The people of Greece are now having to pay the price of past official financial mismanagement, as the government takes drastic steps to try to avert a euro debt default. Paul Mason went to Athens to report on the human cost of political hubris.
Broadcast on Wednesday 28 September 2011.
The company behind the Superdry brand said the problems had seen a "reduction both in the amount of stock and range of sizes reaching its UK stores".
The firm said the problems centred on an upgrade to its Gloucester warehouse.
Supergroup's shares ended the day 30% lower at ￡7.07.
In a management statement, the firm said it estimated "the total cost of this isolated event, including the additional temporary warehousing capability and resulting lost sales will impact the current year's profitability by between ￡6m and ￡9m".
Supergroup, which is based in Cheltenham, also said its stock levels would increase by ￡2m.
Analysts believe the problem will add to a range of difficult factors facing the firm, including the tough consumer climate, a weak August and the unseasonably warm September weather discouraging the purchase of autumn clothes.
In July, Supergroup said that profits for the year to May had jumped by 110% to ￡47.3m.
Supergroup floated its shares on the London Stock Exchange in March 2010, at a price of ￡5 per share.
Stocks in France and Germany have fallen in value by more than 25% since the end of June.
Shares in London's FTSE are down 13.7%, the worst quarterly performance since 2002.
Friday's falls follow an unexpectedly sharp rise in the eurozone inflation rate for September to 3%.
Investors had hoped the European Central Bank would move to lower interest rates in the eurozone, after raising them in July to 1.5% to limit inflation.
However, the latest inflation figures may make such a move less likely.
Wall Street's main Dow Jones index ended Friday trading down 2.2% to record its worst quarterly performance since 2008.
Eurozone worriesBut Friday's falls were just the latest bout of volatility in European markets, which have failed to regain ground since crashing towards the end of July.
Continue reading the main story
Jamie Robertson Presenter, BBC World News Following all the violent swings in equity markets since the sharp falls at the beginning of August, the main markets have not really moved outside fairly narrow ranges: the FTSE between 5,000 and 5,400 and the Dow between 10,800 and 11,600.
The Nikkei, the Dax and the Cac 40 have been gradually trending downwards by about 6-10% over the past two months. This is almost entirely due to uncertainty over the debt crisis and the fate of the eurozone.
However, even if there is no further bad news on that front, things are likely to get very active for individual companies.
Many of them, particularly ones that move in tandem with the economic cycle such as those in mining, retail, the auto sector and manufacturing, are trading on values that imply double digit growth.
October's results season could upset a lot of earnings forecasts, as markets come to terms with the prospect of near-zero growth in Europe and the US, and companies undergoing what are politely called price adjustments.
Economists say worries over the ability of eurozone countries to pay their debts are sparking concerns of a new banking and credit crisis."The euro area debt crisis has potential ramifications to euro area banking sectors in particular," said Grant Lewis, head of research at Daiwa capital markets.
"You've got concerns that a Greek default going wider into something more serious in terms of an Italian default, for example, that would leave banking sectors under-capitalised as well as having a calamitous effect on the economic outlook."
Shares in Germany's Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank both lost more than 30% in value since the end of June.
Stocks in French banks fared even worse. Societe Generale saw its stock fall more than 50%, while BNP Paribas saw its share price fall more than 40%.
The share falls have therefore been most pronounced in eurozone countries, with the FTSE falling less than benchmark German and French exchanges.
Brent crude was also set for the biggest quarterly fall since the financial crisis of 2008.
Oil for delivery in one month's time fell just over 8% to $103 a barrel in London as investors worried about a slowdown in the global economy.
Worries ahead Global markets have been hit by a 'toxic cocktail' of factors, says one economistDespite the record quarterly falls, markets remain up on the levels they reached after the 2008 financial crisis.
"There are certainly widespread indications of pretty serious financial stress, but they are not by and large as dramatic as they were in 2007 and 2008," George Magnus, European economist at UBS, told the BBC.
"Then, the whole edifice of the Western banking system was about to implode. At that point, I think it was far more dramatic than it is now."
But investors and economists fear the situation may deteriorate further.
Markets are likely to look to forthcoming company results and quarterly economic data for their next move.
In the longer term, economists say they are seeking reassurance from politicians.
"I think markets are expecting something of substance to be revealed by the G20 [group of leading nations] in November and if it isn't, we could be in a lot of trouble," Mr Magnus added.
Foreign domestic helpers are required to leave the country within two weeks if dismissed by employers Hong Kong's High Court has ruled that a domestic helper from the Philippines should be allowed to apply for permanent residency in the city. The case was brought by Evangeline Banao Vallejos, who has lived in Hong Kong since 1986.
The ruling follows a landmark judicial review and could lead to more than 100,000 other foreign maids winning rights to residency.
The case has sparked widespread debate on equal treatment for foreign maids.
Mark Daly, the lawyer acting on behalf of Ms Vallejos, said that she was very pleased by the ruling, which meant that all domestic helpers now were able to apply for permanent residency.
"When we told her she said 'thank God'," he said, adding that it was a normal working day for her.
"It's a good day for the rule of law," he added.
Mr Daly pointed out that the government had 28 days to appeal.
A spokesman said the government was analysing the judgement and would issue a formal response later in the day.
Public resources
Some critics have said granting residency to domestic helpers would strain the provision of health care, education and public housing.
Continue reading the main storyWe hope it will pave the way for Hong Kong to open its doors to equal treatment for migrant workers”End Quote Norman Carnay Mission for Migrant Workers While other non-Chinese nationals can obtain residency after working in Hong Kong for seven years, immigration rules exclude domestic helpers from seeking permanent residency.
Human rights lawyers and many domestic helpers argue that this is discriminatory.
Permanent residency means that a person can remain in Hong Kong indefinitely, vote and stand in elections.
But some politicians and commentators warned that allowing foreign domestic helpers to have permanent residency would allow them to bring their children and other relatives to the city, who would require education and housing.
Equal treatment
Norman Carnay, programme officer at the Mission for Migrant Workers said that he welcomed the decision.
"We hope it will pave the way for Hong Kong to open its doors to equal treatment for migrant workers," he said.
But he added that right of abode was not necessarily a priority for many domestic helpers.
"From surveys of our community, the more pressing concerns are wages and working conditions," he said.
There are more than 300,000 foreign domestic helpers in Hong Kong, mainly from Indonesia and the Philippines. It is thought that around 120,000 have lived here for more than seven years.
They are required to live with their employers and cannot accept other jobs.
Without the right to permanent residency, if a maid is dismissed by her employer, she must find another job as a domestic helper or leave Hong Kong within two weeks.
Hong Kong's domestic workers have a guaranteed minimum wage of 3,740 Hong Kong dollars ($480; ￡308) a month and day off each week, meaning their working conditions are better than other countries in Asia with large numbers of domestic helpers, such as Singapore.
This is higher than the 1% growth it reported in its second estimate, but the same as its first calculation for the three month period.
Consumer spending and exports were both stronger than previously estimated.
Last week, the Federal Reserve unveiled a new plan to try to help the economy.
Under a scheme dubbed Operation Twist, the US central bank is selling about $400bn (￡260bn) worth of bonds maturing within three years and buying longer-term debt.
The sluggish growth in the US economy has not been sufficient to reduce high levels of unemployment, with the jobless rate in August at 9.1%.
For the first six months of 2011 the US economy expanded by 0.9%, the lowest rate of growth in more than two years.
Joe Manimbo, analyst at Travelex Global Payments in Washington, welcomed the latest economic growth figures.
"The final print of second-quarter GDP came out a little bit faster than expected and that suggests the US economy entered the third quarter on a slightly better footing," he said.
Most economists expect the economy to improve in the third quarter, with predictions that it will grow at an annualised pace of about 2%.
With fears about a slowdown in China also hitting sentiment, US light crude had fallen $2.40 a barrel to $84.05.
Brent crude was also lower, dropping $1.66 to $110.67 per barrel.
The falls come after data on Friday showed that the US economy added no new jobs in August, a much worse reading than had been expected.
Analysts had predicted that the non-farm payrolls figures from the Department of Labor would show about 70,000 new jobs had been created.
The unemployment rate remained unchanged in August at 9.1%.
In Europe, the main share indexes were down sharply as concerns continue about the high debt levels of eurozone countries, and how these could impact on the wider economy.
Germany's Dax index and France's Cac were both 2.6% lower in morning trading.
Meanwhile, a report in China said that the country's service sector grew in August at its slowest pace since records began.
"Oil is falling on worries over weak demand, unemployment and talk of a double dip recession," said Eugen Weinberg, head of commodities research at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.
He added that oil prices would be falling further were it not for growing optimism that the US central bank, the Federal Reserve, will announce new measures later this month to try to stimulate the US economy.
Mr Borg said Sweden's experience of a financial transaction tax was "very bad" A European financial transaction tax is unlikely to raise the sums of money projected as it would encourage firms to move overseas, Sweden's finance minister has told the BBC.Anders Borg said Sweden abandoned its own transaction tax after most trading companies left the country.
The tax "had a very detrimental impact on our financial markets", he said.
If the European Union introduces the tax, firms could simply move to New York or Asia, Mr Borg said.
'Very bad tax'Sweden introduced a transaction tax on financial firms in the 1980s.
"Between 90%-99% of traders in bonds, equities and derivatives moved out of Stockholm to London," Mr Borg said.
Continue reading the main storyWe are basically taxing growth away from Europe, and that is not a very good idea”End Quote Anders Borg Swedish Finance Minister "The impact was basically that we did not get any tax revenue. It brought in very little tax money while moving most of the businesses outside of Sweden.
"We abandoned [the tax] because it was a very, very bad functioning tax."
The fact that the US has said it has no intention of introducing a similar tax, meant that firms would be free to move to other financial centres, Mr Borg said.
"So we are basically taxing growth away from Europe, and that is not a very good idea.
"I hope [policymakers] realise they might be losing out themselves. This is not a stable tax base."
Mr Borg said he was in favour of making the banking system pay, and making it more robust, but that any measures designed to bring this about should not push firms out of Europe.
Hard hitThe UK has also been vocal in its opposition to the tax proposed by the European Commission earlier this week.
A spokesperson for the UK Treasury said it would "absolutely resist" any tax that was not introduced globally.
London would be hardest hit by the tax as the majority of banking transactions in Europe come through the city.
However, a number of other European countries are in favour of the tax, including France, Austria, Belgium, Norway and Spain.
The commission has said it will look at implementing the tax just in the 17 member states of the eurozone if other EU members oppose it.
Under the proposals, the financial tax would be levied at a rate of 0.1% on all transactions between institutions when at least one party is based in the EU. Derivative contracts would be taxed at a rate of 0.01%.
The tax would raise about 57bn euros ($78bn; ￡50bn) a year and would come into effect at the start of 2014, the commission said.
Mr Osborne has found ￡805m to freeze council tax in England in 2012-13 - saving people ￡72 a year.
But he stressed that money is still tight and there will be no deviation from his deficit reduction plan.
He said solving the eurozone crisis remains the most important factor in kick starting growth in the UK.
The chancellor has been under pressure from Labour to cut VAT to inject money into the economy - and from senior figures in his own party to scrap the 50p top rate of income tax.
'Debt crisis'But in a sober speech to party activists, the chancellor said it would be wrong to borrow money to fund temporary tax cuts or increase public spending.
He did, however, announce that the Treasury would engage in "credit easing" - a move aimed at cutting the cost of borrowing for hard-pressed businesses, as well as improving access to loans.
The BBC's business editor Robert Peston said the move, which would involve the public sector buying bonds issues by companies, was "potentially very significant" but full details would not be revealed until the chancellor's autumn statement in November.
In his speech, Mr Osborne said he had "thought hard" about what more can be done to boost growth and explored "every single option" - but "borrowing too much is the cause of Britain's problems, not the solution".
Continue reading the main story
Nick Robinson BBC Political Editor The most significant announcement in the chancellor's speech is also the one fewest will understand.
It is his pledge that the Treasury will engage in "credit easing" - ie some as yet unspecified way to underwrite loans to small businesses who are struggling to get credit now.
The speech that they are quoting at the top of government is by Adam Posen (a member of the Bank of England's interest rate-setting committee).
Although I'm told that his proposal for a new bank may take too long to implement.
"We would be risking our nation's credit rating for a few billion pounds more, when that amount is dwarfed by the scale and power of the daily flows of money in the international bond markets, swirling around ready to pick off the next country."We will not take that risk. We are in a debt crisis, it is not like a normal recovery. You can't borrow your way out of debt."
And he added: "I'm a believer in tax cuts - permanent tax cuts paid for by sound public finances.
"Right now, temporary tax cuts or more spending are two sides of exactly the same coin, a coin that has to be borrowed - more debt that has to be paid off."
Mr Osborne said Britain's economic troubles were caused by the "catastrophic mistakes" of the previous Labour administration, as well as banks which "let down their customers, let down their shareholders and let down this country".
'Underspend'He said the government is helping businesses by keeping interest rates low - "the most powerful stimulus that exists" - but borrowing billions of pounds more would put that at risk.
Mr Osborne's speech comes as the Institute of Directors called for a fresh effort to boost economic growth in the UK.
The chancellor announced increased investment in scientific research and the extension of mobile phone coverage to six million people - as well as extra cash from a Whitehall "underspend" to fund a council tax freeze.
The government cannot force councils to freeze bills but it is offering to give those that limit spending rises to 2.5% the money they need.Money would also be offered to the Scottish and Welsh administrations, which will choose how it is spent.
Speaking earlier to BBC News, Mr Osborne said a solution to the eurozone debt crisis must be found by the time the Group of 20 nations meet next month and failure to do so would be "terrible not just for Britain, not just for Europe, but for the entire world economy".
The chancellor, who is travelling to Luxembourg for a meeting with European finance ministers, told BBC News that the 17 eurozone nations meeting in Luxembourg on Monday must decisively figure out how to handle Greece's debts, and urged them to extend the size of their bailout fund.
Credit ratingThe chancellor's speech comes as Standard and Poor's said it would hold the UK's credit rating at the highest possible level in light of its "wealthy and diversified economy" and said the outlook remained "stable".
But the agency, which released the announcement just as Mr Osborne took to the stage in Manchester, said the government's efforts to correct the UK's public finances would "weigh on the economy".
For Labour, shadow Treasury minister Chris Leslie said it was "staggering" the speech did not give more attention to the "growth problem".
He said: "His speech really seemed incredibly complacent and quite frankly out of touch, out of touch with the realities of some of the costs that ordinary people face, the difficulties that businesses are facing and no plan for growth."
But Andrew Tyrie, the senior Conservative backbencher who said at the weekend that the government was not doing enough to promote economic growth, told the BBC: "I think it's a huge step forward, and will be widely welcomed not only in the party, but by all those people in the country who also need a growth strategy to help them move forward."
The increase takes account of the current economic uncertainty The minimum wage has gone up, with the main rate for adults aged 21 or over rising by 15p to ￡6.08 an hour.The development rate - for those aged 18 to 20 - goes up by 6p to ￡4.98 an hour, for 16 and 17-year-olds it rises by 4p to ￡3.68 an hour and the hourly apprentice rate rises by 10p to ￡2.60.
The TUC welcomed the rise but Unison said the rates were still too low.
The minimum wage was introduced in 1999 at ￡3.60 an hour for adults, and is set each year by the Low Pay Commission.
The commission recommended this year's increase in a report to the government in April.It said the increases would balance the needs of low-paid workers and their employers facing difficulties during a period of economic uncertainty.
As levels of youth unemployment are relatively high, it recommended a lower increase for young workers than for their older counterparts, to try to encourage employers to keep them on.
The TUC it estimated the increases would benefit nearly 900,000, mainly female, workers.
The general secretary of the public sector union, Unison, said ￡8 an hour was needed to provide a living wage.
"The rise to ￡6.08 is a welcome cushion, but with the price of everyday essentials such as food, gas and electricity going up massively, it won't lift enough working people out of the poverty trap," Dave Prentis said.
As a result, he called on employers to pay more than the absolute minimum.
President Sata has begun a mass shake-out of political appointees inherited from his predecessor Newly-elected Zambian President Michael Sata has cancelled the controversial sale of one of the country's banks.The $5.4bn sale of Finance Bank to FirstRand of South Africa was agreed under his predecessor, Rupiah Banda.
The bank had been seized from its shareholders in 2010 by Zambia's central bank, who alleged illegal and unsound practices.
Mr Sata, whose election ended the 20-year rule of the previous regime, has vowed to shake-up the political system.
After only a week in power, the president has already sacked the head of the central bank, as well as a string of other appointees of the previous government, including the head of the anti-corruption authority.
The original decision of the central bank to strip the bank's shareholders has also been overturned.
"There's no document of sale for Finance Bank and I am directing the ministry of finance to take the bank back to its owners immediately," said Mr Sata.
The bank's chairman, Rajan Mahtani, said he was grateful: "I am happy that Zambian investment has been restored to Zambian investors. It was all politically motivated."
FirstRand, a major South African bank, said it had received no formal notification of the decision and would continue to liaise with the Zambian central bank.
Qatar now has 11 years to prepare for the 2022 World Cup To say the football world was shocked when Qatar was given the right to host the 2022 football World Cup would be an understatement.Critics, and many still remain, wondered how such a massive event could be held in a country with a total population less than Greater Manchester's, and where the summer temperature can reach 50C.
However, the man at the helm of organising the tournament insists criticism is misplaced and that the Middle Eastern Emirate will be able to stage a memorable tournament 11 years from now.
Hassan al-Thawadi, the secretary-general of the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, is looking to provide a World Cup memorable for all the right reasons.
Mr al-Thawadi said that two billion people were within a four-hour flight of Qatar, and that the World Cup would "build bridges of understanding between the Middle East and rest of the world".
And some bridges need to be built.
He said that since Fifa had awarded it the tournament, the emirate had faced an "avalanche of accusations and allegations" relating to claims it had bribed its way to securing the World Cup.
Mr al-Thawadi said Qatar had in fact conducted its bid campaign "to the highest ethical and moral standards".
'Promises'Now he wants to focus on leaving a "bold legacy" from hosting a World Cup which some analysts estimate could cost as much as ￡138bn to bring about.
Qatar hopes to leave a legacy in the areas of football development, air-cooling technology, building modular stadiums (which can be downsized after the event), and fan experience.
New stadiums will be built and existing ones will have their capacity extended "We can deliver... and fulfil the promises we made to the world," Mr al-Thawadi told delegates at the Leaders in Football conference in London.
He said Qatar has been drawing inspiration about how to host a successful event from a number of sources, including London 2012.
The small nation, population 1.7 million, is now looking to appoint a project management company by the end of the year - "a crucial appointment which we must get right".
It is also looking to draw up a "master schedule" for stadiums and infrastructure, in order to resolve any potential pitfalls on the road to 2022 as soon as possible.
There will be 12 stadiums in use at the World Cup, and it is hoped the first new one with air-cooling technology with will be in place by 2015.
CoolingIn addition, Mr al-Thawadi said the 2022 World Cup would benefit from a "state-of-the-art transport infrastructure" which needed to be largely constructed from scratch.
The official said that the small size of the emirate meant fans would be able to stay in the same hotel for the duration of the tournament, and also to travel easily and take in two games in one day at different venues.One on the thorny question of temperature, the country says it is also developing air-cooling techniques.
"Technology is already being trialled in open spaces in Qatar," says Mr Al al-Thawadi.
There has been talk of moving the World Cup to the winter, but this notion has been scotched my many, including the German football federation.
"We submitted a bid that looks towards hosting a summer World Cup - we are moving towards that," says the 2022 supremo.
He said it was up to the global football community to come to any unanimous decision if that situation was ever to be changed.
Meanwhile, nine of the stadiums being used will be modular, and Qatar will donate 170,000 seats to developing countries after the World Cup, when stadiums are slimmed down.
That he said, meant the country would not be lumbered with any large "white elephant" rarely full stadiums after 2022.
AlcoholFor potential visiting fans, Mr al-Thawadi wanted to quell fears that there would be nothing for them to do after matches.
Continue reading the main storyWe are confident and excited that this will leave a legacy of understanding, and that people can unite through a shared love of football”End Quote Hassan al-Thawadi Qatar 2022 "There is significant investment in tourism in Qatar, museums and entertainment sites, and a service industry dedicated towards fans," he says.
"We have always said alcohol would be available. It might not be as available as it is in London, but any fan that wants to enjoy a drink can do so."
He said the Qatar public would also be prepared for the influx of fans and, for example, their different dress sense.
In addition, he said Qatar was host to many different communities, including English people, and was "used to being hospitable".
He added: "We have hosted major events over the years" - including the 2006 Asian Games.
CatalystThe country has also applied to host the 2017 World Athletics Championship - in competition with London - and also the 2020 Olympics.
"The Olympic Games bid is not a distraction to 2022, and may be an opportunity for some synergies with the World Cup."
It is hoped the 2022 World Cup will help improve football quality in Qatar Hosting these large sporting events could, he said, be used as "an economic tool".
"The World Cup can be a catalyst of economic change," he believes, not only for Qatar but for the whole Middle East region.
He said a number of yet-to-be-revealed initiatives were in the pipeline to involve other Middle East countries' participation in the World Cup.
Finally, on the playing field, it is hoped that 2022 will provide the same boost to football in West Asia that the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan did for East Asia, particularly the two host countries.
"We want people to come and explore, and learn about us," he says.
"We are confident and excited that this will leave a legacy of understanding, and that people can unite through a shared love of football."
The test purchases were part of an EU-wide campaign to check consumer rights More than half of traders failed to give full refunds to customers who pulled out of online purchases during a cooling-off period, tests have shown.Under consumer rights law, all costs - including delivery costs - should be refunded if consumers decide to cancel the contract in the allotted time.
Test purchasing by European authorities found that in 57% of cases, traders failed to reimburse delivery costs.
A BBC investigation highlighted the issue in December.
Online shoppingWhen buying from the internet, unlike in a shop, customers are unable to examine the goods before they buy them.
As a result, a cooling-off period is available to people shopping online. In the UK, shoppers have seven working days to return items bought on the internet that they do not want to keep. In some European countries it is longer.
There are a few exceptions, such as unwrapped CDs and perishable goods, but otherwise the money should be credited to the buyer's account as soon as possible and within 30 days at the latest.
Continue reading the main story In the UK, there is a cooling-off period of seven working days for unwanted itemsTraders should refund within 30 days, unless previously agreed otherwiseDelivery charges should also be reimbursedSome perishable goods such as foods and flowers are exemptRights for goods that are not of satisfactory quality are the same as the High Street - a refund, replacement or repairAny refund should include delivery costs incurred by the customer.During a mystery shopping exercise by European authorities in 2003, these delivery costs were not reimbursed in 53% of cases.
But 305 tests earlier this year, by the European Consumer Centres' Network, found that this had increased to 57%, although refunds for the items themselves were paid in 90% of cases.
"This needs to improve in order to ensure a continuous positive development in cross-border e-commerce," a spokesman for the UK European Consumer Centre said.
In 7% of all the purchases made, the trader did not inform the customer about the price of the delivery costs at all.
ChangesSome results of the test purchases do make better reading for consumers.
For example, the delivery rate for items ordered online improved significantly compared with 2003, as had the number of items delivered within 14 days. There was also an increase in the number of websites offering information in more than one language.
Many of the current consumer rules operating in EU countries pre-date the widespread use of the internet by shoppers.
So MEPs have approved plans to update the rules, including a 14-calendar-day cooling-off period for online purchases.
Governments will have two years to implement the changes.
Apple's iPad, now in its second generation, has proven a big hit with consumers Apple's iPad captured 80% of the tablet computer market in the US and Canada in April to July, a report has said.The iPad accounted for six million of all 7.5 million tablets shipped in North America during the second quarter of 2011, according to research group Strategy Analytics.
It described Apple as a "formidable market leader".
Yet it added that Amazon - which is expected to unveil its own tablet this week - could become a big challenger.
'Strong brand'Stategy Analytics senior analyst Alex Spektor said: "Apple remains a long way ahead of its main rivals such as Motorola, Samsung, RIM, Asus and HTC.
"A combination of cool branding, user-friendly hardware, entertaining services and savvy retail distribution has made Apple a formidable market leader."
According to reports, online retailer Amazon could announce the release of its first tablet as early as Wednesday.
"Provided the pricing, screen size and hardware design are right, Amazon can be one of the main challengers to Apple's dominance," said Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics.
"Like Apple, Amazon has a strong brand, compelling content, sophisticated billing systems and widespread distribution.
"In effect, Amazon's new tablet product represents a good opportunity to place an Amazon shopping cart in the hands of American consumers, offering optimised access to purchasing digital content or physical goods from the Amazon online store."
The continuing popularity of Apple's iPad comes despite its incompatibility with Adobe Flash software, meaning that users cannot view a large number of online videos.
Rivals such as Samsung are quick to highlight in their advertising that their tablets are able to use Flash.
Apple and Samsung, which makes the Galaxy range of tablets, are also continuing a number of legal disputes over patents.
On Monday, Apple declined to comment on reports that it had cut orders for iPad parts from its suppliers because of falling sales.
The study by an Asian analyst of US bank JPMorgan Chase said several suppliers had indicated that Apple had reduced its orders by 25%.
The iPad was first released in April 2010, with the second version, the iPad 2, following in March of this year.
