San Francisco-based Greystripe has added Nokia’s Ovi store to the list of mobile platforms that can tap into its mobile ad network. Likewise, Greystripe said it is adapting 1,200 game titles from its Gamejump.com entity for the Ovi store.
Previously, Greystripe was supporting both the iPhone App Store and the Android Marketplace, but expanding to Nokia (NYSE: NOK) makes sense. Nokia has the largest smartphone marketshare globally, and while many consider its application storefront to be trailing, just last week, the company said Ovi downloads have hit one million a day. Greystripe does not support RIM’s BlackBerry platform, which is considered the second-largest smartphone platform worldwide.
Originally, Greystripe focused on creating free, ad-supported Java-based games, which it distributed through sites, including its own Gamejump.com. But more recently, Greystripe has branched out to support iPhone and Android applications. Despite its emphasis on smartphone platforms, it said that its Java-based games are still downloaded on its network about 250,000 times a day. Those games will work fairly easily on Nokia’s Symbian operating system, and will likely see more downloads because of the increased reach.
Developers that are distributing their apps on Ovi will have the choice of both pre-and post-roll full-screen ads. While advertisers like the Navy and JCPenny were named in the press release as two brands that are looking for the broad reach that Nokia has, those seem like unlikely choices given that most of Nokia’s dominance is outside the U.S. or in emerging markets.
Leap Wireless, which sells discounted wireless service under the Cricket brand, has hired Goldman Sachs and has formed a special committee to look into selling the company or merging with rivals, reports the WSJ, which quoted people people familiar with the matter.
An obvious candidate is its competitor MetroPCS, which operates in a similar niche, but the company is also looking at larger rivals, like AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless. While it may make sense for the bigger operators to acquire the operator, either for their spectrum or to expand into the prepaid niche, they could face regulatory concerns, or integration troubles since Leap uses CDMA, which is not compatible with either AT&T or T-Mobile’s network.
To be sure, Leap is regretting its unsolicited all-stock offer from MetroPCS initially valued at $5.5 billion in 2007. At that figure, the offer is about five times Leap’s current market value. Leap’s shares closed today at $14.92.
Leap’s committee that is looking into alternatives is made up of its newly appointed board members John Chapple, Ronald Kramer and William Roper.
Ontela’s Founder Dan Shapiro said today that over the next month he will transition out of his role as CTO, but will remain a member of the board and an advisor to the company. Shapiro told mocoNews: “I was committed to staying through the transition, but it made sense to see how things were going, and I had to ask if this is the right thing for me and right thing for the company. They graciously asked me to be an advisor and be on the board of directors. I won’t be leaving Photobucket out in the cold.”
In December, News Corp.‘s Photobucket merged with Ontela and raised an additional round of capital. The investors, including Oak Investment Partners, Voyager Capital, Walt Disney’s Steamboat Ventures; and Covera Ventures (formerly Hunt Capital), and News Corp (NYSE: NWS). continue to have significant equity positions in the combined entity.
At the time of the merger, the Photobucket team was expected to play a “strong role” in the combined company with Ontela’s CFO Tom Munro becoming president, and Ontela’s CEO Dan Shapiro transitioning to CTO. Munro is also currently the acting chief executive officer as the company conducts a CEO search.
Shapiro said he has a couple ideas on what he will do next and has been talking to a few people who have started new companies. “I started Ontela four years ago, and I’m ready to do something new and exciting.”
Despite Apple’s mindshare, Research In Motion and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) continue to dominate the smartphone market on a global basis.
Strategy Analytics said that global smartphone shipments increased 30 percent to a record 53 million units in the fourth quarter, compared the same period a year ago. While the appetite for smartphones continues to grow, both Nokia, RIM (NSDQ: RIMM) and Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) have been able to increase their marketshare. Nokia owns roughly 39 percent of the market; RIM maintains 20 percent, and Apple is in third with 16 percent. Report.
Over the next year, the three may struggle as other handset makers begin producing competitively priced and attractive 3G devices. Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics, said: “The smartphone market will become ultra competitive in 2010. Samsung and LG (SEO: 066570) have ambitious plans to grow volumes and expand their app stores, while emerging players like Dell and Huawei are strengthening their device portfolios and courting major operators.”
The competition will likely lead to price wars. Evidence of that may already be surfacing. Reuters reports today that Nokia cut phone prices across its portfolio in late January, putting its cheapest smartphones in line with mid-range devices from Samsung and Sony (NYSE: SNE) Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC). For instance, Nokia’s cheapest smartphone is the 5230, which now retails for around 170 euros ($239) in Finland. The model’s wholesale price is now below 120 euros. Several industry sources told Reuters (NYSE: TRI) that the price cuts added up to about a 10 percent chop.
Hulu, the second-most popular video streaming service after YouTube, has had an on-again, off-again view on mobile, and at the moment it’s back on.
At the DLD Conference in Munich, GigaOm interviewed Hulu CEO Jason Kilar, and while he didn’t say anything specific, it appears Hulu is interested in mobile. It’s been nearly a year since reports indicated that Hulu would soon release an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Those reports either seem to be incorrect or the NBC Universal (NYSE: GE) and News Corp (NYSE: NWS). joint venture has decided to shift its plans to the mobile web and multiple other platforms. Kilar: “The computer in your pocket is very important. Mobile is a monster – we are very bullish. We will embrace any device.”
While reports before indicated that Hulu may be more interested in the iPhone platform, now it sounds the company has a more comprehensive approach. In response to whether Hulu would support Apple’s iPad, Kilar told GigaOm: “We are very big believers in mobile and we don’t think about (just) one device only.”
Samsung Electronics, which makes chips, TVs and mobile phones, reported that annual profit jumped 75 percent to a five-year high of 9.7 trillion won ($8.3 billion) on record sales of 89.8 trilion won.
It said mobile-phone shipments climbed 31 percent to a record 68.8 million, and that telecom income rose sevenfold to about 990 billion won. That beat the 742 billion won median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of 21 analysts, reported Bloomberg.
Samsung’s strong performance followed results at competitors such as Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and LG Electronics (SEO: 066570) as shipments in the handset industry rose an estimated 10 percent, the first increase since the third quarter of 2008.
After Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) unveiled its hotly anticipated tablet computer yesterday, not surprisingly, some of its biggest competitors dismissed the iPad as much of a game-changer.
Nintendo has faced steep competition from Apple’s iPhone and iPod, which have turned out to be powerful portable gaming devices much like the Nintendo DS. But President Satoru Iwata tried not to sound too impressed, by saying Apple delivered “no surprises,” and called it “a bigger iPod Touch,” according to Yahoo News.
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) also weighed in on the device, criticizing it for being “locked down.” Of course, Apple has eaten away at Microsoft’s Windows Mobile share of the phone market, and has seen much more success in the MP3 market than Microsoft’s Zune. “It is a humorous world in how Microsoft is much more open than Apple,” said Brandon Watson, Microsoft’s director of product management in an interview with Technologizer.
Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) confirmed yesterday that it will provide an update on its mobile business at Mobile World Congress in Spain, which is now just two weeks away.
In the company’s second-quarter conference call, Bill Koefoed, Microsoft’s General Manager of Investor Relations said: “We also continue to make progress in the mobile space and you will hear more about that at Mobile World Congress in February.” Peter Klein, Microsoft’s CFO, then detailed that it will revolve around Windows Mobile (via Seeking Alpha transcript). “As we have been saying from a product perspective, we are working very hard on the next version of Windows Mobile. As Bill indicated, we will be talking more about that in Barcelona in a few weeks.”
On Feb. 15, Microsoft has scheduled a late-afternoon press conference in Spain. While no details have been provided, the company is largely expected to unveil its latest operating system, Windows Mobile 7. The update is expected to compete better with Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android operating systems. Microsoft’s mobile business has suffered over the past couple years as it has failed to keep up with touchscreen interfaces, and the move to apps and the mobile web.
Microsoft has been very hush-hush about what the user interface will look like on the new OS, however, many expect it to integrate learnings from Danger, the Sidekick-maker Microsoft acquired awhile back, and Zune, its MP3 player. In fact, blogger Long Zheng of istartedsomething.com, noticed recently that in a scheduled Zune.net maintenance update, the code included hints of phone capabilities with a couple of lines with the word “phone.”
Expect the hardware to come from its largest handset partners, including LG (SEO: 066570) and HTC. Other partners, over the past year, such as Palm (NSDQ: PALM) and Motorola (NYSE: MOT) have decided to go with other operating systems. At this point, whatever Microsoft unveils will have to be impressive, and will have to reach consumers in the next year. Its largest competitors, including Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Palm and others, have gotten a head-start on releasing next-generation hardware and software. In other words, Microsoft will have to leap-frog them somehow to get noticed.
Google (NSDQ: GOOG) said that is now allowing advertisers to embed phone numbers into mobile ads so that customers can click to call.
The ads will work on phones with high-end browsers, including the iPhone, Android or other smartphones, and will be based on the person’s location, the company said on its blog. That way if they are calling to make restaurant reservations, you’ll call the nearest location. While the the ability to “click to call” is not new, Google said advertisers who participated in the beta trial saw improved click-through rates, and experienced more visits to their websites in addition to incremental phone calls.
For some critics, the lack of participation from content companies at yesterday’s iPad launch threw some cold water on predictions for how the new device could help the media business regain revenues lost to the web.
But if you looked hard enough, publishers were there and, more importantly, some have plans to invest heavily in the platform. In an interview, President of Condé Nast Digital Sarah Chubb said they are moving fast to make sure they have three to four magazines ready for the iPad’s launch in 60 to 90 days. Chubb: “It’s the most important thing to happen to our business models in a year. It’s really exciting if you are sitting in our shoes.”
To be sure, Conde Nast is only one publisher, but Chubb’s excitement stems from their experience with the iPhone. In December, they launched GQ, their first magazine app that garnered 7,000 downloads. In Jan., those numbers doubled. At those levels, it starts to make a significant impact on GQ’s overall circulation of 850,000 to 900,000. “It’s bigger than any physical store outlet,” she added.
The revenues aren’t bad either. Users pay for each issue, and there’s advertising to consider. With the iPad, ads can be as large as they are in the magazine and can be interactive. Chubb said in a survey, iPhone users said they were just excited about what they could do with the ad as the advertiser. They can ask, “I like that jacket, can I buy it now?” Yes, they can. Chubb added while the value of the platform may be hard to see today, it may be indicative of where we will be in 10 years. The trend is moving away from print to digital. “Particularly among the younger demographic. Everything is digital and mobile.”
What does Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) believe? I asked Apple’s SVP of worldwide product marketing Phil Schiller if it’s possible that the iPad can help resurrect the media industry. Not surprisingly, he said, “Absolutely. Why not?” In general, however, Apple isn’t providing much innovation to the publishers—other than offering an internet device with a large display. For instance, people who buy the Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) Kindle download books over a cellular network without even knowing it because the connectivity is included in the device’s price. The iPad won’t have that luxury, and if people are already paying for broadband in the home and broadband for their phone, $15 to $30 more a month for limited data on the iPad will be hard to swallow.
It’s not that Apple isn’t innovating at all. The five book publishers who have agreed to sell titles in the iPad’s iBookstore will receive 70 percent of the revenue, with Apple taking the remainder, reports the WSJ. That is a different business than the industry is used to and could result in individual books being priced at individual prices. But Apple isn’t offering that deal, or any other business model, like subscriptions, to other content companies. “There’s no iMagazines and there’s no iNews,” Sara Ohrvall of Swedish media company Bonnier told the WSJ. “Either we have to package our products much differently, or we just lost the paid content game.”
Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) has officially announced the iPad, a device that is similar to the iPhone and iPod Touch, but bigger. So, what’s it for? Apple invited a few developers and publishers on stage to show off some of the features. While they say all 140,00 iPhone apps will work on the iPad starting day one, developers are finding reasons to tweak the apps to take advantage of the 9.7 inch display.
—Pricing and shipping: Still with AT&T (NYSE: T) for 3G: Data plans: $14.99 for 250 megs a month, unlimited for $29.99. Free AT&T WiFi. No contract. WiFi only models ship in 60 days; 3G models in 90. The price: $499 for the base model with WiFi and 16GB; $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64 GB. Add $130 for 3G and the most expensive model is $829. Of course, that doesn’t include what it will cost to accessorize, say adding a case, or the handy-dandy wireless keyboard dock. (Slide show tour of the iPad and its capabilities.)
As we saw live at the Apple event in San Francisco, here’s how the tablet could be used in practice across a variety of mediums, including games and newspapers:
—Apple’s iBookstore: Apple is launching an e-reader within the iPad. Users will be able to buy books from the iBookstore. Once the books are downloaded, they will be stored on a virtual shelf. The books’ pages look like a real novel and flip just like in real life. Five major book publishers are on board: Penguin, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group and Macmillan Publishers.
—EA Mobile Travis Boatman: During a demonstration of “Need for Speed,” Boatman said: “We’ll be able to bring all of our great games from the iPhone to the iPad in no time at all…It’s like holding a high-definition TV screen close to your face.” Because of the screen real estate, new features are added like a gear shifter.
—The New York Times: Martin Nisenholtz said that since The New York Times website is beautiful on the iPad, why bother with an application? “Well, our app for the iPhone has been downloaded three million times, and we wanted to create something that combines the best of print and digital all in one. It captures the essence of reading the paper. Articles can be saved, and read later on the iPhone.”
—Gameloft: Mark Hickey asked, “What’s different? When you hold the device in your hands, the display is huge, which makes the game immensely fun to play…The iPad allows us to interact with the game in a way that wasn’t possible before. In a first-person shooter, you can draw a box around a group of enemies and shoot them simultaneously.
—iWork: Apple has tweaked its productivity software suite, which includes Keynote to make presentations. It also allows you to make spreadsheets using touch, rather than the traditional mouse. The iPad versions are $10 each.
Following the formal ceremonies, analysts and members of the press were ushered into a crowded room to get their first impressions of what the iPad feels like in their hand. Instantly, you can see the beauty of the device is that all 75 million iPhone and iPod Touch owners will already know how to use it. Still, others will find the user interface intuitive from the start.
Weighing in at 1.5 pounds and a half-inch thick, the device is extraordinarily light-weight and sleek yet much heavier than a paperback. For those who are still in love with holding the newspaper while drinking a cup of coffee, the iPad’s crystal clear 9.7 inch display makes for a great digital option. However, the biggest learning curve will come in knowing how to hold it: Will you use a stand, hold it with one hand while you navigate with the other, or lay it in your lap? Will you type with all of your fingers, or will you use your pointer fingers like an iPhone? These were the things that did not come naturally.
—iBookstore: The device is designed to surf the web and consume media like a workhorse. Apple preloads it with the user-friendly iBookstore, which stocks an as-yet unannounced number of books from five of the largest book publishers. Books are stored on a virtual bookshelf with the images of the covers facing out. Flip the bookcase over, and you’ll enter the secret passageway to the store. When the book is loaded, it looks like actual pages of a novel. With a swipe of the finger, you’ll see the page fold over in front of of your eyes. Whether the screen is as easy on the eyes as other e-readers, like the Kindle, it was too soon to tell. The starkness of the white pages may get tiring, although the font size is easily changed. For now, the bookstore will be limited to the iPad, so users can’t read books interchangeably between the iPad and the iPhone.
—Photos: This is where the device really shines. Photo albums can easily be expanded to scan for the photo you are looking for. Photos are also viewable by location where they were taken. It’s extremely quick to jump back and forth. One nice feature, Origami, automatically creates collages of multiple photos in each slide.
—Applications: This is where things could have gone wrong, but Apple came up with a fairly easy solution. Today, there are 140,000 applications on the iPhone, and it would be a pain if each one had to be re-developed for the iPad’s larger screen. To get around this, the applications appear in their original size, so they look like a small box on the screen. Users have the option of blowing it up to fullscreen, making them readable, albeit pixelated. In a hands-on demo, I tried a stargazer app, which allows you to move around the device to see the various constellations.
—Typing: As I said before, how to hold it was sort of a mystery. This is only magnified when typing. When it’s in landscape mode, the Qwerty keyboard is almost equal in size to a laptop. It was confusing. Do you hunt and peck with your fingertips, or try to type regularly? Thumbing is completely out of the question. Apple CEO Steve Jobs even struggled with this on stage when he had spelling errors in an email he sent. After retyping it ended up being: “Wow we really announcing the iPad!” One solution for this is the keyboard dock accessory.
—Other hardware specs: The iPad is thinner and lighter than any netbook currently on the market, said Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs. What’s more, the screen is 9.7 inches and it has a 1 Ghz Apple-built processor using Apple’s own silicon. The iPad comes with at least 16 to 64 gigs of flash storage; WiFi; 3G is optional; Bluetooth; an accelerometer; compass; speaker; microphone, and a 30-pin connector for Apple accessories. Accessories include a keyboard and a case, which also converts to a stand. The battery life is expected to last for 10 hours (even when watching video on a cross-country flight, Jobs says). It does not have a camera.
—Pricing and shipping: Still with AT&T (NYSE: T) for 3G: Data plans: $14.99 for 250 megs a month, unlimited for $29.99. Free AT&T WiFi. No contract. Wi-Fi only models ship in 60 days; 3G models in 90. The price: $499 for the base model with Wi-Fi and 16GB; $599 for 32GB, $699 for 64 GB. Add $130 for 3G and the most expensive model is $829. Of course, that doesn’t include what it will cost to accessorize, say adding a case, or the handy-dandy wireless keyboard dock.
The Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) Tablet will save the newspaper industry, put Amazon’s Kindle out of business and change the way students read textbooks. It’s what technology CEOs write poems about, and it’s what Doonesbury considers fodder for a comic strip.
All of the fun ends tomorrow as reality sets in when Apple lets us all in on their precise plans. At 10 a.m. (1 p.m. Eastern) Apple will unveil what it is calling its “latest creation.” I’ll be on the ground in San Francisco to cover the event live, so check back here for updates.
If there were any doubters left in the crowd as to whether Apple was indeed launching some sort of tablet, e-reader, or mini-PC, it’s becoming increasing clear. As the final hour drew closer today, Terry McGraw of McGraw-Hill (NYSE: MHP), couldn’t help but spill the beans on CNBC: “We have worked with Apple for quite awhile,” he said, “and their… the tablet is going to be based on the iPhone operating system and so it’ll be transferable… So now, with the tablet you’re going to open up the higher education market, the professional market. The tablet… the tablet is going to be just really terrific.”
The big question is: Can Apple live up to the hype? It’s not just about managing expectations for tomorrow. Apple has a long road ahead. To be truly successful, the device (an iPad, iSlate or tablet or whatever) must create a new category that falls somewhere between a phone and a laptop—and not just for Apple, but also for the broader media industry. Charles Golvin, an analyst from Forrester, eloquently made that argument today on our site.
It must also get the volume needed to move the needle for the big media companies reportedly involved, like McGraw-Hill. You could even argue the iPhone hasn’t accomplished that yet. With roughly 43 million sold worldwide, it’s still relatively small. However, if you look at Apple’s growing family of devices, including the iPod Touch and now the Tablet, which will reportedly also run the same OS, we may just start seeing a big audience.
Worldwide shipments of smartphones will surpass 390 million units in 2013, and the mobile OS leaders will somewhat surprise you, forecasts research company IDC. Release.
Rather than the space being dominated by so-called pioneers, like BlackBerry, Symbian and Windows Mobile, newcomers to the space, like Google (NSDQ: GOOG) Android, Apple’s MacOS and Palm’s webOS, will claim a significant share. The one exception to that is Symbian, which will be propped up by Nokia’s strength in emerging markets. Likewise, IDC doesn’t believe Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) will stand up over time, but rather fall behind Symbian, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Mobile. IDC’s Stephen Drake: “Mobile operating systems have become the key ingredient in the highly competitive mobile device market…The wrong choice of operating system coupled with an awkward user interface can mean the difference between success and failure.” UPDATE:A list of the top operating systems for both 2009 and 2013 after the jump…
Drake provided a list of the top mobile OS companies for 2009 and 2013 to see how things will shake out over time. Here they are:
2009:
Symbian
BlackBerry
Mac OS X
Windows Mobile
Linux
Android
Palm
2013:
Symbian
Android
BlackBerry
Windows Mobile
Mac OS X
webOS
Linux
Maemo
Key findings:
—Symbian’s strength: It will retain its leadership position worldwide due primarily to the strength of Nokia (NYSE: NOK) in markets outside of the U.S.
—Google Android: Google will experience the fastest growth of any mobile operating system because it is starting from a very small base of just 690,000 units in 2008. IDC predicts it will reach 68 million units by 2013, to achieve growth of 150 percent, and be in second place.
—Linux and webOS: Shipments will struggle throughout the forecast period and Palm’s webOS, despite growing steadily, will capture limited market share due to limited deployment and availability of devices across multiple carriers.
After weighing in on how to handle early-termination fees for about a year, the FCC has finally formalized its inquiries by sending letters to AT&T (NYSE: T), Google (NSDQ: GOOG), Sprint (NYSE: S), T-Mobile USA, and Verizon Wireless. The letters were sent by the FCC’s Consumer Bureau Chief Joel Gurin and Wireless Bureau Chief Ruth Milkman and are intended on gathering “facts and data on the consumer experience with wireless early termination fees,” according to a release.
The one surprise is that the FCC also sent a letter to Google, the only company that is not a carrier. In the letter, which is publicly available on the FCC’s website, the regulatory agency tells Google that the purpose is to gather information about whether customers are adequately informed about Google’s Equipment Recovery Fee in connection with its offering of the Nexus One to customers who agree to a two-year contract with T-Mobile. Shortly after Google unveiled the Nexus One, reports trickled out condemning the company for charging a cancellation fee in addition to the one being charged by T-Mobile. It could cost consumers up to $550 to cancel. However, Google defended its actions by saying the fee is a way for the company to recoup the subsidy it gives to contract customers, just like T-Mobile.
Verizon had already been asked by the FCC why it doubled its fee to $350 from $175. Previously, Verizon responded that it doubled fees because devices cost much more as consumers upgrade from feature phones to smartphones. The FCC wrote in the letters to the companies that: “While different companies may choose to offer different kinds of service plans to their customers, the absence of a standard framework makes it especially important that consumers have a clear understanding of terms and practices of individual companies, which will allow them to compare services offered by different providers on a clear and consistent basis.”
CTIA-The Wireless Association VP of Regulatory Affairs Chris Guttman-McCabe issued the statement today in response to the FCC’s requests: “While we understand that the FCC’s Consumer Task Force is only looking into the issue of early termination fees, we hope that there is a recognition by the FCC that these fees are part of the rate and rate structure that allows wireless carriers to, among other things, subsidize phone purchases. Additionally, consumers of all of the carriers that received letters from the FCC have multiple options when it comes choosing plans and devices without early termination fees. About 20 percent of Americans have chosen a prepaid plan without a contract. It is also important to note that consumers can avoid ETFs by completing the contract terms.”
Namco Networks may be known for big mobile hits, like Pac-Man, which has been downloaded to the iPhone 23 million times, but overall it hasn’t relied too heavily on licensing big brands for mobile.
Namco said that’s changing. It has hired Chris Lucero, formerly of United Talent Agency, to head up licensing for the company, and the company is kicking things off with the big February feature-film release The Wolfman from Universal Pictures. Why now? Lucero said they have to keep up with the competition. “If you look at Gameloft (EPA: GFT), EA and even Glu (NSDQ: GLUU), there’s a tremendous history of licensing from film and TV, and major sports franchises. We have to do those games, too.”
The game is already available on the four largest U.S. carriers and on many feature phones. It’s also available on Windows Mobile and Blackberry devices. Namco said Android and Sidekick will be coming soon. However, it will not launch on the iPhone. Lucero: “There’s a number of reasons why. As great as the iPhone is, it’s one handset. It’s growing, but other mobile phones are still more pervasive, and we want everyone to play it.” The game typically costs $6.99.
The licensing game has been tricky for many game developers that have promised certain returns, and then ended up with losses when the titles didn’t perform as well as they would have liked. Lucero would not quantify how many licenses the company will try to acquire this year. “It’s about what feels appropriate. There’s countless opportunities out there.” For him, the Wolfman game was a no-brainer. “The Universal monsters go back to the 30s. To be a part of this relaunch is an incredible honor.”
Apple’s international presence is gaining traction and revenues are increasing in both Japan and Asia-Pacific because of the iPhone, the company said today as part of its first-quarter financial results.
While the company doesn’t typically breakdown iPhone sales by country, Apple’s COO Tim Cook said he would make an exception for China. He said that since the iPhone went on sale there in late October/early November, they’ve sold about 200,000 units through their partner China Unicom. The number seems fairly impressive given that only 5,000 phones were sold during opening weekend and they cost around $1,000 each. Not to mention that 1.5 million iPhones are estimated to have already been sold on China’s gray market.
Cook said sales will improve as they increase the number of places where the iPhone can be sold. But they aren’t in a rush to add more locations. “We are focused on the quality of the point of sales experience for the customer. We would prefer to move slow because we are building the brand for the long-term and we are very much focused on the long-term in that market because we think there is significant potential there.” Cook declined to forecast sales, or whether they would partner with more carriers in the country. “We are happy working with China Unicom and I’m thrilled we are underway and have two and a half months of experience under my belt,” he said.
iPhone sales are also starting to ramp up in Japan and Asia-Pacific. In Apple’s first quarter ended Dec. 26, it said that it launched the iPhone with 17 new carriers, including China Telecom and KT in South Korea. The company said it is seeing rapid growth in these markets despite critics who wondered if the iPhone would perform well where 3G networks and data access had been around for a long time.
In Japan, Apple’s net sales increased $285 million or 57 percent in Q1, mostly due to increasing iPhone revenues. Cook said iPhone sales are up 400 percent year-over-year in Japan. It “has been a runaway hit.” The iPhone was up over 400% year-over-year during the quarter. Likewise, Apple’s net sales in Asia Pacific increased 142 percent in Q1 compared to the year-ago period, mostly because of the iPhone and increased carrier distribution. Cook said iPhone sales were up 500 percent in Asia Pacific. Overall, the company sold 8.7 million iPhones, which broke a company quarterly record, but fell shy of analysts’ steep expectations of selling 9 million devices.
The week is thick with Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) news and speculation.
Today, we found out that Apple had a stellar holiday quarter, and on Wednesday, it will reveal its latest product announcement. With so much hype, investors could not contain themselves, and drove up Apple’s stock $6.44, or 3.26 percent, to $203.07 a share.
In a release, CEO Steve Jobs addressed both events head-on: “If you annualize our quarterly revenue, it’s surprising that Apple is now a $50+ billion company. The new products we are planning to release this year are very strong, starting this week with a major new product that we’re really excited about.”
The Company blew analyst expectations out of the water. It posted revenue of $15.7 billion and a net quarterly profit of $3.38 billion, or $3.67 per diluted share. Analysts were expecting average revenues of $12.1 billion, and a quarterly profit of $2.07 a share.
Apple sold 8.74 million iPhones during the period, which is more than it ever had sold before, and was double what they sold in the same holiday period a year ago. In addition, it sold nearly 21 million iPods, down 8 percent compared to the year-ago period, and 3.4 million Macs, which was up 33 percent from the year-ago period. Interestingly, for the first time Apple listed off how many iPhones it sold in its press release before mentioning the iPod, signaling just how important the product line has become to the company. Mac sales are always listed first.
Not only were product sales strong compared to the year-ago period, the company’s financials also performed well. Compared to the year ago period, which ended Dec. 27, revenues were up nearly 33 percent, and quarterly profits were up almost 50 percent. Apple’s CFO Peter Oppenheimer pointed out that Apple generated $5.8 billion in cash during the quarter.
Still, the company continued to have a conservative outlook, and said in the second fiscal quarter of 2010, it expects revenue in the range of about $11.0 billion to $11.4 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $2.06 to $2.18.
After reporting a 92 percent drop in fourth-quarter profits and falling short of analysts’ expectations, Ericsson (NSDQ: ERIC) said today that its restructuring efforts will include cutting 1,500 more jobs for a total of 6,500.
What’s more the company, which is the largest wireless equipment manufacturer, could not predict how 2010 will shake-out. Chief Executive Officer Hans Vestberg told Bloomberg in an interview: “It’s too early to say something about 2010.” The market “hasn’t been getting worse in the fourth quarter, it’s staying the same.”
The challenge is for Ericsson to maintain both marketshare and prices while facing aggressive competition from low-cost Chinese equipment manufacturers, like Huawei Technologies. Net income decreased to 314 million kronor ($43.4 million) in the fourth quarter from 3.89 billion kronor a year earlier. Analysts had anticipated profit of 2.5 billion kronor, according to Bloomberg. Revenue slipped 13 percent to 58.3 billion kronor.
Whether Ericsson grows is independent of the overall market growing. Most operators are making big infrastructure investments right now as they move from 3G to 4G. Ericsson also forecasts almost 3 billion new mobile subscriptions worldwide through 2014, adding to 4.6 billion existing ones.
The International Trade Commission is a busy bunch these days. It’s not only hearing cases from both Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) and Nokia (NYSE: NOK) about each other, Motorola (NYSE: MOT) has now filed a complaint, alleging that BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion is infringing on five of Motorola’s patents.
Motorola has requested that the ITC investigate RIM’s use of Motorola’s patents and bar RIM’s importation of infringing products. It’s also asking that it stops the sale of infringing products that have already been imported. The five patents listed in Motorola’s complaint are related to Wi-Fi access, application management, user interface and power management.
As competition heats up between the handset makers, the number of complaints have also increased.
—Kodak complains: Kodak has filed suit with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), claiming that Apple’s iPhones and RIM’s camera-enabled BlackBerry devices infringe on a tech patent it holds for image previews. Separately, it filed two other suits against Apple in a New York District Court over digital camera and computing technology patents overall. [More here.]
—Apple complains: Apple is seeking to block U.S. imports of Nokia mobile phones by filing a new patent-infringement complaint against Nokia with the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington. [More here.]
—Nokia complains: Nokia alleges that “Apple infringes Nokia patents in virtually all of its mobile phones, portable music players, and computers.” Previously, Nokia sued Apple in federal court, as well. [More here.]
