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Square Enix sees gil revenue decline in FY07
Square Enix, protector of the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest bloodlines, reported revenue was down for its last fiscal year ending March 31. Don't worry, Square Enix isn't going to go all Aeris, the company still saw solid revenues and profits, but sales were down about 10% to $1.43 billion, while operating income was down 17% to $208 million.Sales across Square Enix's various divisions were all down (Offline games down 19%, Online games down 11% and Mobile down 15%). For this fiscal year ending next March, SE expects $1.54 billion in sales. Although we're not even going to guess when Final Fantasy XIII is coming out, Square Enix does have some titles lined up this year with Infinite Undiscovery' s release in September and schedule Dragon Quest remakes.
Two-thirds of premium PCs sold at retail are Macs
In the "premium" computer market -- at least, for machines sold in brick and mortar stores -- Apple holds its own as number one. For the first quarter of this year, Macs accounted for 66 percent of computers that retailed for over $1,000, according to eWeek. That's not all: 70 percent of desktops sold at the same price point (or higher) are made by Apple too. Even though sales at physical stores represent only a fraction of the overall computer market, what's most impressive for this stat is the year-over-year growth. Apple had 18 percent of the premium market in January 2006. That grew to 57 percent in September 2007, and just six months later rose to 66 percent. In the same eWeek article, Joe Wilcox quotes NPD's Stephen Baker as saying "Windows notebooks had 'zero percent' growth year over year [and] Apple notebooks had '50 to 60 percent growth.'" Of course, overall, Apple makes 14 percent of computers sold at retail. Compare that to Apple's nadir in the late 90s of around two percent, and you can see how the changes Apple made to its distribution and retail strategy over the last decade have really paid off. [via Apple 2.0]
TomTom profits drop 83% due to price cuts
The war for the low end of the GPS market promises to be a bloody one, and it looks like TomTom's suffered the first major injury: quarterly profits at the device maker dropped 83 percent from last year, and the company says it's due to competitive price cuts. TomTom made a net profit of just €7.3M ($11.4M) this quarter compared to €44M ($66.2M) in the year-ago quarter, results which led the company to lower its outlook for the entire year. The company actually sold 50 percent more devices than it did a year ago, but as PND prices steadily fall, it looks like TomTom will have to figure out a new way to pad those margins and refill its piggy bank if that $4.2B all-cash Tele Atlas deal goes through.[Via TrustedReviews]
Yowza: Toshiba's net profits plunge 95% thanks to HD DVD, flash prices
A year ago today Toshiba was announcing ¥26.17 billion in profits for the quarter. Today, just ¥1.25 billion or about $12 million. In addition to the $580 million hit on account of its withdrawal from HD DVD, Toshiba also saw a swift decline in flash memory prices. While bad news for Toshiba on all accounts, we consumers are basking in a market dominated by a single high-def optical disc standard and cheap NAND and DRAM pricing. Sorry Tosh, but you won't find any tears around here.
Nintendo continues cash infusion, record sales and profits in FY08
Nintendo announced today that it saw a 73% increase in sales this past year and profits of over $4.77 billion, which is a 115% increase over last year. It appears Nintendo forecasted conservatively and is going to need a bigger money bin. The company also states it plans to ship 25 million Wii consoles to retailers across the globe in FY09, approximately the same amount it shipped in FY08, which ended March 31. If Nintendo continues its Wii sales rampage, that means by April of 2009 there could be 50 million Wii consoles in homes.The Nintendo DS isn't doing badly either, with 70.6 million units sold, and expected shipments of another 28 million units this fiscal year. Nintendo reveals that the global tie ratio for software on Wii is 6.07, while the DS enjoys a 5.24. The company expects an 8.8% operating profit increase in FY09 to $5.14 billion -- that's probably being conservative, again.[Via GameDaily]
Sony Ericsson launches ho hum Z780 and G502 cellphones as profits plunge
In a move meant to, uh, distract investors from its announced 48% profit downturn (compared to Q1 of the previous year), Sony Ericsson just announced a pair of mid-range handsets. The Z780 clamshell -- now official -- is the global sister to the announced Z770 for Europe. As such, she comes packing UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900/2100 and quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE radios. While it comes loaded with Google Maps for Mobile and aGPS navigation, you won't get much use from it on that itty bitty 128 x 160 pixel display of unknown dimensions. Hell, that bezel chews up an equivalent amount of real estate. The G502 candybar also features Maps but lacks aGPS. No worries for US Americans though as it's likely to stay put in Europe with UMTS/HSDPA 2100 and GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800/1900 radios. Both will feature M2 memory expansion, Bluetooth, and 2 megapixel cameras when they launch in "selected markets" come Q2. Sorry Sony Ericsson, but we're not seeing a lot here to distract investors (or consumers) for very long. Xperia X1 please?Update: Sony Ericsson has published conflicting information about the Z780's resolution. It's 2.2-inches and 320 x 240 pixels in the press release but 128 x 160 pixels on the product page.Read -- ProfitsRead -- Phones
JPMorgan: MacBook Sales Up, PC Sales Down
According to a recent posting on Phillip Elmer-DeWitt's Apple 2.0 column over at CNN, JPMorgan analyst Mark Moskowitz has issued a "cautiously optimistic" report on Apple based primarily on "stronger-than-expected" MacBook sales" for the quarter ending in March. According to Moskowitz, computer sales usually fall-off after Christmas, but Apple has actually had a sales increase -- albeit a small one at only 0.2%. However, that increase is still better than sales for other PC's, which according to the report, fell 9% in the same quarter. In spite of the sales increase, there still may be other issues that have an effect on Apple's bottom line this year. According to Moskowicz, there may be some difficulty for Apple if the company is not able to deliver a 3G iPhone by Summer. "As long as there is nothing to suggest that a summer launch of the 3G phone is not a possibility, we would expect investors to look past any near-term disappointment in iPhones," said Moskowitz in his report. The report doesn't specify which MacBook model is responsible for the slight increase in sales for Apple. But with the MacBook Air having just been released during the last quarter, perhaps it deserves the credit?Apple will release its quarterly earnings report on April 23rd.
Virgin Mobile stock takes a beating, revenue not forecasted to grow
Hot on the heels of dismal news from the Helio camp comes word that frowns are all the rage over at Virgin Mobile, too. After warning that "current quarter subscriber growth would fall to a range of 5,000 to 20,000" (compared to a net gain of 210,000 in Q4) and expressing concerns that the weakness in the US economy would further harm its chances at having a stupendous decent year, shares of its stock sank some 54-percent to $2.30 (but did manage to recover somewhat). Potentially more worrisome, however, was the pessimistic views from analysts; for instance, Bear Stearns' Phil Cusick noted that after two disappointing quarters in a row, he felt that the "softening economy and increased competition had eliminated management's ability to forecast its business." Of course, when the street expects your revenue to increase by some 20-percent and you calmly explain that it downright "will not grow this year," we suppose the stock drop isn't all that shocking.[Via mocoNews]
Apple's $18 billion stash
Where's all that cash that Apple made from the iPhone and all those iPods, Macs, and iTunes downloads last year going? Why, right into Apple's mattress. According to the Financial Times, Apple currently has $18 billion sitting on their balance sheet, doing nothing much at all. And they're OK with that -- Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer recently said in the Q1 conference call that they like having that "flexibility." And after all, you never know when you might need to drop $18 billion on something important.All that money doing nothing isn't so great for Apple's investors though, some of whom apparently want a piece of the pie. They might like to see dividends, stock buybacks, or even actual spending come out of that on Apple's part (later in the piece, I'm surprised to see that Apple only spends 3% of their sales on R&D, while Microsoft spends 14%). But no -- Apple is flush with cash from all their big sales numbers, and they want to apparently stay that way.[Via Ars]
Nintendo says Kirby, Animal Crossing, Super Mario Stadium this year
Nintendo of Japan just released a statement of their financial results (PDF link here) for the period from April to December of last year (spoilers: they did well) which includes a list of projected 2008 releases. Unlike the actual financial results, this bit contains some surprises! Seen above is the list for Japan.Both Animal Crossing and some kind of new Kirby game have general "2008" release dates, as does a thankfully still-planned Disaster: Day of Crisis. Also basically new is Super Mario Stadium Family Baseball, a game about which we've heard absolutely nothing since October, and not really anything then, either. We're also quite happy to see Mario Kart Wii planned for a spring release in the U.S. and Japan, and a Q2 release in Europe. [Via Game|Life]
Activision raises financial outlook by $150 million
Activision says Santa's going to be good to the company this year and has raised its financial expectations for the quarter and full fiscal year ending in March. Activision increased its full year net revenue by $150 million dollars to $2.45 billion, which includes costs associated with the Vivendi merger.Activision CEO Robert Kotick notes that the company increased its market share to 16.8%, a 7.9% rally over last year. If there's any questions as to how, just look at NPD sales for November. Both Call of Duty 4 and Guitar Hero III are making this holiday season green for Activision -- plus, the company wouldn't mind squeezing just a little bit more cash before the year is done.
Best Buy profits surge 52% in twisted CompUSA schadenfreude
Like a boot to CompUSA's hemorrhaging gut, Best Buy just announced a 52-percent jump in third quarter profits. The nation's consumer electronics giant received a favorable bump in sales due to a calendar fluke which plopped an extra week of post-Thanksgiving shopping in Q3. Gains that will likely be given back in the shorter Q4 holiday season. Still, with international sales (Canada and China) up 32%, Best Buy is looking solid to close the year ahead of analyst expectations. That should translate to more Geek Squad jobs for whatever that's worth.
BioShock bubbles up Take-Two's Q4 sales
Take-Two's Q4 fiscal results were met with rapture thanks to 2K Boston's BioShock. GameDaily reports the title has shipped 2 million units globally and helped increase the company's net revenue an extra $30 million from Q4 '06 to $292.6 million. Formerly fiscally-challenged Take-Two decreased their net loss from $14 million last Q4 to $7.1 million. For the full financial year the company saw $981.8 million in net revenue and $138.4 million in net losses -- down from $184.9 million in fiscal '06.Take-Two saw successes beyond BioShock, crediting NBA 2K8, the Grand Theft Auto series and *groan* Carnival Games. Take-Two expects this fiscal year ending at the end of Oct. '08 to be a banner year. Projected net revenue is $1.1 to $1.4 billion thanks to a wide selection of games, no doubt highlighted by next year's guaranteed mega-hit: Grand Theft Auto IV.
Former STO designer: Star Trek might be "hardest MMO IP ever"
Star Trek Online is one of the most anticipated MMOs on the horizon, but it's no secret that Perpetual Entertainment has had a rough couple of months. There's an ever-present air of uncertainty around STO's future.Most of that uncertainty stems from Perpetual's legal and financial troubles, but one former STO team member has written up a blog post suggesting that making a Star Trek MMO might be a Kobyashi Maru scenario to begin with. "At first glance, Star Trek seems like the perfect setting for an MMO," said former systems designer Eric Heimburg, "but appearances can be deceiving. It's actually a huge landmine of problems."Heimburg wrote that it's an expensive and difficult task to produce both a space game and a land game, that making space interesting is challenging, and that it's impossible to please all Star Trek fans because everyone has a different opinion about what makes the franchise great. All good points; we'll see if Perpetual has what it takes to make it all come together ... if it can even survive its financial and legal woes.[Via TTH]
Nintendo stocks stop rise, dip slightly
Even with the DS breaking sales records in the U.S. last month, the consistent rise of value in Kyoto-based Nintendo's stock has hit a ceiling lately. Analysts are stating that until the conclusion of the holiday season, the stocks are likely to stay this way, halted in their tracks.Over the past two years through this October, Nintendo's stocks have risen exponentially, but lately have seen a small fall. Nintendo's stock value has dipped 8% since November, which isn't good if Nintendo hopes to maintain its place as the third most valuable company in Japan. We're fairly certain, however, that the stocks will continue their rise as Nintendo emerges victorious this holiday season.[Via Next Gen]
AMD admits it overpaid for ATI, will take unspecified charge
Although you may not have been paying close attention to the actual breakdown, $3.2 billion of the staggering $5.6 billion AMD coughed up in order to acquire ATI last year was simply an estimated goodwill value. Unfortunately for the world's number two chip maker, that estimate wasn't exactly accurate. Reportedly, AMD admitted that it did indeed overpay for ATI, and to make matters worse, it noted that it would be forced to "write down the value of the goodwill estimate it attached to ATI" in a recent SEC filing. If you're curious about the exact amount, however, you'll be staying on pins and needles for the time being, as even AMD isn't sure how large the charge will be. Granted, things could certainly be worse, but we'd bet AMD would argue otherwise.
Megapublisher Shandra sees 66% profit increase
Shandra Interactive Entertainment, the Chinese operator of MapleStory, Dungeons & Dragons Online, The Legend of Mir, and the positively ginormous Ragnarok Online let the world know that its profits for Q3 2007 are up 66% vs. last year and that it is expecting further growth in coming months.Shandra is the biggest publisher of online games in the Chinese market, and recently reached an agreement with NCsoft by which NCsoft will distribute its new title AION in China through Shandra instead of its old partner in the region, Sina (in which Shandra ironically holds a 20% stake).
The9 buys shares in ... itself
The Escapist reports that following disappointing profits despite record sales, Chinese gaming company The9 (the Chinese carrier of World of Warcraft) saw its stock values plummet by 32% recently. The company then took the opportunity to purchase back $50 million worth of shares in itself.CEO and Chairman Jun Zhu was quoted by The Escapist saying, "We think that the current shares price level do not reflect the company's value and potential. Mirroring this confidence, our board of directors has authorized the company to repurchase up to $50 million of its own stock."This curiously comes after a great deal of growth of the Chinese World of Warcraft player-base in Q3 and the recent launch of Sword of the New World: Granado Espada.
Gamasutra's "China Angle" reports on The9, Giant Interactive, NCsoft
To North American and European MMO players, China is more than just a different country; it's a different universe. But it's important to keep an at least one eye on the Chinese market. Gamasutra ran its latest "China Angle" column today. Here's what we learned this time. The9, the Chinese publisher of World of Warcraft, will be responsible for the Chinese version of EA's FIFA Online 2. The9 already operates the original FIFA Online in the PRC, and EA owns a 15% share in the company, so that's no surprise. Newer company Giant Interactive -- who are behind the highly profitable Zhengtu Online -- saw a $38.7 million profit in Q3 2007, and all 800 employees of the company were given actual, real-life gold coins in celebration. The company is also actually awarding stocks to some of its customers. Finally, Korean MMO supercompany NCsoft has selected a new partner company called Shandra to distribute their new title AION. NCsoft opted not to work with their old partner Sina this time. The decision to change may have been influenced by disappointing Chinese numbers for Lineage and Lineage II, two NCsoft titles which were brought to the Chinese market by Sina.
World of Warcraft still growing -- 9.3 million served
Gamasutra reports that Vivendi, the parent company of Blizzard, has seen its Q3 2007 sales go up 19% over the last quarter. Vivendi credits this growth partially to the Chinese release of The Burning Crusade expansion for World of Warcraft, which occurred in Q3. The company revealed that World of Warcraft now has 9.3 million subscribers -- 300,000 more than the the number reported last quarter.That means that WoW has grown by the size of one and a half EVE Onlines or two whole City of Heroeses in just a few months. Or put another way, the population of World of Warcraft is now greater than the population of Sweden. We think it's safe to say that World of Warcraft will be the dominant title in the industry for a while longer.
