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Qualcomm reports record quarterly revenues, boasts 100th Snapdragon device
Qualcomm's back again with yet another set of impressive numbers. For the second quarter of this fiscal year, the chip giant saw record earnings of $3.88 billion, up 46 percent from the same quarter in the previous year, and collected $999 million of sweet profit which is a 29 percent jump from last year. This is no doubt to do with the 70 percent increase in the MSM7000- and MSM8000-series Snapdragon shipments in this half of the fiscal year (compared to 2H 2010), and it should be noted that this quarter also saw the 100th Snapdragon-powered device announced by a Qualcomm client. Additionally, EVP Steve Mollenkopf reassured us that the recent events in Japan won't have any significant impact on upcoming shipments, so the 30 Snapdragon tablets in the pipeline should arrive as scheduled. Excerpts from the financial report can be found after the break.
Sony posts $887 million net profit, PlayStation has strong holiday quarter
Sony had quite a good holiday during its third quarter for fiscal year 2010, posting a ¥137.5 billion (approximately US $1.68b) operating income. Year-over-year, however, it's actually six percent lower than Q3 FY09, with some blame attributable to a five percent stronger yen. Although sales were more or less the same in most divisions (with pictures and music seeing a more noticeable drop), operating income saw dramatic changes. Consumer, Professional and Devices dropped 47 percent to ¥26.8b ($327.3m), while Networked Products and Services (which includes the PlayStation brand) jumped a whopping 134 percent to ¥45.7b ($559.78). Looking at unit sales, Bravia sets were way up (7.9m units versus 5.4m in Q3 FY09), and video cameras, compact digital cameras, and PCs all saw moderate gains. PSP hardware took a pretty big hit, going from 4.2m last holiday to 3.6m this past quarter (the now-profitable PlayStation 3 saw a slight decline, 6.5m to 6.3m). Software-wise, though, both gaming machines saw a bump -- 57.6m (from 47.6m) for PS3 and 16.4m (from 15m) for PSP. The PlayStation 2, now almost 11 years old, actually had about the same 2.1m hardware unit sales YOY, though software took a pretty hard hit (from 11.2m to 5.3m). Sony's golden years console isn't going down without a fight -- then again, it might've been a different story had the company managed to add backwards compatibility to the PS3.
Qualcomm has best quarter ever, teases a host of Snapdragon tablets
If you've got a speedy Snapdragon in your smartphone, Qualcomm's the one to thank -- but considering the raw earnings figures shared yesterday, your dollars have applauded the firm enough already. Qualcomm reported record earnings of $3.35 billion for its first fiscal quarter of the year, up 25 percent since Q1 2010, and it raked in a nice fat $1.17 billion of that in profit, 39 percent more than last year. That's thanks to shipping 118 million of those Mobile Station Modem (MSM) chips that power mobile devices, as well as other ventures, and the company expects revenues to continue their upward bent as 2011 progresses -- thanks to new devices on the way. Qualcomm EVP Steve Mollenkopf told investors that "we currently have more than 150 Snapdragon devices in development, including more than 20 tablets," and that the dual-core 1.2GHz MSM8660 in particular was picking up steam, with over 60 devices slated to use the dual-mode chipset with HSPA+ and EV-DO Rev. B. What of a groundbreaking deal with Apple to power new iPhones and iPads? CEO Paul Jacobs wouldn't say: "We're happy to see the Verizon iPhone announcement since it's been the subject of intense speculation, but we have no other comments on that topic." Guess we'll have to wait and see.
Microsoft announces a record first-quarter revenue of $16.20 billion, $5.41 billion in profit
Microsoft just beat analyst expectations, announcing $16.20 billion in revenue for the first quarter of its 2011 fiscal year, with $5.41 billion in profit. Microsoft cites Office 2010, the sustained "PC refresh cycle," and 38 percent growth in the Xbox 360 biz for its good news, with overall revenue up 25 percent over the same quarter last year and a 51 percent gain in profit. The Xbox 360 has been at the top of the console heap for four months running, which can't hurt. Microsoft will have an earnings call to discuss its results at 5:30PM EDT, so we'll be keeping our ears peeled for Steve Ballmer to pull a Steve Jobs, hijack the call, and rag hard on the competition -- if only we lived in a world of such beautiful symmetry.
Intel reports record $11.1 billion revenue, brings home $3 billion in bacon
Looks like Intel's having its best quarter ever all over again: this time, the company's reporting $3.0 billion in profit on a record $11.1 billion in revenue. Chipzilla attributes the surplus to three percent increases in laptop and server chips sales respectively, but none to Atom-based netbooks -- sales of Atom chips actually decreased by four percent. That may be more than you needed or wanted to know about the booming processor business, but humanitarians will be pleased to know it's not all about the silicon; Intel also hired 1,300 new flesh-and-blood employees last quarter to keep the machines running.
Lenovo sees $54.9 million net profit in Q1 earnings, hits double digits in global market share
Look out, world -- Lenovo's on a serious tear, and it doesn't look to be stopping anytime soon. In the company's latest earnings report, it proudly announced its first-ever double digital market share of 10.2 percent. As if that milestone wasn't enough to make upper management grin, the outfit also nailed down just under $55 million in net income (a pre-tax income of $75 million) on sales of $5.1 billion. This quarter also marks the third in a row that it has been the fastest growing of the top five PC makers, and the fifth consecutive quarter that it outgrew the industry. Specifically, the outfit's PC shipments increased some 48.1 percent year-over-year, and consolidated sales for its fiscal Q1 saw an insane 49.6 percent uptick from last year. As of now, things are looking mighty rosy for Lenovo, and it just seems logical for the company to revive the Skylight in celebration. Who's with us?
Dell's Q2 2010 sees 16 percent increase in net income, flat revenue from Consumer unit
First with HP, and now with Dell. The PC maker (and occasional phone dabbler) posted its second quarter fiscal 2010 report, which actually gives a good perspective on the relative position of each company in the global PC market. Whereas the House that Hurd once ran reported a $30.7 billion revenue and $2.3 billion operating profit, Dell posted $15.5 billion (up 22 percent) in revenue and $745 million operating income. Like we said earlier, operating income shouldn't be confused with net income, which deducts those massive corporate taxes. Looking at net, the company profited $545 million, up an impressive 16 percent year-over-year. Focusing on the Consumer unit, revenue was flat at $2.9 billion, while at the same time operating income incurred a $21 million loss. According to the press release, the company "remains confident that initiatives underway will improve operating margins for the segment." Is all this enough to quell irate shareholders? Chances are slim, but hey, it's a start.
HP reports Q3 2010 earnings, posts $2.3 billion operating profit
And to think -- that $2.3 billion figure might have been a few million higher if not for the absurd Golden Parachute that Mark Hurd will continue to float on for centuries to come. All jesting aside, HP published its Q3 2010 financials today, reporting a healthy $2.3b in operating profit (not to be confused with net income, which deducts those massive corporate taxes) and a five percent increase year-over-year. All told, third quarter revenue was listed at $30.7 billion (an 11.4 percent uptick from last year), with a "record" amount of services signings. Interestingly, a whopping 63 percent of total HP revenue came from outside of America, though we're struggling to find any specific mentions of Hurd or Palm in the release (embedded after the break). We'll be checking in on the press call shortly -- we'll let you know if anything crazy goes down.
Sony Ericsson posts second consecutive profitable quarter
Sony Ericsson managed to keep the good times rolling in the second quarter of 2010, posting its second consecutive razor-thin net profit -- this time of €12 million (about $15.6 million) on sales of €1.757 billion ($2.284 billion). In its earnings report, the company specifically calls out the Xperia X10 and the Vivaz -- yes, the Vivaz of all things -- as devices that helped propel it into the black over the past three months, going on to say that the X10 mini and mini pro have now positioned it for "long term growth." Of course, in an industry where fortunes can turn from week to week and from product to product, these guys certainly can't declare victory just yet.
Clearwire promises Clear-branded HTC and Samsung WiMAX phones this year
Without going into much detail, Clearwire mentioned on its first quarter earnings call today that WiMAX-capable phones bearing the Clear name from both Samsung and HTC are "expected" to be available before 2010's out, which is a pretty optimistic affirmation of comments the company made earlier this year. It describes the Sammy as "an Android-based 3G/4G/WiFi device optimized for heavy video and video communications use," while the HTC's language leaves out the platform -- it's just called "a 3G/4G/WiFi enabled phone," leading us to believe that this puppy could very well be running Windows Phone 7. If that's the case, we can understand why HTC wouldn't want Clearwire spilling the beans since they've yet to officially announce any plans for jumping into the WinPho 7 game. In fact, Clearwire went so far as to say on the call that the HTC device would not be the EVO 4G, so yeah, we can totally buy that there's some Microsoft action going on behind the scenes here. As for Clearwire's health, it has seen a 94 percent year-over-year boost in total WiMAX subscribers for a total just shy of a million -- and interestingly, the overwhelming majority of those are retail, not wholesale, meaning that folks are running Clear-branded equipment. We expect that to change dramatically once Sprint's Overdrive gets a little more penetration and the EVO comes into play, but for now, some 814,000 customers are familiar with the Clear logo. They lost a hair over $94 million in the quarter, but hey, in the scheme of things, that's peanuts -- building out networks isn't a cheap endeavor, after all.
Motorola posts another tiny quarterly profit, phone division not yet pulling its weight (update)
Moto's earnings for the first quarter came out today, and they pretty much echo what the company managed to do in the fourth quarter of 2009 -- pull a small profit thanks to performance from the Home, Enterprise Mobility, and Network groups in the face of an operating loss from the Mobile Devices (read: phones) division. Unfortunately, all of the numbers are just a little bit worse across the board; Motorola didn't have any Droid-style blockbuster launches or major gift-giving holidays to help it along this quarter, and ended up dropping $192 million in the hole compared to $132 million in the quarter prior. Co-CEO Sanjay Jha still seems upbeat, though -- and he'd better, considering that he'll lead the spun-off phone division after the breakup -- pointing out that shipments actually increased in the quarter with the release of six new handsets. When you throw all the numbers together, the combined company posted $69 million in earnings, down from $142 million in the fourth quarter; hey, that's still better than a loss, especially considering that it's estimating considerably higher earnings in the current quarter. Follow the break for Motorola's release. Update: Despite the slight profit, poor phone sales may have finally cost Motorola the stateside mobile crown. The Associated Press is reporting that with 8.8 million iPhones sold in Q1, Apple has edged out Motorola as the largest phone maker in the US.
Sprint halves its quarterly customer loss, increases revenue for the first time in ages
If you can find the silver linings, the news is finally getting a little better over at the number three largest carrier in the States after countless quarters of brutal numbers. Sprint still isn't turning a profit or earning net customer adds, but it's continuing to stem losses by posting its first sequential rise in revenue in almost three years, clocking just under $8.1 billion for the quarter; that's still less than the revenue it posted a year ago, but hey, at least it's an improvement over Q4 2009's roughly $7.8 billion. All told, that works out to a net loss of $865 million, which is also better than Q4's $980 million. Net wireless customers fell by 75,000 -- considerably better than Q4's 148,000 -- but net postpaid customers fell by a much larger 578,000, suggesting that Boost Mobile's aggressive marketing is probably working. That's all well and good, but it also likely means that ARPU is on a downward trend; Sprint claims it was flat sequentially and down a dollar from $56 to $55 year-over-year. All told, it seems the company's fortunes are improving by baby steps -- but is it fast enough? And how much is the EVO 4G going to mix things up?
Verizon posts first quarter numbers, gets bested by AT&T's
Verizon may have nearly six million more wireless customers in total than its closest rival, AT&T -- 92.8 million to 87.0 million, to be exact -- but that doesn't necessarily mean it's got the healthiest financials, as evidenced by the Q1 '10 numbers posted this week by the two companies. AT&T came through yesterday with $2.5 billion in income that would've actually been $3.1 billion had it not been for a one-time charge related to employee healthcare; Verizon, meanwhile, clocked just $400 million on revenue of $26.9 billion after $962 million in various charges (including one related to -- you guessed it -- healthcare). That compares to $1.6 billion in income in the same quarter last year, but it's still admittedly a good deal rosier than the net operating loss it posted in the last quarter after charges had been applied. For what it's worth, Big Red is quick to accentuate the positive by pointing out its 1.5 million organic net wireless adds and a significant increase in data revenue year over year -- 26.4 percent, in fact, a number for which it probably has the Droid to thank.
AT&T's Q1 results: earnings down thanks to one-time charge, NYC seeing 'solid improvements'
AT&T's first quarter results posted this morning look generally quite positive for the company -- it saw its highest first-quarter net wireless adds in history (1.9 million) and both postpaid and total churn are at their lowest levels ever, suggesting that subscribers are happier with their service than they have been in recent months, the thought of tantalizing hardware is keeping them around, they're too worn down to bother switching, or some combination of the above. Net income of $2.5 billion was down a bit year over year -- $600 million, to be exact -- thanks to a one-time charge related to some tax craziness that only accountants would fully comprehend, but had it not been for that, they'd be looking at having banked $3.5 billion. In other words, the numbers are looking good. At least the financial numbers are looking good, but what about those dropped calls? AT&T claims that Manhattan -- one of the hardest-hit areas in the country, if not the hardest -- saw a 6 percent improvement in the first quarter, with the New York metro area improving 9 percent overall. The promised third carrier rollout is claimed to be well underway, and as proof of all this noise, AT&T helpfully provides a pair of graphs -- graphs with no perceptible Y-axis units, mind you -- showing bigger bars and higher lines in the first quarter than in last. Of course, we still don't appreciate AT&T bringing its extensive WiFi network into the equation here; it's still totally non sequitur to the matter at hand, as far as we're concerned, since even the most extensive WiFi coverage is a drop in the bucket against WWAN footprint. Besides, if these guys can actually meet their proclaimed goal of offering both the fastest and the most reliable 3G data around, it's a moot point, right?
RIM's earnings just shy of expectations, expects boost next quarter
The latest quarter of earnings reported by RIM today was a bevy of pretty good news sprinkled in around one moderately negative piece -- quarterly revenue -- which missed the consensus estimate of $4.31 billion by about $230 million. Otherwise, though, the company set a new record for quarterly BlackBerry activations, raking in 4.9 million new accounts to bring the total to 41 million, and annual revenue grew 35 percent to $15 billion versus the year prior. Notably, co-CEO Jim Balsillie chimed in to say that the company is "off to a great start in fiscal 2011 and expect strong shipments, revenue, subscriber and earnings growth in Q1" to the tune of somewhere between $1.31 and $1.38 a share, which beats analyst estimates, so these guys must really like what they've got in store for the all-BlackBerry, all-the-time WES show in Orlando next month. That said, the company still closed down a little over a percent in trading today, so the bottom line -- missing your numbers for the quarter -- clearly counts for something.
Sprint turns in larger loss in fourth quarter, subscribers still leaving
Though you'd have to argue that Sprint is a leaner, smarter company than it was a couple years ago, it's not out of the woods yet. The company's fourth quarter earnings show that it's still losing money to the tune of $980 million -- a $502 million decline from the quarter prior -- and net wireless subscribers declined by some 148,000, though there's a lot of hand-waving here (iDEN lost 504,000 subs, for example, while the CDMA network actually gained 3,000, and there were a couple big acquisitions thrown into the mix). Churn decreased slightly against both the third quarter and the fourth quarter of '08 -- a good sign, to be sure -- and ARPUs were generally up, though prepaid ARPU specifically took a hit as a result of the Virgin Mobile buy; who knew that Virgin customers had lower ARPUs than Boost's? To end on a high note, Sprint says it's working with the highest free cash flow in company history and it saw its first net gain in CDMA subs (however small that gain might be) in six quarters, so there's reason to keep the faith -- and maybe this Supersonic can work some more magic, right?
Motorola files another small profit in fourth quarter
Moto appears to be continuing its long, arduous road toward recovery on news of its financial results for the fourth quarter of '09 -- or, at the very least, it's not losing any ground. Overall, the company posted a meager profit of $142 million for the quarter on revenue of $5.723 billion, $14 million better than a quarter prior and a staggering $3.799 billion better than the same quarter a year ago. Breaking it down by division, Mobile Devices is still in the red, but not by terribly much -- it did $1.8 billion in sales with an operating loss of $132 million, while Home and Networks Mobility (the guys responsible for wireless infrastructure and set-top boxes) made $91 million on sales of $2 billion. Some 12 million handsets were shipped in the quarter alongside 3.4 million set-tops; that marks a downtick of 1.4 million phones from the third quarter, but as the company shifts focus to smartphones, it makes sense that would happen to a certain extent -- provided the company can keep margins high. The company expects to lose somewhere between 1 and 3 cents per share in the first quarter of 2010, so the recovery isn't complete yet -- but stemming the bleeding was an important first step.
Ericsson to cut 1,500 more jobs than expected in wake of nightmarish Q4 '09 earnings call
Just when you thought that infrastructure firms would be banking ridiculous quantities as carriers around the world kick off LTE trials and full-scale network upgrades, it looks like we're actually still stuck in a bearish period on Ericsson's news that its profit fell a whopping 92 percent to $43.4 million from the same period a year prior. Analysts probably thought the same, too, seeing how they'd reached a consensus estimate of 2.5 billion kronor (about $346 million) in profit, generally making this a quarter Ericsson would like to forget as quickly as possible. That'll be difficult, though, because it's currently on the path to cut several thousand jobs, which is where the other shocking half of this news comes into play: they've now bumped the total cuts from 5,000 to about 6,500, perhaps a side effect of the fact that new CEO Hans Vestberg sees the dead-in-the-water market "staying the same" so far against the fourth quarter. So c'mon, carriers of the world -- let's drop a few hundred billion into 4G upgrades right this second, shall we?
Sony Ericsson stems -- but doesn't stop -- losses in fourth quarter
Sony Ericsson still has a hell of a trek to get back on its feet, but by all appearances, it's taking baby steps toward that goal on news of its fourth quarter '09 earnings. The joint venture did €1.75 billion (about $2.47 billion) in sales in the most recent reported quarter -- an improvement of €131 million over the quarter prior -- and posted an operating margin of -2 percent, an improvement of 10 percent against the third quarter and the closest Sony Ericsson has come to turning a profit since 2008. Here's the problem, though: that operating margin reflects data before €150 million in restructuring charges. Once you factor that little problem into the equation, its net income is actually just as bad as it had been earlier in '09. So yeah, a mixture of good and bad news; maybe this X10 can make a dent, eh?
Palm loses $85.4 million in latest reported quarter -- hey, it's an improvement
We don't know just how quickly Palm (or Elevation Partners, for that matter) thought it'd become profitable following the release of webOS, but it's not there quite yet -- the company is in the process of outing its earnings for the second quarter of fiscal year 2010 right now, and in a word, they're still in the red. The good news is that it's a marked improvement from last quarter -- they've gone from a $164.5M GAAP net loss to an $85.4M one this time around. On a non-GAAP gross basis, they actually made $5.5M, which is up from $2.8M a quarter earlier. They've got $590 million in cash and other "short-term investments" on the book right now, which seems like it should be enough to keep the company going without a profit or additional cash infusion for at least a few additional quarters, but then again, burn rate is going to vary with just how much hardware and software R&D they're doing and the kinds of carrier deals they're scoring. We bet they're looking forward to this Verizon business going down, eh? Update: Palm's specifically saying that they're looking to grow carrier and geographic coverage right now -- a good plan, if we say so ourselves. Update 2: They've sold 784,000 phones in the quarter, which compares to 823,000 in the last -- a 5 percent drop. That's up 41 percent from the same quarter a year ago... but yeah, of course it's going to be way up from the pre-webOS days. Update 3: Over 800 apps in the catalog so far, once they graduate from the Early Access Program exclusivity, Palm foresees a "flood" of apps. No plans right now to change SDK strategy to a more native development environment.
