Business news for Thu, 20 Dec 2007 & with words european+rose. 2 news.

IT took a computer maker and a pager company to convince Americans a mobile phone is worth paying for, and now shoppers are splurging. US customers shelled out 40 percent more for handsets last quarter than a year earlier, just as Apple Inc put its Web-browsing iPhone on sale and Research In Motion Ltd brought out BlackBerry e-mail phones with video features. Spending rose to a record and jumped the most since at least 2005, Bloomberg News reported. Americans, previously hard-pressed to pay US$50 for a phone, are now more like their European and Asian counterparts and paying up to US$400 for the top devices. That will translate into higher sales for Apple and Research In Motion and may bolster rivals Nokia Oyj and Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications Ltd, which tried for years to promote camera and music phones to US buyers. "The iPhone has made the US consumer appreciate the value of the mobile phone," said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at Stamford, Connecticut-based

Taiwan's stocks yesterday rose the most in more than three months, snapping a five-day decline. Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. led advances on speculation a US$500 billion injection by the European Central Bank will help sustain global growth.