financial
Latest
World of Darkness information revealed in open letter to fans
Outside of confirmation that CCP Games is still working on World of Darkness, news on the game has been hard to come by. Some of the reasons behind that were revealed by senior producer Chris McDonough in a recent letter to members of the Mind's Eye Society, a fan group devoted to the tabletop and LARP games in the same IP. While the focus in the letter was not on the MMO, McDonough did still discuss the state of CCP as a company and what it means for the game. In short, after a difficult financial year, CCP is devoting the lion's share of its resources to ensuring that DUST 514 is a successful game on launch. That doesn't mean that World of Darkness is being shelved -- McDonough stresses that development is still ongoing -- but it does mean that the company's first priority is elsewhere. How long that will be the case remains to be seen, but if you're hoping for more substantial news on the game this year, the odds are low.
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.
Goldman Sachs lists Apple at the top for hedge funds holdings
Apple stock is attractive to a wide variety of investors, including those who put their money in hedge funds. According to a Market Folly report, Goldman Sachs released its Q1 2012 Hedge Fund Trend Monitor report and placed Apple's stock at the top of its list. Apple appears on 106 funds that list the stock among its top 10 holdings. Other tech companies on the list from Goldman Sachs include Google in second place and Microsoft at number four.
Tim Cook declines dividends being paid to Apple employees
Apple's Board of Directors approved a dividend equivalent payment to employees holding restricted stock units, but this won't apply to Tim Cook, says a report in MacRumors. These RSUs vest after a period of time and are usually given to employees to entice them to stay with the company for a length of time. Tim Cook, for example, was awarded 1.125 million RSUs when he stepped into the CEO position last year. At the current dividend payment of US$2.65 per share, Cook would receive a payment of approximately $75 million. Keeping with his character as a kind and gentle leader of Apple, Cook is refusing to accept this dividend, says a recent SEC filing. [Via MacRumors]
38 Studios lays off entire staff, sells Big Huge Games [Updated]
The 38 Studios disaster continues to unfold today, as the troubled studio laid off its entire staff and may be selling off its Big Huge Games division in Boston. Boston's Fox 25 News speculates that the studio may close by this weekend. 38 Studios CM Charles Dane confirmed being laid off on Twitter: "Now on the market. I had an awesome run with 38 Studios, but this dream is now ending." Word is that the company is also selling its subsidiary, Big Huge Games. Big Huge Games is the maker of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, 38 Studios' single-player prequel to its Copernicus MMO. This would not be the first time that Big Huge Games was sold by its parent company, as the studio experienced the same event back in 2009. Oh his Facebook page, Curt Schilling stressed that Reckoning did quite well in sales. "I wanted to clear up some misinformation around 38 Studios' first product, Reckoning. Sales of Reckoning outperformed EA's expectations and sold more than 1.2 million units in the game's first 90 days in the market." [Update]: Developer Ryan Shwayder has also confirmed the layoffs via his personal blog.
HP cuts 27,000 jobs, profit tumbles 31 percent in Q2
Looks like rumors of major cost-cutting measures at HP are true: the company along with its fiscal Q2 results has just outlined plans to slash 27,000 jobs by the end of its fiscal 2014. The group of affected staffers, or about eight percent of the workforce, is being offered an "early retirement" if it doesn't want to wait to be let go involuntarily. The move is intended to streamline HP's operations and save between $3 billion to $3.5 billion a year by the time the cuts are done. As for the results themselves, they explain all too clearly why the cuts are inbound: HP 's profit dropped a massive 31 percent to $1.6 billion, and its revenue dropped three points to $30.7 billion. CEO Meg Whitman touted the results as exceeding an earlier glum outlook, but with the enterprise, printer and services groups all dragging the company down, it's clear that HP is in the same boat as a struggling Dell.
Lenovo beats PC market with 46 percent profit surge
Yep, it's party-time in Beijing once again. While the PC industry as a whole reportedly grew by a tight handful of percentage points over the past year, Lenovo has somehow managed to continue its long-running growth spurt, with shipments up 44 percent and operating profits up 46 percent. Sales of both laptop and desktop (including IdeaCentre all-in-ones) grew roughly equally, helped along by blossoming demand in emerging markets, while fledgling smartphones and tablets also proved popular in Lenovo's homeland. The manufacturer reckons it's now second in command of the market behind HP, although it conveniently disregards Apple's iPad from its ranking.
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.
Layoffs confirmed for 38 Studios, Rhode Island takes no action
If last week's Project Copernicus flythrough had been a hopeful note, the latest news out of 38 Studios is another downturn. Following a meeting today, the Rhode Island EDC board decided to take no action to help the ailing company at this time. Governor Lincoln Chafee said following the meeting that the financial situation of the studio remains unchanged from last week, but did note that the company has seen some layoffs and underwent unspecified internal shifts. Founder Curt Schilling did not directly respond to press inquiries, stating that he would answer questions when he is able to do so. He did, however, state that he was not taking further taxpayer money. Whether or not there will be a company there to take any money in the near future is still very much in doubt, however, and while Chafee has been a bit more diplomatic about aiding the studio, he has stressed that any assistance would be far on the conservative side.
Rumor: 38 Studios may be having financial trouble
38 Studios is one of many developers whose first big game (Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning) was rumored to lead into an MMO further on down the line. It looks like there may be storm clouds on the horizon before that project even gets moving, however, as the company may be facing financial issues. Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee has apparently been meeting with owner Curt Schilling to work on "different issues," with Chafee noting that his administration has always tried to ensure that Rhode Island companies remain financially solvent. If you consider that Rhode Island invested about $75 million in the company, it's obvious that the government has an interest in making the company remain viable over the long term. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning was a moderate hit, but that might not be enough for the company as it develops. We'll have more on this story as it develops, hopefully with better news.
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.
Apple sales in China growing rapidly
Apple said during its recent earnings conference call that sales in China are booming, and now a report from Beijing Business Today shows us just how quickly Apple is making inroads into the Asian country. According to the report, Apple's Q2 2012 sales have tripled from the same quarter last year, and China now accounts for 20 percent of Apple's global revenue, up from 2 percent in 2009. Thus far in Fiscal Year 2012, Apple's China sales reached $12.4 billion, a figure that almost matches the $13 billion in China sales the company reported for all of 2011. It's not only the iPhone and iPad that's doing well; MacBook sales have also jumped 60 percent since the device first made its Chinese debut. [Via M.I.C. Gadget]
Capcom earnings down in fiscal 2012; Monster Hunter Tri-G, Raccoon City, Street Fighter X Tekken sell a million each
Capcom's net sales are down 16 percent year over year, for the fiscal year ending March 31. The company brought in 82.1 billion yen (just over $1 billion), with its Consumer Online Games division responsible for 53.5 billion yen of that (23.9 percent lower than that division's performance last year).The performance dip can be attributed to the movement of Dragon's Dogma out of the fiscal year (and into this month), and to outstanding performance of the company's titles last year. Capcom experienced record sales of its big games in fiscal 2011, and fiscal 2012 pales in comparison. Monster Hunter Tri-G, the Japan-exclusive 3DS version, topped the company's sales chart at 1.6 million copies. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City also sold well; Street Fighter X Tekken "lagged" in comparison to expectations, though both it and ORC broke a million. Capcom didn't share sales data for its other releases, Asura's Wrath, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Resident Evil Revelations, merely acknowledging the games as things that came out.
Motorola Mobility loses $86 million in Q1, device shipments way down
Well, the first quarter of 2012 is officially over Motorola Mobility, and the financial news is rather sobering for the company. While revenues were up, the climb was modest, to just $3.1 billion. And that small bump in incoming cash was not enough to stave off another quarter of loses. In fact, after losing $80 million in Q4 of 2011, Moto lost $86 million in Q1 of 2012. The company continued to bleed cash in large part because shipments of mobile devices dropped off dramatically. Only 8.9 million devices were shipped in the quarter, down from 10.5 million in the last part of 2011. With 5.1 million of those being smartphones however, the phone division did manage to increase revenues by three percent. The one bright spot was the home segment which, thanks to its home gateways and broadcast goods, managed to make (that's right, not lose) $68 million, up from $53 million a year ago. For more numbers and charts check out the source link.
Mobile Miscellany: week of April 23rd, 2012
Not all mobile news is destined for the front page, but if you're like us and really want to know what's going on, then you've come to the right place. This past week, we learned that ZTE intends to release a phablet of its own, and Samsung unseated Nokia as the world's largest supplier of mobile phones. These stories and more await after the break. So buy the ticket and take the ride as we explore the "best of the rest" for this week of April 23rd, 2012.
Amazon's Q1 2012 earnings: net income down 35 percent to $130 million, net sales at $13.18 billion
It's no Apple-sized quarter, but you'd need to be on HGTV's Million Dollar Rooms a handful of times over to scoff at Amazon's Q1 2012 earnings. After reporting $177 million in net earnings last quarter (on $17.43 billion in revenue), the online sales behemoth has today registered $13.18 billion in net sales -- proudly reporting that said tally was up from the $9.86 billion in its Q1 a year ago. Excluding the $56 million unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales would have grown 34 percent compared with first quarter 2011. As for operating income? That checked in at $192 million (compared to $322 million Q1 2011), with the outfit noting that the "unfavorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter on operating income was $4 million." Net income also sank 35 percent from $201 million a year ago, but it still left Amazon with $130 million more in the bank than it had just three months ago. It's important to note that the outfit didn't have "the holidays" here to help out, but it's still a bit worrisome to investors when profit margin shrinks. Focusing on more positive things, CEO Jeff Bezos noted that Amazon has "over 130,000 new, in-copyright books that are exclusive to the Kindle Store," again reminding the world that Amazon Prime members can "borrow them for free with no due dates." We're also told that the Kindle Fire remains the top, most gifted and most wished for product across its entire store, while pointing out that the North American sales segment was up 36 percent from Q1 2011 (reaching $7.43 billion). Our overseas comrades -- specifically, Amazon's UK, German, Japanese, French, Chinese, Italian and Spanish sites -- accounted for $5.76 billion in sales, up 31 percent year-over-year. Worldwide media sales saw a 19 percent uptick to $4.71 billion, while global electronics and "other merchandise" saw sales grow a whopping 43 percent to $7.97 billion. Notably, the company continually banged on unfavorable exchange rates, so if you're looking for a place to heap blame... well, there you go.
Acer's Q1 2012: World's fourth biggest PC maker made just $11.2 million in profit
Acer's Q1 financial report reveals that the fourth biggest PC maker in the world is feeling weak after posting a very modest profit -- three months after it declared a $212 million loss for 2011. Turnover for the first three months of this year was NT$113 billion ($3.8 billion) and profits after tax were NT$331 million ($11.2 million). To put that in context, it made a $40 million profit in the same quarter last year -- so this is a spectacular collapse of 72 percent year-over-year Reuters is suggesting that the problem is in part due to increased hardware costs caused by the Thailand floods, but the company isn't giving anything away. Instead its terse announcement just advised that the company grew its global PC market share by 0.8 percent to 10.9 percent, while in the EMEA region it grew 2.4 percent to 13.5 percent, adding that it is the only one of the "big five" that's seen any increase at all. You can read the scanty details for yourself, after the break. [Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons]
Motorola Solutions reports Q1 2012 sales of $2 billion, expects jump in Q2
Motorola Solutions (MSI) -- the less familiar Motorola that makes radios, barcode scanners and such for government and enterprise sectors -- just posted sales of $2 billion for the first quarter of 2012. This is a seven percent boost over Moto's results from the same period last year, and that growth reflects an 11 percent jump in government sales. It wasn't all rosy for Motorola this quarter, though: Profit was down two-thirds to $157 million, and sales to large businesses slipped two percent. MSI (not that MSI) expects second-quarter sales to grow six percent compared to last year's earnings, so it doesn't look like government clients will be dropping those wearable displays any time soon.
Sprint sold 1.5 million iPhones to new customers in Q1
Sprint announced its quarterly earnings on Wednesday and the results were disappointing as expected. The carrier posted a net loss of US$863M and cash reserves are now at a razor thin $7.6 billion. In the midst of this doom and gloom, one bright spot for Sprint was the iPhone. The carrier said in its earnings report that it sold 1.5 million iPhones in the opening quarter. It's a slight drop from the 1.8 million it sold in Q4 2011, but this dip is expected after a holiday quarter. Sprint still trails Verizon Wireless which sold 3.2 million iPhones and AT&T which sold 4.3 million. Of those buying an iPhone with Sprint, 44 percent were new customers. Sprint said in its earning conference call that 40% of those new Sprint iPhone users reportedly broke a contract to switch to the carrier. About 60% would not have switched if Sprint didn't have the iPhone. The iPhone is not only increasing sales, it's helping Sprint keep customers, too. The carrier said that iPhone churn rate is low, with significantly less iPhone users asking for support or returning their phone when compared to other smartphone users. Sprint didn't come out and say it, but it's becoming increasingly obvious that the cornerstone of Sprint's smartphone business is the iPhone.
Time magazine explores Apple's success
TIME Business has a short, but poignant article from Sam Gustin about Apple and its business strategy. Unlike similar articles that focused on Steve Jobs and his leadership style, this article looks at Apple as a whole. Gustin says that Apple has a winning combination of innovation, execution and opportunity that combined to propel the company to its lofty financial position. He points out that this is only the beginning and Apple will continue its dominance it if can out-think, out-innovate and out-execute its competitors. You can read the details at TIME's website.
