Planet Business

Compiled by LAURA SLATTERY

In numbers:How the revenues roll at Manchester United

£54.5 millionMatch-day revenues at the football club in the second half of 2011, up 6 per cent. Hospitality boxes at Old Trafford were refurbished to drive income.

£60.9 millionMedia revenue earned, up 13 per cent thanks to a bigger share of broadcast revenue from UEFA. An early exit from the Champions League will dent the full-year figure.

£58.6 million

Commercial revenue raked in, up 16 per cent thanks to a new training kit deal with shipping company DHL and profit-sharing agreement with shirt supplier Nike Inc.

Image of the week

Its share price may be dazzling right now, but finally we have proof that the sun doesn’t always shine for Apple. It might have to stop selling iPads in its three Shanghai stores if Chinese technology firm Proview, which claims ownership of the iPad trademark in China, is successful in winning a trademark infringement court case against it. Previous rulings in favour of Proview have covered smaller cities, but if it obtains a Shanghai order, it could take a bite out of one of Apple’s biggest markets in China. The photograph above of the Apple shop in Shanghai is by Aly Song of the Reuters agency.

The lexicon: “Pintervention”

A “Pintervention” is a Pinterest-related intervention – a call for help, conscious or otherwise, from addicts of the latest social networking site to suck in the masses. Pinterest, an image-based digital scrapbook, has enjoyed a surge in attention from other media and monthly unique visitors (almost 12 million and counting, according to comScore data for January). How to use it in a sentence: “I’ve been spending too much time on Pinterest lately. I need a Pintervention ;).” Or: “My friend has six boards entirely comprising pictures of chocolate cake. Time to stage a Pintervention!”

Getting to know... Bob Savage

Savage by name, trustworthy by nature, Bob Savage is the recipient of the title “Ireland’s Most Trusted Leader at the Great Place to Work Best Workplace Awards. But who is he and why is he so award-winningly reliable? Vice-president and managing director of EMC Ireland’s Centre of Excellence in his native Cork, Savage says cloud computing – EMC’s main area of activity in Ireland, where it employs 2,500 people – is itself a matter of trust, “in terms of where the cloud is going to take us”. He believes “you can never over-communicate” as a leader: “It’s all about emotional intelligence for me. It’s all about empathy.”

The list: Google graveyard

Google Goggles threaten to bring augmented-reality eyeglass wearers who really aren’t looking where they’re going to a street near you. Unless they join the ranks of this “Google graveyard” . . .

1. GOOGLE KNOL. This discontinued service was a more scholarly version of Wikipedia, where you can read all about it.

2. GOOGLE WAVE. Wave hello, wave goodbye to this now defunct messaging platform.

3. FROOGLE. This retail search tool spanned the 2002-07 internet era known unofficially as the "yeah, right" period. Survives as Google.com/shopping.

4. GOOGLE ANSWERS. “We’re sorry, but Google Answers has been retired, and is no longer accepting new questions.” File under: no one wants to pay.

5. GOOGLE TV. One foot in, one foot out of the grave. Google TV was kyboshed by US networks, but seems destined to rise again.