Wall Street sometimes gets too greedy-- despite fiscal Q3 2012 revenues reaching $35 billion and profits worth $8.8bn (up from $7.3bn in Q3 2011) Apple misses Wall Street estimates, causing analysts to declare the quarter a bust.

International sales account for 62% of Q3 2012 revenues.

Strong earnings, but not strong enough for Thomson Reuters analysts expecting revenues worth $37.2bn.

Mind, iDevice numbers see Q-o-Q declines-- Q3 iPhone sales reach 26 million, up by 28% Y-o-Y but down by -26% sequentially, maybe due to continual rumours on the next iPhone model. Meanwhile iPad sales reach 17m with 86% Y-o-Y growth.

Macs appear to beat the negative trend hitting the global PC market (-0.1% Y-o-Y decline in Q2 2012 according to Gartner) with sales reaching 4m units and 2% Y-o-Y growth.

The iPod however loses in popularity as sales drop by -10% Y-o-Y (or -12% Q-o-Q) to reach 6.8m.

Wall Street expected higher sales and growth for all devices... and as a result Apple share prices are down.

Apple wins an EU-wide preliminary injunction banning sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7 tablet as the Düsseldorf regional court decides the devices infringes on Apple design rights.

However Samsung can still continue selling the larger Galaxy Tab 10.1N-- the revised model Samsung released to work around earlier design infringement accusations. The Düsseldorf court had already decided in favour of the 10.1N variant back in February 2012

The Galaxy Tab 7.7 ban theoretically covers all EU countries except Germany, where a ban against the tablet is already in place.

However earlier in July a UK high court decided Samsung tablets are less "cool" than the iPad, and therefore do not infringe on Apple tablet patents.

The Financial Times reports Nokia might "rip up its traditional mass marketing strategy" once it reveals its latest Windows Phone 8 handset-- with exclusive partnerships with European operators.

Operators reportedly in talks with Nokia include France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom (with UK joint venture Everything Everywhere), but such talks are "still exploratory" and nothing is confirmed as yet.

Nokia already has a similar fairly successful exclusive sales agreement in the US with AT&T.

Such an approach (creating dedicated support while ditching retailers) represents a change from the typical Nokia sales strategy, where all channels sell as many phones as possible.

One of the FT's sources says Nokia will even offer a financial stake in the success of the range to the operator of choice.

Are Nokia's Window Phone smartphones the handsets of customer choice? While Lumia Q2 2012 sales figures surprised the company (reaching million units), customers still appear to prefer Apple and Samsung offerings.

Go Nokia in Windows Talks With Operators (FT.com)

Go Nokia Q2 2012 Interim Report

Back in 2011 HTC bought a 51% stake (worth $309 million) in high-end headphone maker Beats Electronics. Now Beats buys back 25% of the company from HTC in a move the 2 companies describe as a "realignment."

The buy-back apparently "provides  Beats with more flexibility for global expansion while maintaining HTC's major stake and commercial exclusivity in mobile."

Why did HTC even buy a headphone maker to begin with? The reason lies in the statement above-- the (still exclusive) use of Beats technology, a means for HTC to distinguish itself in a crowded mobile market.

Beats is best known for its partnership with rapper/music producer Dr. Dre, as well as for Monster's role as maker and exclusive distributor. It recently purchased music streaming service MOG. 

Will HTC still get access to Beats-powered music-as-a-service?

Go HTC Investor