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Apple ( NSDQ: AAPL ) has cut its 2008 iPhone 3G production target by at least 20 percent to 14 million units, according to estimates by Pacific Crest, ZDNet reports . The firm says the cutback from a previous target of 18 million won't impact Apple's bottom line, but may affect various suppliers. "Supply chain channel decks" are said to be the culprit for the decline that could cut revenue estimates for Skyworks Solutions, Triquint Semiconductor, Linear Technology, On Semiconductor and National Semiconductor. While the cutback is significant, even the most conservative estimates suggest Apple will already hit its 10 million target, or will by the end of the year. Apple likely won't confirm until its next earnings. It might be a matter of setting expectations low, but 18 months ago, few expected a new cellphone manufacturer, even Apple, to reach any market share of this size. Some other highlights from the report: -- 8 GB iPhones are seeing the sharpest inventory drawdowns, hinting that smartphone demand is stronger at a lower price point, but Apple could be planning to refresh its lineup with a 16 GB model at $199 and a 32 GB model at $299 soon, putting even more pressure on the handset industry and component suppliers. -- Memory prices are continuing to fall, but the production cutback means Apple wasn't able to clear the large inventory of NAND memory it already owns. That could translate to revenue declines for Sandisk and Micron Technology. Apple Beats Battery-Life Lawsuit: A lawsuit claiming Apple didn't immediately tell customers about limited battery life for its iPhones has been dismissed in a Chicago federal court, Bloomberg reports . U.S. District Judge Matthew F. Kennelly granted Apple's request that the lawsuit be dismissed on the evidence: "Apple disclosed on the outside of the iPhone package that the" battery has "'limited recharge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced by Apple service provider...

At the moment, mobile revenues remained pretty minimal for Warner Music Group ( NYSE: WMG ) in Q2. But during the company's conference call with investors, Edgar Bronfman, Jr., WMG's chairman and CEO, said that although ringtone revenue lagged expectations in the U.S. and Europe, there is hope in future products and services. In particular, Bronfman pointed to Nokia's "Comes With Music" service, which includes unlimited music downloads for a year with the purchase of some Nokia phones. WMG signed on late last month. Comes With Music was unveiled last December and is slated to be launched on Nokia handsets sometime this year. Some of Bronfman's comments on the Nokia deal and mobile in general follow from the transcript on Seeking Alpha : -- The leading example : Bronfman called the bundling access to songs and artists on phones is "an important step in the evolution of digital music. Nokia's Comes with Music is a leading example. We believe all stakeholders will benefit from the access model. It presents an attractive value proposition for consumers who want to achieve a richer, deeper, music experience. Artists have the opportunity to significantly broaden their fan base. Record companies, music publishers, and artists can monetize consumer behavior across vast networks and platforms. And device manufacturers can drive device purchases, customer retention, and data revenue by associating their devices with leading global and local artist brands and comprehensive music offerings." The advent of the access business will allow both the mobile industry and the music industry the ability to view the world through the same lens—namely though "average revenue per user." -- Other access service deals : WMG isn't just betting on Nokia ( NYSE: NOK ). The company has signed access-based deals in France with Orange and with the Danish carrier, TVC. Bronfman hinted at "several" other access deals nearing completion....

Carphone Warehouse profits rose 81 percent to £124 million ($242.39 million) in the year to March 29, on 12 percent better revenues of £4.47 billion ($8.73 billion). But the group has a "cautious" outlook for the next year, "given the poor economic climate and inflationary pressures on European consumers". It blamed the slowdown of the housing market and, intriguingly, the rise of mobile broadband sales for lower take-up of its broadband than expected , warning it expects lower revenue next year if the trend continues. Carphone is betting its new JV with Best Buy will "give us a whole new avenue of potential growth in the wider consumer electronics market place". The company said a 15 percent rise in mobile connections to 11.5 million was primarily down to smartphones offering web and email, and to those wireless broadband dongles - both also expected to be the key growth areas over the next year. Carphone incurred £15 million ($29.32 million) costs integrating AOL's ( NYSE: TWX ) UK ISP business, which it bought in 2006 . The acquisition made its first full-year impact, helping revenue up 29 percent to £1.4 billion ($2.73 billion) in the fixed-line division, which also includes Carphone's own TalkTalk broadband. It's reduced its reliance on BT's ( NYSE: BT ) wholesale broadband network, serving 67 percent of its customers from its own net, up from 31 percent last year, and aiming for 80 percent next March. The group lost £6 million from its stake in Virgin Mobile. Release | Presentation Related Best Buy Pays $2.1 Billion For Half Of Britain's Carphone Warehouse

German telecoms giant Deutsche Telekom ( NYSE: DT ) reported stable first-quarter results with adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of 4.7 billion euros ($7.28 billion), virtually unchanged from the same period a year ago. Net revenue was down slightly by 3.1 percent to 15 billion euros, hit by the customers leaving their broadband and fixed line businesses, and the appreciation of the euro against the US dollar and pound sterling. Still, the results were in line with analyst expectations, and the company said it expects to hit its forecast for 2008 of an adjusted EBITDA of approximately EUR 19.3 billion and free cash flow of some EUR 6.6 billion. Highlights From the Earnings: — DT's mobile unit, T-Mobile scooped up 13.9 million customers in the quarter, with 3.4 million of them coming from its acquisition of Orange Nederland and the US network SunCom. Its total worldwide subscriber base stands at 123 million. — In Germany, T-Mobile Deutschland reported a 3.4 percent decline in revenue to 1.9 billion euros, and adjusted EBITDA fell 1.1 percent to 692 million euros. DT, which reported its subscriber base in Germany was up 12.3 percent to 37.1 million blamed the falling revenue on "fierce price wars." But new calling plans—including MyFaves and Max have begun generating "strong demand," while DT said new flat rate data plans for both cell phones and mobile broadband and its cooperation with Yahoo! ( NSDQ: YHOO ), which powers the search on its wen'n'walk portal has improved its "competitiveness" in the mobile web. — T-Mobile USA saw revenues hurt by the declining dollar . Revenue dipped slightly year-on-year by 0.2 percent to 3.5 billion euros, while adjusted EBITDA rose 3.3 percent to EUR 966 million. When measured in US dollars, however, revenue increased by 14.1 percent, and adjusted EBITDA was up 18 percent. DT attributed the growth to stable ARPU rates and "strong" customer growth...

Spanish telecoms firm Telefonica ( NYSE: TEF ) reported fourth quarter earnings today. Fourth quarter profits rose to 1.06 billion euros ($1.6 billion) from 1.04 billion euros a year ago, with rising to 14.4 billion euros from 14.2 billion euros. Growth in Latin America helped Europe's second largest telecoms firm offset costs relating to Spainish job cuts, reports Bloomberg . Yearly net profits, however, were up 43 percent, climbing to 8.906 million euros from a year ago. For 2008, Telefonica forecast sales growth of 6 percent to 8 percent, with operating income before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization rising 7.5 percent to 11 percent. Telefonica is currently in the process of restructuring the company as its traditional wireline business shrinks. It has been trying to shift its focus on mobile telephony and broadband, as well as cutting its reliance on the declining Spanish market for more high-growth ones in Latin america and other parts of Europe. On Wednesday, Telefonica announced plans to buy back 100 million of its shares by the first half of 2009. At current prices the buyback is worth about 1.96 billion euros ($2.95 billion).( Release in PDF Form ). Other Highlights from Q4 include: — Growth in mobile accesses at Telefonica climbed 16.6 percent year-on-year to 169.2 million total customers. In Brazil, Telefonica added 2.2 million an almost seven-fold increase from the same period in 2006. In Mexico, it added nearly1.5 million customers, up 32 percent year-on-year. In Spain, net adds in the quarter totalled 406,837 up 6.4 percent compared with 2006, bringing the total customer base in Spain to 22.8 million. In Europe, Telefonica added 1 million customers in the quarter, up 8.6 percent, for a total European base (excluding Spain) of 38.3 million. — Growth in mobile accesses at Telefonica climbed 16.6 percent year-on-year to 169.2 million total customers. In Brazil, Telefonica added 2.2 million an almost seven-fold increase from the same period...

Zed , the Madrid-based company that creates community and messaging platforms for the Internet and mobile, said it recorded $545 million in revenues in 2007, increasing from the year ago period when the company recorded revenues of $338 million. In 2008, the company estimates revenues will grow to more than $870 million. The private company's figures are not according to GAAP accounting standards, and Zed did not report other results, including details on whether it's profitable. In 2007, Zed said it signed agreements with AOL and Metacafe, and in the upcoming year plans to launch its products and services in India, Brazil and Australia to increase Zed's presence to 55 countries. Zed, which also goes by its corporate name LaNetro Zed, bought UK-based Monstermob last year.