate for December."

Topeka's Brian White: During the Year of the Snake, Expect China to Devour the Apple. "Although we expected the iPhone 5 to arrive in China in December, we were not expecting the iPad mini and fourth generation iPad to be launched in the country this year. Also, we were surprised on the upside by the fact the new iPads are now in 42 countries, while the iPhone 5 rollout seems a bit slower than expected and in 47 countries."

ISI's Brian Marshall: Quick Thoughts on AAPL's continued penetration of China. "We continue to expect the iPhone 5 will be in ~100 countries and ~240 carriers by the end of Dec (e.g., nearly 100% of their total carrier partner base). From a technology perspective, the iPhone 5 is significant as it is the first iPhone capable of running on all 3 major carrier networks in China (e.g., CHL, CHU, CHA.) Big question remains however…when will China Mobile (CHL, world's largest carrier with ~700 million wireless subs) start selling the iPhone? Our best guess is 2H13."

More as they come in.

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Samsung audit finds China issues

26 November 2012 Last updated at 10:29 GMT Samsung has asked its suppliers to adopt new hiring process with immediate effect Samsung says an audit of 105 of its suppliers in China has identified "several instances of inadequate practices at the facilities".

These included overtime in excess of local laws as well as fines for being late or absent from work.

However, it found no evidence of under-age workers at any of the suppliers.

The audit followed a report by China Labor Watch which alleged that it had evidence of long working hours and under-age workers.

"Samsung did not identify any instance of child labour during the audits after reviewing HR records of all workers aged below 18 and conducting face-to-face ID checks," the company said in statement.

The South Korean manufacturer said that it had asked all its suppliers to adopt a new hiring process immediately to address the problems identified.

It said that among other things, it had asked the suppliers to develop a longer term plan to resolve working hour practices by the end of this year and also to correct irregularities in labour contracts.

Samsung said it was reviewing practices at another 144 of its suppliers in China.

Corrective measures

China Labor Watch (CLW), a New York-based campaign group, has published two reports about alleged breach of labour laws at factories of Samsung and its suppliers in China.

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Except the overtime issue, violations covered in the report are not in line with our knowledge”

End Quote Samsung Electronics The first, published in August, alleged that it had found seven children - all of them are under the age of 16 - working at a factory of Samsung's supplier HEG Electronics.

Samsung had carried out an audit of that factory and said it did not find any evidence of child labour.

It was after that report Samsung announced that it would conduct an audit of 249 suppliers in China.

But just as Samsung promised to carry out the checks at its suppliers, CLW published another report alleging "illegal and inhumane violations" at eight Samsung factories in China.

CLW said it had found evidence of "forced and excessive overtime", "extensive labour contract violations", "abuse of underage workers", "lack of worker safety" and "severe discrimination based on age, gender, and individual characteristics unrelated to the job" among other breaches.

Samsung said that it had conducted regular checks as well as unannounced inspections of all its factories in China in October.

"Except the overtime issue, violations covered in the report are not in line with our knowledge," Samsung said.

It added that it would correct its working hours practices and meet the local guidelines by the end of 2014.

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German sentiment buoyed by China, U.S.

Business climate index from Munich's Ifo Institute shows first gain since March

LONDON (CNNMoney) -- The German economy is showing signs of resilience, after growth slowed in the third quarter, as companies look beyond the eurozone crisis to brighter prospects in China and the United States.

The Ifo business climate index published Friday rose to 101.4 in November, from 100 in October, showing its first month-on-month gain since March.

Companies expressed greater satisfaction with their current situation and were slightly less pessimistic about the future.

"The German economy is holding up in the face of the euro crisis," said Ifo Institute president Hans-Werner Sinn.

German growth has been hampered by the recession in the eurozone, with gross domestic product expanding by just 0.2% in the third quarter, compared with 0.3% in the second and 0.5% in the first.

Related: Eurozone risks on the rise

Economists expect Europe's powerhouse to contract in the fourth quarter. But the Ifo survey of some 7,000 companies in manufacturing and trade suggests it should avoid following many of its regional trading partners into recession.

"To the contrary, the creeping decoupling from the rest of the eurozone -- only one third of German exports currently go to eurozone peers -- enables the economy to benefit quickly from any rebound of the global economy," said Carsten Brzeski, senior economist at ING. "In this regard, latest signs of improvement from the US and China were good news for German companies."

China posted third quarter GDP growth at an annual rate of 7.4%, way below its long-term average of around 10%. But recent data point to a rebound in the fourth quarter.

HSBC's purchasing managers' index published Thursday showed China factory output accelerating.

U.S. growth picked up in the third quarter and there is evidence of a sustained recovery in the housing sector.

Related: Service sector adds to eurozone gloom

But the German economy still faces considerable headwinds, as reflected in deteriorating confidence in the country's service sector.

PMI data this week showed the sharpest fall in activity in Germany's services industry since June 2009. The outlook was the most pessimistic since March 2009, as firms worried about leaner client budgets and the impact of the eurozone crisis on investment decisions.

Ifo's separate survey of some 2,500 service sector firms confirmed that the outlook was deteriorating. The overall climate reading slipped to 8.5 in November, down from 9.1 in October.

First Published: November 23, 2012: 7:16 AM ET

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