q12013
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If an iPad's a computer, then Apple is the world's PC shipment leader
Is an iPad a portable media device? A tablet computer? Something entirely "post-PC"? The answer, of course, is "it depends who you ask." Let's go ahead and define the parent category for iPads (and other tablets like the Kindle Fire, Samsung Galaxy Tab and Google Nexus) as "mobile screens that run a touch-centric OS, don't ship with a hardware keyboard, are larger than a mainstream smartphone and don't offer telephony as a core feature." Call that a tablet, or a "pad" if you must to distinguish it from legacy tablet PCs and the potential fridge toasters of Microsoft's Surface devices. If that's the bucket we're talking about, some reasonable sales comparisons are available. The fourth quarter of 2012 saw Samsung ship 7.6 million pads, and Amazon shipped 4.6 million, according to a report released today by research firm Canalys. With Apple's reported sales of 22.9 million iPads, it's pretty clear who's leading the category. Canalys's report doesn't leave it at that, however. With a wave of the marketshare wand, the report combines 22.9 million iPads with Apple's reported sales of 4.1 million Macs in the quarter. Accordingly, the firm puts Apple's total PC sales at 27 million for the quarter, handily crushing second-place HP's 15 million units shipped. In fact, if you admit the iPad to the PC club, Apple's quarter put it above 20 percent of the global PC share for the first time. From October 1 to December 31, in that 13-week quarter -- given the looser, flatter, touchable definition of a PC that Canalys is proposing -- one out of every six PCs sold worldwide was actually an iPad. I wish to take nothing away from Apple's achievements with the iPad. Selling 23 million of anything is really rather tough, and a jar of salsa's a far cry from a device with an average selling price $150 higher than a ticket from New York to LA. But just because consumers may be choosing the iPad as an alternative to buying a laptop or a computer doesn't necessarily mean they should be counted as members of the same taxon. Both by form and function, the iPad and its fellow "pad" products should really be considered post-PC devices distinct from PCs and also from smartphones -- they don't require a keyboard or mouse, they don't run legacy Win32 or Mac apps, they don't usually make phone calls. And they surely don't sell the way PCs do. [via NYT Bits]
Apple's Q1 2013 earnings reveal Mac and iPod sales down year-over-year
Apple's just released its latest figures for Q1 2013 and buried within the overall positive earnings -- about $54.5 billion in revenues and a profit of $13.1 billion -- is a surprising sales figure. For the company's recently ended quarter, Mac sales totaled 4.1 million -- that's in stark contrast to the 5.2 million sold in the previous year-ago quarter. This startling nugget comes despite the fact that Apple issued a refreshed iMac just before the close of the holiday season -- normally a boon time for sales. But as the company's earnings call revealed, these late 2012 iMacs were apparently subject to manufacturing constraints, thus preventing Apple from shipping units to all markets. As for its lagging iPod performance, that category also saw a steep decline, dropping down by nearly 3 million in year-over-year sales and amassing just 12.7 million units sold on the backs of its latest iPod touch and iPod nano. While this dip in sales is far from a warning bell for Cupertino (hello! record quarterly profit), it certainly doesn't bode well for the halo its products have typically enjoyed.
Apple announces Q1 2013 earnings: record $54.5 billion in revenue, 47.8 million iPhones and 22.9 million iPads sold
Yesterday was Google, tomorrow is Microsoft -- stuck in the middle? Apple. The unholy trinity of tech are going back-to-back-to-back with their quarterly earnings reports and Cupertino, faced with a steeply declining stock price, posted $54.5 billion in revenue -- just shy of Wall Street estimates. Still, that represents a record quarter for the company which has been rumored to be facing diminished demand for its flagship iPhone. While it may be a while 'til we know for sure if demand for the handset is tapering off, we can report that the 47.8 million iPhones sold in Q1 of 2013 represents a new high water mark. While revenues were a bit shy of estimates, the earnings per share of $13.82 were above what was expected, as was the record $13.08 billion in net profits. Year-over-year, profit was relatively flat ($13.06 billion in 2012), while revenues were up significantly from the $46.33 billion posted in Q1 of 2012. Carrying the day were record sales of iPhones and iPads -- the latter of which sold 22.9 million units during the quarter, up from 15.4 million a year ago and 14 million last quarter. Other products, however, continued their slow descent towards potential obsolescence. Only 4.1 million Macs and 12.7 million iPods were shipped during the quarter, compared to 5.2 million and 15.4 million, respectively, the same time last year. As usual, the vast majority of Apple's revenue, $20.3 billion to be exact, comes from the US. But other markets are growing quickly. In particular, revenues from China are up 67 percent year-over-year to 6.8 billion, while Japan and Asia Pacific are up 88 and 89 percent, respectively, just from last quarter. Through all this Apple has continued to build an enormous war chest, with $196 billion in assets at its disposal. So, should the allure of its brushed aluminum lineup fade, the company should be able to carry on for some time before falling on dire straits. If you'd like to dig in to all the financial details check out the PR after the break and tune in here for updates when the earnings call gets under way at 5PM ET. Update: The call is done and all the important tidbits are after the break.
Microsoft announces Q1 earnings with $5.31 billion in profit, braces for Windows 8 surge
It's Microsoft's turn at quiet-before-the-storm quarterly results, and that's evident in the fiscal first quarter earnings it just dropped on our laps. The Redmond team is reporting $16.01 billion in revenue, but a more modest than usual $5.31 billion in profit over the summer -- while it's healthier than the Q4 loss stemming from the aQuantive write-off, it's not as impressive as the $7.2 billion profit from a year ago. While a tough PC market is partly to blame, it's equally hard to say that Microsoft couldn't have done better. There's a real chance that some of its customers have been holding back on purchases in anticipation of the Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 launches; it's already setting aside $1.36 billion in revenue for Windows and Office upgrades. The company is unquestionably preparing itself for a giant spike in demand once at least Windows 8 rolls around later this month, so we'd say that the real litmus test will be the results we get after the holidays.
Nikon makes $201 million quarterly profit, nearly 50 percent drop from last year, blames strong yen
Nikon's odd financial calendar means that the camera maker is announcing its first quarter results for 2013. The confusingly-dated documents show that it isn't having the best Spring / Summer, since while it pulled in a net profit of $201 million, that figure is down nearly 50 percent on the $392 million it made in the same period last year. It sold a record number of interchangeable-lens cameras, lenses and a good number of compact cameras, but that was offset against the high cost of the yen. Its other businesses, Precision Equipment and Instruments both suffered thanks to Government spending cuts, a "harsh business climate" and the now age-old problem of the high exchange rate. It's expecting the situation to remain the same in the next three months, with booming camera sales weight against losses in its other businesses -- with a projected profit of $143 million anticipated in Q3.
Panasonic's 2013 Q1: things are looking up with a $164 million profit
Panasonic's financial year runs from summer to summer, so its first-quarter results for 2013 just hit the wire. The figures proudly show that the company has managed to turn around the losses it suffered so badly in the previous period -- with $23 billion in turnover generating a tidy profit of $164 million. While sales dropped by six percent compared to the first three months of the year, it's been reducing fixed costs and restructuring each segment of the business to ensure a return to profit making despite the worsening financial crisis in Europe. The company's even been able to stick some cash into the savings account, tucking $16.6 million into the piggy bank for a rainy day.
RIM: QWERTY BlackBerry 10 phone launches in 'close proximity' to its all-touch cousin
RIM hasn't had much good news to offer along with its glum fiscal first quarter, but it has given a reason to mark early 2013 on the calendar if you're a BlackBerry fan. CEO Thorsten Heins revealed during the results call that the first QWERTY BlackBerry 10 phone will arrive in "close proximity" to its touchscreen-only counterpart. What that entails is still very much under wraps, although there were clues. Heins stressed that the early batch would focus on the "premium" space, while BlackBerry 7 would hold down the entry and mid-range markets until their BlackBerry 10 replacements were ready. The tidbits won't provide much comfort to someone who has to decide on a phone by the holidays, but they hint that the truly patient could be rewarded for their calm under pressure.
RIM announces Q1 earnings: $518 million net loss, 5,000 job cuts, BB10 not due until Q1 2013
The last quarter has been about as rough as they come for RIM, and it's now detailed just how things stacked up in terms of hard numbers. For the first quarter of its 2013 fiscal year, the company brought in $2.8 billion in revenue, down a full 33 percent from the prior quarter, while it reported a net loss of $518 million -- much worse than analysts were expecting. What's more, it's also announced that it's cutting an additional 5,000 jobs as part of its ongoing restructuring efforts, and that the first BlackBerry 10 smartphones now won't launch until sometime in the first quarter of the 2013 calendar year (that includes a QWERTY model launched in "close proximity" to the touchscreen-only device). As for why, RIM only went as far as to say that the integration of some key BlackBerry 10 features and the "associated large volume of code" has "proven to be more time consuming than anticipated." For his part, though, CEO Thorsten Heins says he remains "confident that the first BlackBerry 10 smartphones will provide a ground-breaking next generation smartphone user experience," and that he's "encouraged by the traction that the BlackBerry 10 platform is gaining with application developers and content partners." He further notes that the response to BB10 from key carrier partners has "been very positive." In terms of its existing devices, RIM reports that BlackBerry smartphone shipments (not sales) for the quarter totaled 7.8 million, while there were about 260,000 PlayBooks shipped -- on the company's earnings call, Heins noted that the total BlackBerry subscriber base now stands at 78 million. Not surprisingly, the company is warning of more bad news to come. It says it expects the "next several quarters to continue to be very challenging," with everything from the "increasing competitive environment," lower handset volumes, impact from the BlackBerry 10 delay, and the company's plans to "continue to aggressively drive sales of BlackBerry 7 handheld devices" expected to cut into its bottom line. In another bit of news, the company also announced that it has appointed Steve Zipperstein, Verizon's former General Counsel, as its new Chief Legal Officer. You can find the full earnings report at the source link below.
TiVo shows a Q1 net loss of $20.8 million, will launch TV Everywhere web portal soon
TiVo has released its financial results for Q1 2013, and right off the bat they show a wider than expected net loss of $20.8 million. This is despite a rise in revenue and subscribers (driven mostly by Virgin Media, which added 242,000), and the company expects another loss in the second quarter due to rising litigation costs in its ongoing cases against Motorola and Time Warner Cable. We've already heard about TiVo's new Stream placeshifting box, IP multiroom extender and six-tuner XG1 gateway, but the new product news is a plan to launch TV Everywhere streaming. The first cable operator joining in the new venture will be RCN, and TiVo says its portal will allow providers using its DVRs to deliver streaming video in or out of the home, with video on-demand and remote DVR scheduling on PCs, tablets and mobile devices. That's expected to launch later this year, but for all the details, numbers and quotes you can check the press releases after the break.
RIM warns of loss for Q1, hires JP Morgan and RBC Capital Markets to help with strategic review
RIM announced last quarter that it would no longer be providing its traditional financial guidance for upcoming quarters, but CEO Thorsten Heins has nonetheless seen fit to deliver a "business update" today that offers some indication of what's in store for the company. The headline is that it's unsurprisingly projecting an operating loss for the next quarter (Q1 of its 2013 fiscal year), although it's not saying exactly how much, noting only that the "on-going competitive environment is impacting our business in the form of lower volumes and highly competitive pricing dynamics in the marketplace." The company's also confirmed that it has hired JP Morgan and RBC Capital Markets to aid in its so-called strategic review, which it says includes "opportunities to leverage the BlackBerry platform through partnerships, licensing opportunities and strategic business model alternatives." On the slightly brighter side of things, RIM was able to boast that it now has a worldwide subscriber base of 78 million, and that it now counts 80,000 BlackBerry apps and 15,000 PlayBook apps -- both significant increases from a year ago. It also further notes that BlackBerry 10 remains on track for the "latter part of calendar 2012." You can find the company's complete statement after the break.
Dell profit drops 33 percent in Q1, both home and corporate sales take a hit
Dell hasn't been having the greatest of years, and the blows are still as heavy as ever in Round Rock's fiscal Q1. Its net profit dipped a steep 33 percent to $635 million, while its overall revenue was down four points to $14.4 billion. Unlike in Q4, the PC builder couldn't point to strong enterprise sales as its savior, either: while its enterprise services' revenues were up two percent, its Large Enterprise group dropped by three points. Outside of small business sales and China, Dell's segments took hits as a whole, with the consumer group down a flinch-worthy 12 percent. The Texas firm is keen to stress that it's morphing into an "end-to-end IT provider" that downplays home sales, but without too many signs of strength in pleasing the suits and ties, we wouldn't count on investors being happy after they read the full details below.
NVIDIA reports Q1 earnings: rakes $60.4 million profit on $924.9 million in revenue
What's black and white and red all over? One thing it's probably not is NVIDIA's Q1 2013 earnings report. That's why we're here to dig through the muck and tell you that the company saw both profits and revenue fall from last quarter. Revenue was down three percent to $924.9 million but, more shockingly, net income dropped 47.9 percent to just $60 million. With a slew of new product launches over the last few months NVIDIA is optimistic about the future and actually managed to beat Wall Street's expectations. Though it offers little explanation for the drop off in its earnings press release, we'd expect things to get back to normal soon. For all the fine financial details, check out the PR after the break.
