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Huawei may spin off its P and Mate smartphone brands
After selling Honor last year, Huawei may spin off its premium Mate and P smartphone brands next to get around crippling sanction.
‘The Mandalorian’ season two finale confirms another Star Wars spin-off
Coming December 2021.
Sphero spins off a new company to make robots for police, military use
Robotic toy maker Sphero is spinning its public safety division into a new company focused on robots for first responders, government and defense.
Xiaomi is spinning off its Poco brand into a new company
Last year, Xiaomi managed outdo OnePlus by releasing the powerful Pocophone F1 smartphone with a Snapdragon 845 processor for just $300. Now, the Chinese company announced that it's spinning that sub-brand off into a whole new company called Poco, according to TechCrunch. "We feel the time is right to let Poco operate on its own now," said executive Manu Kumar Jain in a statement. "Poco F1... remains a top contender in its category, even in 2020."
APB: Reloaded spawns iOS tactical spin-off APB: Retribution
While the massively multiplayer APB: Reloaded has never had the same kind of success of say, World of Warcraft, it has proven enough of a cult hit to spawn APB: Retribution, an iOS-exclusive tactical shooter steeped in the MMO's lore. "Seeking bloody vengeance against Old Harry, the Horca leader who left you for dead," reads developer Blazing Griffin's plot tease, "You must navigate through a complete singleplayer story – complemented with hand-painted levels – where every step you take is a sheer fight for survival." "Make use of a wide array of weapons and equipment to hack, slash, maim, and shoot your way through the dilapidated backstreets of San Paro. Battle Horca clan members, bosses, and other characters using one-shot tactical combat to gain the upper hand in tough-to-clear urban locations." Despite its predecessor being strictly multiplayer focused, APB: Retribution is a singleplayer game. As the MMO fiends at our sister site Massively note, APB: Retribution is something of a test bed for an expansion of the APB: Reloaded universe. Retribution was completed in a mere six months, and Blazing Griffin already has a follow-up in the works, though nothing is known about that as-yet-unnamed game. APB: Retribution currently lacks a specific release date, though it should hit iOS devices later this month.
Samsung Display spinoff officially launches as 'the world's largest display manufacturer'
Just as planned, Samsung has formally separated from its display business, which will begin solo operations "in earnest" April 3rd. The newly created -- and still 100 percent Samsung Electronics owned -- Samsung Display comes into existence immediately as "the world's largest display manufacturer" with 20,000 employees and five production facilities around the world. New president Donggun Park reiterated the company's stance that this move will better allow the display unit to stay ahead of the market, although what that might mean in LCDs, OLED or any other new technology isn't clear yet. Competitor LG has had a separate LG Display unit since 1999, which was originally a joint venture with Philips before that company sold all of its shares in 2008. As you can see from the new logo above not a lot has changed so far, but we'll see what "customized products" it can develop in the future.
Samsung shareholders approve spin-off of LCD business
It's been less than a month since Samsung confirmed that it would be spinning-off its LCD business into a separate company, and it looks like things are proceeding along speedily. The company's shareholders have now approved the spin-off, paving the way for the tentatively-titled Samsung Display Co. to come into existence on April 1st. Samsung Electronics will have a 100 percent stake in that company, and the current executive vice president of its LCD business, Park Dong-gun, will take on the position of president in the new firm. All of that, Samsung says, is being done in an effort to make the company more nimble and able to respond to its clients' needs more quickly.
Samsung spinning off LCD business
When the Korea Exchange asked Sammy about rumors of an impending spin-off of its LCD business, the firm said it was a move it was considering. Well, consider it done -- today Samsung announced it would be launching Samsung Display on April 1st, 2012 with $6.6 billion in its coffers. The move is still waiting for shareholder approval, but Donggun Park, executive vice president of Samsung's LCD business, seems optimistic. "The spin-off will allow us to make quicker business decisions and respond to our clients' needs more swiftly." This decision comes just months after Sammy agreed to take Sony's stake in S-LCD, turning the former display partnership into a fully owned subsidiary. Hit the break for the official (machine translated) press release.
HP promotes '$40 billion' PC business spin-off with new series of ads
Before today, HP had only expressed that it "will consider a broad range of options" for the future of its Personal Systems Group; and now, said company's released a series of ads to confirm its intention to spin it off into a separate company. Amidst the lovely (and ironic) mention of HP's long-lived success with its $40 billion PC business, the underlying message here is all about "staying focused on our customer needs" and to "better anticipate change" -- much like being a start-up all over again, as suggested by Executive Vice President Todd Bradley on HP's website. Of course, the customer in question here is likely from the enterprise sector, as we've all learned from CEO Leo Apotheker's interview at D9, the death of HP's webOS devices, and the pending acquisition of Autonomy. Still, we've yet to hear more concrete plans or even figure out who the potential buyers might be (if any), but for now, you can take a gander at HP's "sample ad" after the break.
HP may spin off PC business, shift focus to software and services
Word 'round the campfire is, HP may be prepping to spin off its PC business. Though Hewlett-Packard is the world's largest computer company, desktops and laptops are a relatively low profit margin business. Obviously, there's no confirmation yet that such a split will happen, but with the recent focus on tablets and smartphones, and CEO Leo Apotheker's own admission that he'd like to expand into software and services, the move would make sense. According to Bloomberg the announcement could come as soon as today, during the company's quarterly earnings call, where it's also expected to reveal a $10 billion purchase of software company Autonomy Corp. We'll be listening in live later, so check back this afternoon to see if HP sets its PC business free.
The Perfect Ten: Sequelitis
As a long-time movie buff, I've always been fascinated by sequels. I know, they have a terrible reputation and everyone gets this face like he's digesting a porcupine when discussing them, but there's something fun about them as well. I think we always want a good story to continue, to see what happens next, and to answer the question, "What would the first film be like if it were put in the hands of a complete boob?" It would be an entertaining trainwreck, that's what. Even though the MMORPG genre is in its toddler stage, it's seen a number of sequels, prequels and spin-offs, just the same as other types of entertainment. Video game sequels for hit titles are safer financial investments than striking out into new territory, so it makes sense that MMO studios would follow this pattern as well. Right now there are loads of MMO sequels and spin-offs in the works -- including EverQuest Next, PlanetSide Next, Guild Wars 2, Mabinogi 2, MapleStory 2, Phantasy Star Online 2, Dust 514, and even a possible Ultima Online sequel -- so it's safe to say that the trend won't be dying down anytime soon. However, today I want to look at 10 sequels that already made it to release and briefly examine how they stacked up to their predecessors. Oh yes, there will be blood after the jump -- and I will drink your milkshake!
RealNetworks to spin off Rhapsody, give up control
Seems like times are tough in the streaming music game -- Warner is making noise about dropping free streaming rights to its catalog, and now RealNetworks and Viacom have announced plans to spin off the Rhapsody subscription service. The new company will obviously be known as Rhapsody, and both Real and Viacom will hold a sub-50 percent stake in the outfit and remain on the board of directors. Real's also contributing $18m in cash to the cause, while Viacom's committed to providing $33m in advertising -- we'll see if Rhapsody can make it on its own once that all runs out.
Motorola to roll out revised plan, schism not so clear-cut anymore
Remember Motorola's decision to pause the sale of its largest division? Change of plans again, folks. According to The Wall Street Journal, the company's getting ready to reveal a new initiative, whereby it still sells its wireless networking business, but the set-top box and core handset business would instead be spun off into a new, publicly-traded company. That'd invariably leave a pretty small Motorola -- less than one-third its current size in terms of sales, selling primarily public-radio system and bar-code scanners. Would the newly-minted company get a new name, logo, and series of catchy, name-inspired puns? Our guess is it'd retain the Moto name -- why waste such good branding -- but it's not confirmed either way. Plans are still being finalized, but we're watching this closely.
Deutsche Telekom rumored to be eyeing T-Mobile USA spinoff
Not a week goes by that we don't hear of investor pressure on Deutsche Telekom to strengthen its financials and offload underperforming units -- T-Mobile USA included -- and the American outpost is back in the spotlight this evening coming off a report out of The Wall Street Journal that a spinoff might indeed be in the works. According to our favorite "people familiar with the matter," DT has reached out to a few banks with the goal of raising enough capital for T-Mobile through an IPO that it'd be able to continue to fund its network build-out, something that's going to become increasingly critical as it fends off 7.2Mbps HSPA and 4G competition from all of its national competitors. There are a few scenarios allegedly being discussed, ranging from a full-on excision of T-Mobile from its corporate parent to a merger with another US wireless firm -- but the plan gaining most traction internally is said to involve selling around 20 percent of the carrier to investors while hanging onto the rest, a situation that would get the underperforming unit's financials off DT's books. Ultimately, whatever comes of this probably won't happen for a few months while the options get mulled, but considering what went down in the UK, this certainly seems plausible.
Motorola pauses split to mull options
Amazing what a little success will do to a company, isn't it? The Wall Street Journal is reporting today that Motorola has put the brakes on its search for a buyer for its Home and Networks Mobility division that's responsible for the company's set-top boxes and network infrastructure equipment. It's easy to see why this might be a good time for Moto to pause and take stock of its situation -- while no one's even close to calling the Mobile Devices division's turnaround complete, the focus on Android appears to have injected fresh interest (and commercial success) in a lineup plagued with countless duds just a year ago. Apparently the company is also discouraged by the fact that suitors have lowballed Motorola's expected sale price by a billion or two, but make no mistake, the split isn't off altogether -- the executive board is expected to convene in the next few days to figure this all out before the next round of bidding is due in February. Stay tuned -- by the end of the year, we could realistically be looking at one, two, or even three Motos depending on how this goes down.
Infinity Ward talking about spin-off game starring Modern Warfare 2's 'Ghost'
Though Modern Warfare 2 is rife with instantly accessible, beloved characters with fascinating names, we all know that one stands out as the franchise's most memorable protagonist: Ghost. You know, Ghost! He's got that skull mask, and there was that one scene where that guy's about to shoot you, and then Ghost shoots him right back. He's already risen to fame somewhat when he received a six-part comic series telling his story -- but if the actor who provides the spectral hero's voice is to be believed, he might just show up in his own video game as well. Craig Fairbrass, who not only did the voice for Ghost in MW2, but also voiced the equally unfortunately named Gaz in the original Modern Warfare, mentioned, "I'm now voicing a guy called Ghost, who now just got a spin-off comic of his own and they're talking about another little game to go with it." Little game? Based on the number of Michael Bay-esque explosions in the first five minutes of Modern Warfare 2, we're not sure Infinity Ward is capable of making those.
Capcom announces new Monster Hunter spin-off for PSP, awaits money-flood
Capcom surprised attendees of a Monster Hunter competition in Tokyo by announcing a brand new Monster Hunter title for the PSP. Don't get too excited though -- this appears to be a spin-off game, featuring the series' Toro-esque mascots. The game is titled "Monhan Nikki Poka Poka Airu Mura," or "Monster Hunter Diary Poka Poka Airu Village."Other than this logo, no other details were revealed about this mysterious new entry to the Monster Hunter franchise. Considering millions of Japanese people bought a PSP specifically for Monster Hunter, Capcom is bound to rake in a lot of dough when this eventually releases.
Time Warner spills details on TWC spinoff
This won't affect the most of you one single bit, but for those that have a vested interested in either Time Warner, Inc. or Time Warner Cable, the details of the spinoff are now public. The tax-free separation of TWC from Time Warner will involve a dividend distribution of all of the Time Warner Cable common stock held by Time Warner to Time Warner stockholders; said distribution will be made on March 27th to Time Warner stockholders of record at 8PM on March 12th. Time Warner Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bewkes noted that he was "confident that this separation would benefit Time Warner and Time Warner Cable stockholders," suggesting that the move would enable each entity to be "better positioned to compete, with capital structures more suited to their respective needs as well as greater operational, financial and strategic flexibility." Maybe TWC will get around to adding a few more HD channels now that daddy isn't looking over its shoulder 24/7, but we wouldn't bet the farm on it.
Time Warner to finalize TWC spinoff this quarter
Wait, what? Time Warner Cable is still a part of Time Warner, Inc.? Weren't they supposed to split, like, almost a year ago? We've always heard that old flames are hard to extinguish, so we guess we shouldn't be too shocked to hear that this drawn-out separation is still being, well, drawn out. According to a fresh release from parent company Time Warner, it has "elected to complete the separation of the two companies through a spin-off distribution involving a pro rata dividend of all of the Time Warner Cable common stock held by Time Warner to Time Warner stockholders." If you're hungry for details beyond that, we're afraid you'll have to wait -- all we're told is that the two "continue to expect that the separation will be completed by the end of the current quarter." Cute how "continue" was thrown in there, yeah?
AMD denies report it plans to sell off manufacturing operations
While it may not all be his doing, newly-minted AMD CEO Dirk Meyer seems to be at the center of more than a bit of confusion in his first few days on the job. First, he detailed AMD's plans to take on Intel's Atom processor this fall, which was apparently news to AMD's Chief Marketing Officer, and now AMD is denying a report that AMD is set to spin off its manufacturing operations into a separate company, which arose out of an interview Meyer gave to the Austin American-Statesman. In it, Meyer reportedly said that AMD was "just months away" from spinning off its fabrication business, which would let it concentrate on designing, marketing and selling chips, and allow it to compete more effectively against its two big rivals: Intel and NVIDIA. As eWEEK reports, however, an AMD spokesperson now says that Meyer was referring simply to "how the company manufactures its wafers," which could possibly be a reference to the company's planned shift to a 45-nanometer manufacturing process. That's quite a difference, and we're guessing we'll be hearing yet more "clarification" on the matter before all is said and done.Read - Austin American-Statesman, "New AMD chief sees clear path to recovery"Read - eWEEK, "AMD Denies Fab Sell-Off"[Thanks, Chris]
