hello. i david eades and this is your business briefing. can apple still blossom into silicon valley‘s first trillion dollar company? plus juggfing first trillion dollar company? plus juggling three children and 15,000 staff. we hear from juggling three children and 15,000 staff. we hearfrom the juggling three children and 15,000 staff. we hear from the boss of booking.com on why more women should aim forthe booking.com on why more women should aim for the top in tax. and in the market today... so we start in silicon valley where the giants of the tech world have been reporting their latest results. the biggest the mall is apple, and it has hailing its best ever caught.

that means it is getting ever closer to becoming the world's first trillion dollar company by market value. the company made revenues that big in the three months to the end of december. that great shopping season, of end of december. that great shopping season, of course. end of december. that great shopping season, of course. 20 billion of that was profit. that was up 12.6% on the previous year, setting a new earnings record for the firm. they managed to sell 77.3 million iphones in the court as well. that was slightly down on last year. that has raised concerns the phone's popularity could be waning. many of the cells were of the more expensive and profitable either an act. —— iphone x. and we put this in context. according to research, global sales of all smartphones were

down 9% of the quarter as the market gets saturated. amazon gets almost as much revenue as apple. the's own alphabet also saw its sales soar. —— alphabet. so are they likely to challenge apple in the race to $1 trillion valuation. at the close of business, apple was worth $853 billion. that is expected to rise on friday. the owner of goodwill, alphabet, is a fairly close second, that its share sales are likely to fall later as its results disappointed on wall street. amazon isafairway disappointed on wall street. amazon is a fair way off with $669 billion. but it is rising fast. he was dave lee in san francisco. according to its latest sales reports, they are selling your iphones and they were last year. but that might not be as bad as it sounds. for starters, the company said the period measured was

one week shorter than the same period in 2016, which may account for that drop of 1%. also, because of the iphone can, its latest smartphone, the average selling price of the iphone has gone up to nearly $800. so while they were selling less of the iphone, they we re selling less of the iphone, they were making more money on each one. that said, south of the iphone did not cited out of the park, and came in below wall street's expectations, is why wall street was unnerved as they were lower than expected. —— smash it out of the park. this will not be a problem for the country going into 2018. to the founder of emitria. the ipoh next remains an anomaly, an enigma, to many people.

—— 0metria. anomaly, an enigma, to many people. -- 0metria. the reality is that you look at the iphone next, it is extremely extensive. it brings with ita extremely extensive. it brings with it a couple of features and innovations that people are not willing to adopt. they don't want to get rid of the home button. they said that they certification could be another problem. we know that the loyalty of the apple customer base, the legacy of stevejobs, is so high, that they will not go anywhere. the experiences that they have been up to create, the grubber rediscover the retail experience, thatis rediscover the retail experience, that is so magical that those users and customers will come back, even if the adoption of the iphone next 80 year is that of a couple of months. they seem to be saying, look at all of our users, and the number of users is growing all the time, and will be providing services to the mall. that is a bit of a shift

in terms of where they want to put the emphasis of when it photograph will be. absolutely. looking at goodwill and amazon, the in—home for it -- in goodwill and amazon, the in—home for it —— in homeless assistance, they are seeing hardware is getting front of people fighting with more. albert's numbers are not as great, but a lot of that is from additional costs such as subsidising google home. we have a google home and then amazon echo in a house, and they will be almost free, most people will be almost free, most people will end up beginner up as well. interesting you have mentioned all three. the race to the 1 trillion market value, what is it mean, what does it matter, but it is quite exciting in its own little way, isn't it? rule when it? is a little number. it is a load of zeros. personally, i will back the underdog. —— who will win it. amazon have a collection of different offerings. i think they have a

strong chance. even though they are currently the world's three. we will hold you to that. thank you very much. we are going to stay with the technology industry. it has had some bad press when it comes to gender discrimination. technology firms tend to attract more female employees, according to the ceo of booking.com. shejuggles three employees, according to the ceo of booking.com. she juggles three young women with working for a global fund managing 15,000 worldwide employees. she spoke to sally bundock. we have over 50% women working at booking.com, but in our technical team, it is 20%. so that is much lower, even if you compare us to many companies. although were doing a good job, we want to bring the number. and then there is the element of women in leadership positions, which also at booking.com, you see the higher you

90, booking.com, you see the higher you go, the fewer women in these positions. that needs a lot of attention. but what are the obstacles were women who want to work in this field? i think it sta rts work in this field? i think it starts really when people choose to study. i think that is where it all starts. and very early on, we'll make choices were studies. booking.com decided to sponsor scholarships for women. and to help them choose this type of study, because it is essential that women are helped to make these kinds of choices. i have spoken to a lot of women working in technology. some company bosses and others are not quite there yet. but some have said to me that they have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. is that so many do have experience? i have not experienced that, but what is important is that women speak up. and i think that is a positive movement, now. when women speak up and i hope that they will ona speak up and i hope that they will on a lot more topics, right? it is

important that women raise their voices. on the one hand, it is companies that need to of these topics, but the figures also good if women start to be vocal. you are a mother with three children. you are an active parent, they are young, young children. how have you managed to do that and yourjob? that is of course a challenge with the balance, right? but there i always look at my energy to make sure that i have enough energy to do the job but also to spend time with my children. and is possible to do both, and i hope, also, that by being a role model, it is possible, and i hope more women will take the steps. gillian tans they're speaking to sally bundock. now we go to asia where there is more news from the tech industry. alibaba is more news from the tech industry. aliba ba is china's more news from the tech industry. alibaba is china's biggest e—commerce company, often described as amazon, ebay, and paypal rolled into one. it has revealed a huge

jump into one. it has revealed a huge jump in revenues for the holiday period— rico hizon is following this for us in singapore. rico hizon, more magic from alibaba? strength to strength. 36% they have gone up to $13.2 billion in the october to december quarter, compared to the total is india before. it is blamed one third of online finance company which could list this coming april. and that would be a windfall of cash will alibaba. despite the positive numbers, they fell 6% in after—hours trading on wall street, because investors think that the chinese investment market is showing signs of saturation. alibaba are still the leaders, but there is a sense of the competition is getting tougher, with a lot more financial technology start—ups wanting a piece of the market. they are also spending more on sales and marketing. it is by declining natty % in two the next quarter. but they are making money

in cloud computer, payments, and off—line retail. in cloud computer, payments, and off-line retail. they still have the rest of the world to conquer, too. thank you for a much joy as rico hizon. we will brief you on some other business stories, now. we start with the coin. it slumped to its lowest level this year amid a growing backlash by regulators. it traded close to $9,000 in one exchange, less than half the $20,000 it hit when it peaked in december. this week, facebook banned adverts for the currency. on thursday, india's finance minister said he did not consider them ligue —— legal tender. shares in mattel have fallen sharply after the toy giant reported a surprise loss for the holiday quarter. the maker of barbie and hot wheels cars has faced waning demand as children increasingly prefer videogames and electronics over traditional toys. as what is trending in the business uses morning, let's have a look.

—— as for. for the wall streetjournal apple is a very popular story — a big jump in iphone prices helps offset weaker unit sales and an ever popular subject on wired — bitcoin, blockchain and "how you're getting swindled". on quartz — what's behind those strong earnings from amazon: jeff bezos is building a global army of amazon prime subscribers. and don't forget — let's us know what you are spotting online — use the hashtag #bbcthebriefing. here is one last look at the markets. that is the business briefing. the number of men dying

from prostate cancer has overtaken the number of women killed by breast cancerfor the number of women killed by breast cancer for the first time. prostate cancer uk says that advances in diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer have paid off. here is dominic hughes. prostate cancer does not discriminate. last year, tony callier discovered he had the disease while training for own ultramarathon. his diagnosis was late, and he knows cancer will eventually take his life, so tony is using the time he has left to warn other men about the dangerslj figure is really other men about the dangers.” figure is really important that people are aware of what the symptoms are. and i would actually urged men to talk to their doctors, if they have any euro mary issues at all. my issue is that i did not have

any symptoms. they think they had the cancer for any symptoms. they think they had the cancerfor ten any symptoms. they think they had the cancer for ten years beforehand. —— urinary issues. more men are living to an age where they have a greater chance of developing prostate cancer. in 2015, 11,800 men died of the disease, compared with just over 11,400 deaths in 2015 due to breast cancer. and while the proportion of people dying from prostate cancer, the mortality rate, has fallen in the past decade, down by 6%, the decline in deaths in breast cancer has been even greater, at 10%. it is time to get behind us and to realise that we need to get on top of it now because it will just become more common and it is actually going to kill more men if we are not able to do that. tony has joined those who are calling for increased funding for research and the development of a reliable prostate screening programme. so the gains in any fight against breast cancer can be matched in the fight

against the disease that he knows will eventually take his life, too. and just remind you, at 6am, we have brea kfast and just remind you, at 6am, we have breakfast on bbc. you are watching the briefing on bbc news with david eades. the latest headlines: theresa may wraps up her trip to china with a tour of shanghai's temple gardens. uk signed more than £9 billion of trade deals in the trip. the un warns of a humanitarian catastrophe as government forces intensify their offensive on the rebel—held idlib province in northern syria. this is a polar bear‘s view of the arctic — scientists say their numbers are in decline because they expend too much energy hunting for food. now it is time look at the stories that are making the headlines

in media across the world. we begin with the daily telegraph, and its main story is that health service leaders have warned that compensation payoffs must be cut, or the nhs will go bust. the guardian claims labour is considering forcing landowners to give up sites at knock—down prices to build more council houses. arab news reports that women will be allowed to drive taxis and other commercial vehicles in oman from march first as part of a drive to give women equal business and employment rights. the japan times goes with a crytocurrency story,