Eurobites: Pressure Grows on German Govt to Sell Stake in Deutsche Telekom

Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)'s downgrade of its sales forecast for the final quarter of 2018 has sent shock waves through a range of European-listed companies that rely heavily on continued spending by Chinese consumers, reports the Guardian. The likes of Burberry and Gucci have seen shares tumbling, says the report, while mining and steel companies have also been hit. Shares in a number of Apple's suppliers have also fallen, the Telegraph reports, with shares in UK-based Dialog Semiconductor plc down by as much as 10%. Disappointing sales in China was just one of a number of factors cited by Apple CEO Tim Cook -- the underwhelming yet massively expensive iPhone X was another -- as he announced the company's lowered earnings guidance on Wednesday. (See Apple Delivers Post-Holiday Turkey, Lowers Revenue Guidance, Overpriced & Underwhelming, Apple's New iPhone Lacks X Factor and Apple's $1 Trillion Luxury Prison.)

Accedo , the Swedish cloud-based video delivery technology specialist, has raised $17 million in equity to bankroll its planned growth over the next few years. This round of financing, led by Stockholm-based SEB Private Equity, takes its total funding since its inception in 2004 to about $33 million. Accedo made its name in OTT video technology, but in recent years has entered new business areas such as virtual reality and augmented reality. (See Accedo Raises $17M and 300 Million Viewers Floating on Accedo Cloud.)

Fixed broadband access vendor DASAN Zhone Solutions Inc. (DZS) has completed the acquisition of Germany's Keymile AG , stating that the deal "strengthens its extensive portfolio of broadband access solutions to offer a series of multi-service access platforms for FTTx network architectures, including ultra-fast broadband copper access based on VDSL/Vectoring & G. Fast technology." DZS says Keymile has hundreds of customers across Europe, Latin America and elsewhere, yet paid only €10.25 million ($11.8 million) in cash. The deal was first announced in October last year. (See Dasan Zhone Snaps Up Keymile.)

— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading