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Panasonic reverses its fortunes amid electric vehicle boom
Not every struggling company story has to have a depressing ending. Though its troubles are far from over yet, Panasonic has just announced 73.7 billion yen ($730 million) in net earnings for Q3. That's up 20 percent over last year, a disastrous period that saw nearly $10 billion in full-year losses and painful company-wide layoffs. While those cuts are finally helping the bottom line, Panasonic also said it's no longer relying on its consumer electronics division for profits. Instead, it saw the most growth in the automotive sector, highlighted by booming battery sales to EV makers like Toyota and Tesla -- a key part of new president Kazuhiro Tsuga's strategy. Unfortunately, another part of the plan is to keep eliminating unprofitable divisions until March 2016. That means the recent death of its much-loved plasma TV unit isn't the end of the slashing.
What can you buy with Apple's Q1 profit?
In Apple's Q1 earnings report, the company reported a profit of $13.1 billion. That's a whole lot of money, but it can sometimes be difficult to really wrap your head around a figure that large. So to help put it in perspective, here are a few things you could buy with that much money. Note: These are prices as they were originally introduced
PS4 costs $381 to make, according to hardware teardown
The PlayStation 4 costs $381 for Sony to build, $18 under its retail price of $399. The figure comes from a hardware teardown by research firm IHS that included the bill of materials, which amounts to $372, as well as per-unit cost of assembly in the assessment. The teardown notes that the system's processor and memory account for about half of the cost of the entire console at $188, and that the PS4's 500 GB hard drive is $1 cheaper than the 120 GB one found in the PS3, thanks to the "major decline in HDD costs during the past four years." Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Andrew House said in August that the system "will not generate anything like the losses we did for the PlayStation 3," which amounted to $3.5 billion in 2007 and 2008, after the PS3 launched in November 2006 for $599. IHS' teardown of the PS3 at the time found that the system cost Sony $805, and the company still lost roughly $40 per system as of December 2009. The PS4 is off to a good start, as Sony sold one million units in the console's first day at retail. Sony addressed a few issues with launch systems, estimating that the number of problematic PS4 consoles is less than one percent of those shipped.
The Soapbox: Game companies exist to make money
I'm going to start this article off with a statement, and it's going to be divisive, but not for the reasons you might expect. A good chunk of you reading this are going to read the line, roll your eyes, and immediately think that I've just written the most obvious thing ever. Some of you might even take to the comments to start calling for my termination just from this line alone. Ready for this? Game companies exist to make money. All right, so it was probably all of you rolling your eyes. This is pretty basic stuff, right? Except I'm willing to bet that some of you who rolled your eyes at that sentence still don't really get it. You understand that companies are trying to make money, but you don't really grasp what that means in a larger sense. So let's just accept that some of you are going to read this article and nod along the whole time without learning a whole lot. The rest of you will head to the comments and start demanding my head.
NCsoft sales are up, income is down
NCsoft may be in a more secure position with its financials at the present, as the company released its Q2 2013 earnings report with uplifting data. Overall, the publisher and its combined subsidiaries has increased its sales by 4% over last quarter and seen a healthy bump in operating profit as well. It's not all good news; NCsoft's net income has taken a 35% nosedive quarter-over-quarter. If you strip away the subsidiaries, however, NCsoft is doing well across the board. So what's fueling these numbers? Lineage 1 remains the backbone of NCsoft's financials, boasting "an all-time high" in the sales department. Aion is reportedly doing well in China, and Guild Wars 2 is providing "stable" profits. It looks as though North American sales has decreased from Q1, but an increase in Japanese and Korean sales has more than made up for the loss.
EVE Evolved: Get ready for Odyssey
With just two days to go until EVE Online's exploration-focused Odyssey expansion goes live, players have been scouring the test server for information that can give them an edge. Some have been practicing moon surveying techniques for the upcoming redistribution of tech 2 minerals, and others are hoping to get rich quick by speculating on battleship price changes. Explorers are kitting out new exploration ships, theorycrafters are working on new setups for rebalanced ships, and pirates are setting up base in lowsec areas that are about to become fertile hunting grounds. Odyssey isn't quite the Apocrypha-level expansion I've been hoping for, but it certainly seems set to shake things up. Changes to moon minerals will throw nullsec into chaos and hopefully ignite some big territorial wars, and battleship buffs may change EVE's popular fleet compositions. The Discovery Scanner Overlay will make exploration much easier for new players to get into, but will also give pirates another tool with which to hunt down explorers. A new co-operative hacking minigame will also make exploration more of a team sport. But how can you make the most of the expansion from day one, and what can you do today to prepare for it? In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at the new exploration system and other changes you can expect when you log in on Tuesday, and what you can do now to make the most of them.
Samsung estimated to make 95 percent of Android device profits
Yes, we all know that Android has the prevailing device market share right now, but which companies in that group are actually making money? According to Strategy Analytics' estimates for Q1, it's Samsung... and virtually no one else. With $5.1 billion of Samsung's $7.9 billion operating profit last quarter believed to have come from Android, the Korean firm reportedly accounted for 94.7 percent of Android's hardware profit engine. The only other company that made enough money to stand out was LG, whose $119 million in mobile profits got it to a much smaller 2.5 percent. HTC, Sony, ZTE and the rest were lumped into the ignominious "other" category, at 2.7 percent. The figures don't mean that all other Android manufacturers are floundering, but they do suggest that Samsung is in a much better position to survive any market turbulence.
Sony revises its 2012 earnings forecast, doubles expected net profits
Just like last year, we're reporting on a revision Sony's making to its expectations for last year's profits, but this time around there's some positive news. According to Sony, selling some of the buildings it owns and a weakening yen have doubled its expected net profit from 20 billion yen announced in February to 40 billion yen ($403 million). The complete results will be announced May 9th, and despite Sony managing its first profit since 2008 investors are hoping to hear how it plans to keep the streak going with business gains next year. The PlayStation 4 is expected to headline CEO Kaz Hirai's plans for future products, we should hear just how optimistic Sony is about those prospects in a couple of weeks.
Sprint reports quarterly net loss of $643 million, sees iPhone sales drop by a third
Sprint managed to lose a million customers and over a billion dollars last quarter. This time it's not quite as bad, with a net loss of $643 million on revenue that was broadly equivalent to the same quarter of last year (around $8.8 billion). Those following the carrier's big iPhone gamble will note that sales of Apple smartphones fell by around a third relative to last quarter, from 2.2 million down to 1.5 million. Total smartphone sales reached 5 million, which Sprint describes as "strong" and which helped it to slightly increase the amount of profit it makes from each postpaid customer. However, this wasn't enough to offset the impact of losing another half a million customers, specifically due to the ongoing exodus of Nextel subscribers. Partly as a result of this, the company's revenues continue to be wiped out by its huge costs of doing business -- not that its potential suitors seem to mind.
Dustforce devs explain what they earned, what they learned
Developer Hitbox Studios has cracked open the financial books on Dustforce, revealing just how much the indie release made. After the game's launch in January of 2012 and some major sales with Steam and the Humble Bundle, Dustforce has earned a total of $668,490 in revenue.That may sound profitable, but that's before taxes, Valve's take, and other fees are removed, which brings the total down to $489,404. Removing various software and hardware costs, accounting fees, and other expenses lowers it even further to $295,000, says Hitbox. In the end, for every $10 copy of the game sold, Hitbox earned $4.41 – which the studio's (now four) developers must split.Dustforce began with a $0 budget, as a game prototype made with GameMaker. After an IndiePub competition win, Hitbox was able to budget the $100,000 prize for the game's development, which it says was enough to support the staff of three for about a year and a half.Hitbox's Terence Lee says the release was ultimately worth it. The game's success and "the pleasure of making Dustforce was worth far more than the opportunity cost of working somewhere else." He calls the process a "fantastic foundation for us as a studio," providing experience and funds for work on Hitbox's next title, an FPS called Spire.
HTC pays price for One delays, reports worst quarterly profit so far in Q1 2013
Instead of reaping the rewards of putting out a lovely new flagship, HTC has just reported its lowest ever profit -- a mere $2.8 million in unaudited net income -- during the first three months of this year. That compares to $173 million in the same quarter of last year, representing a pretty catastrophic fall of around 98 percent. Underlying revenue dropped by a third to $1.4 billion. The reason? The top-end smartphone on which the company's fortunes currently rest, the HTC One, mostly missed its scheduled global arrival date in March due to manufacturing delays, so it effectively didn't exist during the period in question. It has only just become available to pre-order in the US and won't start shipping to customers until April 19th. At this rate, the HTC First -- the manufacturer's second big announcement of the year -- might actually deserve its name.
An iPad mini with Retina display could cost $12 more to build
Hardware market research firm iSuppli has released a new report that claims the cost-per-device of an iPad mini sporting a Retina display screen could be fairly high: as much as $12 or more. Even if all of the other parts stay the same price, just adding a Retina display in the iPad mini's size, iSuppli's report suggests, would bring Apple's cost above $200, which would likely mean higher costs for consumers as well. Which doesn't seem all that impossible -- the current iPad mini is selling quite well at $329, and you have to think that potential purchasers would be happy to spend a bit more for a full Retina display. Plus, if Apple really needed to shave some of that margin off just to boost sales, it probably could (though that would be a very un-Apple move, and it seems like it'll be a while before the iPad mini needs any extra help). For any other company, $12 per device might be a real problem, but Apple has still has quite a few options to deal with such a high increase in cost. Not to mention that Apple is always working on its supply costs, so while that may be the price now, the company may be working hard on figuring out a new way to supply and develop smaller Retina displays, or to work out a deal to make them cheaper in general. It's true, putting the Retina display in the iPad mini won't be cheap at the moment, but if anyone can figure out a way to do so without attacking their very high margin, it'll be Apple. [via App Advice]
Activision Blizzard sees 'best performance in history' during 2012
Activision Blizzard and its many, many franchises brought in $4.85 billion dollars in net revenue over the course of calendar 2012, with $1.76 billion of that hitting its coffers during the three month period ending on December 31, 2012. Digital sales represented 32 percent of that total annual new revenue, raking in $1.54 billion.As far as actual profit is concerned, Activision Blizzard reports net post-tax income of $1.14 billion for the year and $354 million for Q4; a 5.8 and 257 percent year-over-year increase, respectively."Activision Blizzard delivered the best performance in its history," CEO Bobby Kotick said in the financial statement. "In the short-term, we expect to continue delivering strong profitability, but below our record setting 2012 performance, due to a challenged global economy, the ongoing console transition and a difficult year-over-year comparison because of Blizzard's record-shattering Diablo 3 success in 2012."In addition to said Diablo 3 success, Activision Blizzard also lists Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops 2 and Skylanders among the many reasons that it had such a successful year, with Skylanders as a series having crested $1 billion in lifetime sales.Looking forward, Activision Blizzard anticipates total net revenues for calendar 2013 to ring up at $4.08 billion, with $1.16 billion of that being generated during the year's first quarter.
Huawei 2012 results: $2.5 billion profit, smartphone penetration 'still way too low'
Huawei has announced some pretty respectable numbers for the year just passed, with the company taking $35.4 billion (CNY 220.2 billion) in revenue and turning that into a $2.48 billion (CNY 15.4 billion) profit -- both figures show an improvement over their 2011 counterparts. CFO Cathy Meng, daughter of Huawei's founder, said that despite the money coming in, "smartphone penetration is still way too low and there is a lot of room for growth." Meng also brought up the ongoing trust issues with the US, which she doesn't expect to hamper growth. Huawei is certainly maturing its international business regardless -- 66 percent of overall revenue came from other regions. All we know is that Huawei's becoming increasingly visible at international trade shows like CES, and it will undoubtedly have more to share at the upcoming MWC, where we can only hope to hear more about that mouth-watering eight-core chip.
Anonymous source sounds off on City of Heroes profitability, NCsoft responds
The chance to prevent City of Heroes from being shut down may have passed, but the debates about the game's profitability and the merit of that shutdown aren't going anywhere. An anonymous source has come forward reaffirming several previous data points but also elaborating on some of the details surrounding the closure, including Paragon Studios' plan to pull away from NCsoft entirely and why NCsoft wouldn't greenlight a sequel to the game. Surprisingly, NCsoft's Chief of Corporate Communications, Lincoln Davis, responded to the information, denying all claims but still shedding some light on the issue. Davis mentions repeatedly that Paragon Studios was not profitable, but at no point does he state that City of Heroes itself was not profitable. He also avoids saying that the company was unable to find a buyer for the game but simply that the company was unable to find a buyer that NCsoft thought would support the game "in a manner [players] were accustomed to for years to come." While it won't bring the game back, it certainly sheds some interesting light on the whole situation, albeit light that will likely be of cold comfort to the game's fans. [Update: We've reached out to NCsoft for a more detailed statement; we'll keep you posted when we hear more.]
Microsoft confirms 'a delay in approval' of updated SkyDrive app for iOS
Feisty, no? Following a report from The Next Web, Microsoft has confirmed to us that there is indeed a hangup in moving the updated SkyDrive app into the App Store. For those unaware, it was reported that Microsoft and Apple were deadlocked in discussions due to the former's decision to allow users to buy more storage from within the app. In other words, Apple's trying to maintain its controversial 30 percent in-app revenue split, while Microsoft is arguing that some users may end up buying more storage through the iOS app, but then make a switch to Android or Windows Phone. Apple's stance is that users who did such a thing would forever entitle it to 30 percent of the revenue, while Microsoft clearly sees things differently. Today, a Microsoft spokesperson gave us the following quote on the matter: "Similar to the experiences of some other companies, we are experiencing a delay in approval of our updated SkyDrive for iOS. We are in contact with Apple regarding the matter and hope to come to a resolution. We will provide additional information as it becomes available." While it doesn't say much, it doesn't outright deny the allegations -- something you'd think a company of Microsoft's size would be quick to dismiss if there wasn't a shred of truth to it. Hopefully the two parties can sort things out, but honestly, we'd suggest the Windows Phone team put the whole "add proper Gmail and Google Suite integration to WP8" thing above this little squabble.
Wii U only needs one game bought to make a profit, says Nintendo
A single game purchase turns the loss Nintendo makes with each Wii U sold into an overall profit. So says Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, who in an interview with Mercury News played down how his company's latest system is selling for a loss at launch."The business model doesn't change dramatically," said Fils-Aime. "In that as soon as we get the consumer to buy one piece of software, then that entire transaction becomes profit positive. In the end, the business model is still to drive the install base of hardware, and then to drive a strong tie ratio with all of the other software and experiences for the consumer. And if we're able to do that, then we will create significant profit for the company."The Wii U is doing a bit better than the 1:1 attach rate required for profit, at least based on reported GameStop pre-orders. The retailer says it took 1.2 million Wii U game pre-orders for 500,000 systems at launch, coming to an attach rate of 2.4 to 1.
ARM posts healthy Q3 profits: up 22 percent thanks to smart TVs and other growing markets
British chip designer ARM has just revealed its accounts for Q3 2012 and they show a familiar pattern: namely, a double-digit rise in both revenue (up 20 percent to £144.6 million, or around $230 million) and pre-tax earnings (up 22 percent to £68.1 million). According to Reuters, the company is attributing its latest bout of success to making "further inroads" into growing markets like smart TVs and microcontrollers. Of course, all of this is stands in stark contrast to the traditional x86 PC world, where giants like Intel and AMD have been struggling with weak demand.
The extremes of technology customer service: how common sense and empathy create unmatched loyalty
Allow me to explain how two discussions started off in very similar ways, and ended... shall we say, differently. This is me, attempting to muster any sort of pleasantness in my voice at some ungodly hour of the morning on a Google Voice connection from Dubai back to the US: "Hey! I'm having to cut a trip short due to an emergency back home. I actually purchased a trip protection plan when I checked out online -- would it be possible to provide a refund for this flight now that I need to cancel it?" From here, I was told that this was too vague. That I would need medical proof of an injury or illness, and that if it were a pre-existing condition -- something like reoccurring cancer -- that simply wouldn't do. Oh, and if it's a home emergency, you'll need proof from your home insurance company that your abode is "uninhabitable." "So... I'm basically hosed here? This trip protection plan doesn't really protect very much, does it?" "... Do you want to file the claim?" "No. That's okay. Thanks for your time." It doesn't have to be this way.
Sony's Cyber-shot RX1 compact camera packs a full-frame sensor, 'fits in your palm' (hands-on)
Would you believe us if we told you Sony packed a full-frame sensor in a Cyber-shot-branded camera? It's true! Say hello to the RX1, a "compact" digital camera for pros that's packing the same 24.3MP Exmor CMOS sensor introduced today with the A99. Calling the rangefinder-esque one-pound shooter small might seem off-base, especially considering the Zeiss Sonnar T* 35mm f/2.0 fixed prime lens protruding from its front, but it's not so huge (3-inches high by 4.5-inches wide) up against its tiny sibling, the RX100 -- taking into account how much larger the RX1's sensor is, well, that's when this editor's jaw basically dropped. While it's not a "pro-NEX" as many had hoped, Sony explained that it chose a fixed lens to avoid the bulk of a lens-mount. We were able to get some eyes-on time with an engineering prototype of the unit, so click past the break for more details, close-ups and a brief video overview. %Gallery-164840%
