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Americans are getting their HDTVs ready — even if there's nothing on yet. At the end of 2006, the US had 27.7 million HDTV homes, giving it a 58% global share, followed by Japan, with a 20% share, according to a new report from Informa Telecoms & Media.

The worldwide total of DSL and cable broadband users will grow by an average of 9% annually over the next five years, reaching 480 million subscribers by 2012, according to new data from ABI Research.

The North American portable power market is gradually reaching maturity, and competition among participants is intensifying. Competition tends to be higher among the manufacturers of smaller generator sets, which are typically pre-packaged, non-customized, plug and play units.

With a number of the world’s most advanced countries finally shaking off the sluggish economic growth of recent years, now is the time to step up, not slacken, the pace of reform, according to the latest edition of the OECD's annual Going for Growth report.

The US remains the single largest Internet market in the world with 181.9 million Internet users in 2006, but China is likely to take the lead before the decade is out.

Globally, the set top box market has been experiencing strong growth in unit shipments and revenues, with the former reaching 59.0 million units in 2003. Set top boxes have met with considerable success in Europe and North America, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are now looking to repeat this success in other parts of the world.

Compared with developed countries, China has lagged far behind in the field of digital TV, yet it made rapid progress in 2005; altogether 4.13 million Chinese subscribed digital TV, increasing by over twofold compared to the previous year. Among them, 3.97 million were digital cable digital TV subscribers.

MasterCard Incorporated today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2006. For the fourth quarter, the company reported net income of $41 million, or $0.30 per share. Excluding the impact of litigation settlements, net income for the quarter was $42 million, or $0.31 per share. Net revenues for the quarter were $839 million, a 17.2% increase versus the same period in 2005. Currency fluctuations (driven by the movement of the euro relative to the US dollar) contributed approximately 1.9% of the increase in revenues for the quarter.

The latest composite leading indicators (CLIs) suggest that continued economic expansion lies ahead in the OECD area. December 2006 data show improved performance in the CLI’s six month rate of change in Canada, the United States and Japan, but weakening performance in the Euro area. The spreads between short- and long-term interest rate are contributing negatively to the performance of the CLIs in all the major seven economies, while business confidence is contributing positively in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. The latest data for major OECD non-member economies point to strong growth in China, India and Brazil, but a weakening outlook for Russia.