41.   Traditionally, acquisitions were used to buy earnings and remove competitors in mature markets.

42.   Despite all their talk of caring and coddling, the reality is that few companies practice the no-questions asked returns policy that is prevalent in mature markets.

43.   However, problems are quite common even in mature markets.

44.   North America is the second largest market and, like the US, Japan is a mature market with a wide selection of fruit available to consumers.

45.   RISK management has become an indispensable component of a mature financial market with depth and breadth, Financial Secretary Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said yesterday.

46.   The automaker has defended its brand-management system as the best way to capture sales in a mature U.S. market for cars and trucks.

47.   With the United States and Europe now considered mature markets, the Asia-Pacific will be the region of growth for Equant, Grenville said.

48.   Belgacom gave Singapore Telecom an opportunity to enter a mature market, said Lee, who became president and chief executive officer of Singapore Telecom last year.

49.   But some economists said Labuan still has a long way to go to catch-up with more mature offshore markets like Hong Kong and neighbouring Singapore.

50.   Except for such mature markets as Japan, oil consumption in regional economies is growing strongly, with China, South Korea, India and Indonesia leading the way.