Reports additionally forecast that 90% of Chinese newspapers would have digital editions by 2013. Perhaps it’s not an exaggeration to say that print media will move to mobile phones, especially when every other type of digital content already has.

What does this mean? It means getting an unlocked iPhone will be incrementally harder and considerably more expensive. Even if you pay for the phone and cancel your contract for a $175 fee, the phone will cost around $500, all told. While this is good news for Apple and AT&T - the unlocking imperative just got quite expensive - it’s bad news for folks who haven’t yet gotten iPhones in their respective countries and/or T-Mobile fans who don’t want to switch to AT&T.

This order follows a June procurement for 25 million of the same chips.

IGM held more than half its assets in its top ten holdings during those three months—standard operating procedure for this fund—so strong performance by the largest U.S. tech stocks gave the fund's momentum a strong boost. IGM ranked 14th on the ETF Momentum Tracker Sector Table last week, up from 33rd on April 8. Whether IGM's momentum continues to build will depend largely on a few factors: how much tech spending slows in response to the turmoil in the U.S. economy, the success of the latest products released by major U.S. tech firms, and the ability of those firms to tap into overseas markets.

While bears have been calling for a renewed drop in NAND pricing, they believe the 50M chip order could remove a lot of NAND inventory and reduce a lot of inventory overhang from Samsung. Think believes it will also stabilize the NAND spot and contract pricing trends. If the pickup from the AAPL iPhone, given what they view as an attractive $199 price-tag in the U.S. and free offers in some countries, is ahead of forecasts, it could drive more allocations from Samsung and help stabilize NAND pricing through the quarter

After six months of nothing happening on the Kindle front, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos issued a press release calling the Kindle a "huge success" and a "revolutionary" device. Now, we're not new to such hype, but the clincher here is he had no numbers, no sales figures and no revenue amounts to support his claim. And immediately, pandering analysts raised the price target on Amazon, yet again making life difficult for shorts.

Nokia’s Comes With Music service will be a significant step forward in the evolution of digital music. It’s the first global initiative to fundamentally align the interests of music companies with telecommunications companies.

In a research note, Mr. Fan says RIM indicated that C$2.1-billion of the purchase obligations are related to purchase orders with contract manufacturers, which supports his view that the increase “appears to support our view of a large upcoming ramp in units.”  However, he noted that there isn’t a strong correlation between purchase obligations and units, so the figures offer “better directional rather than absolute” indications for what may lie ahead.

Employment figures are the really important news and this will be published on Thursday, with an expected 50,000 more jobs lost in June, taking unemployment to 5.4%. Tuesday saw the publication of the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index for June, and due to be published Tuesday is the Institute of Supply Management Survey, which tracks the manufacturing sector in the US.

Rosenbluth notes that the stock through yesterday’s close was down 18% since the company reported earnings June 26 (see earnings call transcript). “We are still concerned about how PALM will succeed in a competitive smartphone market as the U.S. economy slows, and we believe increased marketing efforts will weight on PALM’s profitability,” he writes.

So, if the leaders have all but gone away, what’s left to prop up this market? It’s hard to find any optimism as every rally is quickly squashed with sellers out-pacing buyers. Decliners lead advancers on the Nasdaq by a 2 to 1 margin, with new lows crushing new highs 8 to 1! In my estimation, the markets are going lower today (Tuesday July 1).

Interest in the new iPhone exceeds other brands like Research In Motion (RIMM) (23%), Palm (PALM) (3%), HTC (2%), Nokia (NOK) (2%), Samsung (2%), Motorola (MOT)(1%), and others (11%), RBC told clients.

Welcome to the new reality in the smartphone market–picky customers, rough economic sledding and features that no longer warrant a few extra dollars.

In the latest sign that demand is slackening, Vijay Rakesh, an analyst with ThinkPanmure, noted this morning that Samsung has cut the retail price for 32-inch LCD televisions by 15% to $599. He thinks Sony (SNE) and Sharp will follow suit. “Since retail TV inventory is picking up, we expect TV panel pricing to fall sharply in July to keep demand stable,” he wrote in a research note.

Um says that management’s discussion in the 6-K of the company’s fiscal first quarter, reported last Thursday, contains some detail about what’s known as “purchase obligations and commitments,” or POC, that RiM has outstanding — basically, money it’s pledged to spend on parts and on contract manufacturing. The total amount of POC is up 53% from the prior quarter, which Um takes as a “directional” indication of “a large upcoming ramp in units” at RiM.

And those that have been sanctioned by Apple are finding out too late that they have guessed wrong about the depth to which Apple is willing to help them. Makers of location-based software expected to benefit from the new iPhone's global-positioning system. Yet they are finding out that Apple won't support "applications designed or marketed for real-time route guidance." The clause in the iPhone developer tool-kit agreement essentially voids months of work by TomTom NV and other navigation providers.

Notablecalls: Both look like good bounce plays here.